A heavily international buyer pool is increasingly looking to the ultra-luxury condo hotel units in South Beach, led most recently by the sale of the Penthouse B at the Setai last month for $15 million. These sales are driven in some part by the still-strong rental potential of properties with both hotel and condominium components.

For full story visit: [therealdeal.com]

Manhattan home prices held steady during the second quarter of 2010 but tranactions were 81% higher than this time last year, according to several real estate market reports released Thursday.

There were more than 2,700 sales during the three months ended June 30, according to one report, which is average in a normal real estate market but up significantly from the 1,500 sales during the second quarter of 2009.

For full story visit: [money.cnn.com]

Condominium prices are being cut by at least 30 percent at the newly built skyscrapers, said Dezer Properties President Gil Dezer, as the company tries to unload hundreds of unsold units amid a troubled real-estate market.

Real-estate experts say the prices now rank below competing new oceanfront properties countywide.

For full story visit: [miamihearld.com]

The Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force kicked off the first of its mortgage-fraud summits Wednesday in the epicenter of the nation’s mortgage-fraud crisis and pledged to begin finding solutions.

For full story visit: [miamihearld.com]

A Sarasota firm bought a 360-unit apartment complex in southwest Orlando for $6.1 million.

For full story visit: [bizjournals.com]

Nearly four years into the housing crash, home sellers finally are starting to price their homes in line with reality.

For full story visit: [moneycentral.com]

U.S. home prices fell 1.2 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, the smallest loss in two years, as a federal tax credit for homebuyers boosted demand.

For full story visit: [bloomberg.com]

Despite signs that the real estate market might be lurching forward, prices are expected to fall further this year and next.

For full story visit: [money.cnn.com]

Royal Palm’s parent company, RPC Diversified Holdings, planned to build 300 condominium units and 286 hotel rooms on the site, but construction never began. It is currently a parking lot.

For full story visit: [businessweek.com]

Sales of new homes in the U.S. unexpectedly fell in January to the lowest level on record, a sign that an extension of a government tax credit may not be enough to rekindle demand.

For full story visit: [businessweek.com]