March 04--More than 300 real estate professionals gathered at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables Friday to hear a bittersweet message: the housing market has bottomed, but the ride back to normalcy will be slow and bumpy.
Well-known developer Stanley Tate, the keynote speaker at Akerman Senterfitt's second annual U.S. Real Estate Summit, told the crowd of Florida brokers, builders and bankers that the affects of widespread speculation and irresponsible lending during the boom will likely last for a few more years.
"I will, without reservation, say that the bottom has been reached," said Tate, whose holding company Tate Entrpises has purchased more than $1 billion of real estate in the last year. "The recovery has started, but it's got a ways to go."
The high inventory of properties on the market and the lack of available financing are the two main obstacles standing in the way of a rebound, Tate said.
The two-day conference, hosted by law firm Akerman Senterfitt, also featured panels on urban development, the hospitality sector, and the general trajectory of the economy. Real estate executives like Terry Stiles, CEO of Stiles Corporation, and Jeffrey DeBoer, president of The Real Estate Roundtable, headed up the various breakout sessions.
Two political events Friday drove the question-and-answer sessions during various panels--President Obama visiting Miami and the state Supreme Court ruling that Gov. Rick Scott had the right to reject federal funding for a high-speed rail line in Central Florida.
Attendees questioned what Gov. Scott's rejection of the $2.4 billion high-speed rail line between Tampa and Orlando might mean for state's economy, and for real estate development in Central and South Florida.
As President Obama was speaking at a nearby high school, attendees at the real estate conference discussed political issues like a growing federal debt and plans to phase out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac might mean for the fragile housing market.
Steven McCraney, president of the McCraney Property Company in West Palm Beach, said he made the drive down to Coral Gables in order to hear the perspectives some of the top executives in real estate.
"There's a pretty broad spectrum of opinion about where the economy is," he said. "With a group of CEOs, you're always going to get a lot of different opinions."
The McClatchy Company 03/04/2011 8:59 PM ET
No comments:
Post a Comment