Banker, banker, show us your skills and your allegiance

Are you as confused as I am? We read and hear about it every day: The real estate market keeps going down -- home values are nose-diving. And here comes I who within days of research runs into residential properties in Miami whose values have soared.

Jim Wyss (jwyss@miamiherald.com) of The Miami Herald (www.miamiherald.com) on December 23 shared with us unpleasant news in his article, “South Florida home sales soar; prices plummet“ (http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/1395367.html).

Here’s the gist of his investigative report.

Housing sales spiked in November versus last year's anemic levels, as owners continued to slash prices in a market skewed by foreclosures and tight lending.

Home sales in Miami-Dade jumped 24 percent last month versus a year ago, but the median price slipped 18 percent to $184,800, the Florida Association of Realtors reported Tuesday. In Broward, home sales were up 39 percent and median prices dipped 21 percent to $182,100.

“Can you imagine using last year as some kind of baseline?” asked Fort Lauderdale real estate attorney and author Shari Olefson. “Although we have had steady progress, it's not real solid."

While the number of unsold homes in Miami-Dade and Broward has decreased significantly, more foreclosures are likely to stream into the market next year and continue depressing prices, Olefson warned.

As prices continue to tumble, many sellers are hoping to eke out profits by taking the do-it-yourself approach and saving on real estate agents' fees, said Greg Healy, the vice president of ForSaleByOwner.com, a website that helps sellers cut out the middleman.

``There is a huge segment of the population, especially in the Florida market, that cannot financially give up the six percent commission,'' Healy said. "They just don't have that option.''

The fight for online visibility, however, can be fierce.

Ed Moran, 55, said he spent several months posting his late mother's 1,420 square-foot Hollywood Hills home on free websites, including Zillow.com and Craigslist.org.

But those sites were so overrun by other sellers (including real estate agents posing as owners) that his ads were quickly buried.

"We were not getting any serious offers,'' said Moran, who recently broke down and contracted a real estate agent.

Now it is my turn. Don’t worry, I won’t be too long.

Thank you, Jim, for your informative report.

Now look at the numbers I gleaned from the official, public records of Miami-Dade County’s vast information archive. Eureka! What I found stands up to what you learn every day.

I am finding properties that doubled or more in value during the past year or two. Do I shock you with my information? Isn’t that phenomenal? And there’s only one thing that confirms such spectacular growth in economic value: it is the decision of the banker who approves and hands out a mortgage loan that is commensurate with the property’s sudden explosion in value.

Please, Mr. banker, tell us: Why did you do it? Why did you approve the loan? What or who did you rely on? Please, tell us. Is it possible your decision to foreclose when the owner and mortgagee stops paying on the mortgage loan so soon after having pocketed the loan's cash, it is no longer your bank’s loss? Uncle Sam absorbs the loss if the loan is FHA-insured.

One more question. Who is Uncle Sam? Now you know how important it is for the health of YOUR pocketbook to wham scam.