Near 100 Percent Financing Returns to Miami Condo Market with Midtown Miami Project

The owners of the Midtown Miami tower, a completed 33-story residential structure owned by Gold Krown Financial, has announced the return of 97 percent financing to the South Florida condominium market. Located at Midtown Miami 4 tower, units are on sale for payments as low as $8,300 for $276,000 unit, largely thanks to a program helping to grow emerging neighborhoods. The Midtown announcement is also being hailed as another sign that the regional condo recovery is gaining momentum and the market becoming less volatile in the eyes of lenders.

Up until recently, wealthy foreign investors, particularly those from Latin America, were ferociously fueling the development market for high-end luxury condos; and most buyers paid in upfront cash. But this emerging kind of individual financing for the purchase of entry- to mid-level condominiums could be a prelude to a new (and more affordably priced) wave of condo development. And as property values continue to securing low down payment loans has appeared as an alternative not seen since the 2007 housing bust.

What do you think of the revival of small-deposit, heavily financed property purchases? Is it the bellwether of a new renaissance for affordable condo housing in South Florida or the harbinger of an approaching wave of defaulted construction loans and depreciating property values? Also, do you think the 4 Midtown financing scheme is the new standard bearer format or is it a one off due to a general lack of confidence from lenders in financing to individual-unit purchasers?