Matthew Pluznick

CNN has posted the 10 fastest growing counties in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau. Looks like Texas is on the rise...

Earvin "Magic" Johnson, one of the best NBA players in the history of the game, is providing financing for 130 condominiums in Brooklyn. Having partnered with Canyon Capital Realty Advisors, the Magic Johnson Company is providing $12.4million in financing.

Green Street Development LLC is building the units in a six- story building two blocks from the East River that separates the borough from Manhattan. The Bank of New York is providing a $41 million senior loan for the project, according to a statement from Johnson's Los Angeles-based joint venture, the Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund.

``We are believers in Brooklyn,'' Johnson said in the statement. ``By bringing high-quality residential space to Greenpoint, Canyon-Johnson is adding to the revitalization of the already vibrant Brooklyn community.''

As many of you know the brave men and women of the Washoe County Sheriff's Department were recently in Miami trying to save the city from utter destruction. So what did they do here besides save lives and party? Well, they were searching for condos of course. 

Ever wonder what the largest American real estate deal was? I was curious so I decided to do some research.

In October of '06 Tishman Speyer Properties and its partner Peter Cooper Village purchased Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, adjacent apartment complexes on 80 acres along the East River in New York City. These 110 buildings consisted of more than 11,000 apartments.

The cost of the purchase? A whopping $5.4 BILLION. This goes down as the largest real estate deal in American History. Oh, the fun I would have with $5.4 billion.

Well it's official, Golden Globe nominated actress Scarlett Johansson (my future ex-wife) has won a one-year lease on a $2.2 million condo at the Flamingo in South Beach. As part of the "Find Your Fortune at Flamingo" Super Bowl promotion, sponsored by developer MCZ/Centrum and real estate agency Fortune International, Johansson drew the lucky key that unlocked a specially designed "glass" house which encased a Lucite replica of the Flamingo building, thereby winning the one-year lease. 

This is especially good news for me because I live there! The Flamingo, a world famous rental community, was recently bought out to be sold as condos. The condo-conversion is the most expensive condo-conversion buy-out in the history of the U.S.

Is this just another marketing attempt at luring in buyers using big celebrity names? I don't know, but I'm sure thinking about buying now.

I decided to look at Google Trends today and see the general locations of people searching the term "condos". Looks like Vegas is taking the cake. check out our Vegas properties at http://lasvegas.uscondex.com

In the past couple years we've seen record breaking numbers in regards to new condo construction around the country. We've also witnessed every condo conversion conceivable: apartments, hotels, churches, ships, schools, you name it. If it has enough rooms it can be converted.

We witnessed entire buildings being sold out within hours, before even breaking ground....and everyone was flipping away. More recently, though, developments have been cancelled, units are being foreclosed on, and many condos are going back to rentals. There is word of a "condo buble" busting in some markets.

So is the condo craze here to stay? Or is it just a fad that people will look back on in 10 years thinking "I can't believe so many people were investing in condos".

My answer.....condos are not only here to stay, but we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg in terms of new development. Yes, many markets will suffer from an oversupply after a few years of rapid growth (i.e. Miami), but this in no way means that condos are "dying".

So why do I believe condos are the future? Baby boomers, flipping, interest rates, international demand, amenities, community, security, affordability, second homes.....NOPE.

My answer is much simpler. When you run out of space, you can only go up. Seriously. Today's global population is estimated to be around 6.5 billion people. The world is suffering from a rapid population growth, and experts expect it to double by the middle of the century. That is a lot of freaking people. The U.S. had about 200 million people in the 60's. We are going to reach 500 million in the next 30 years. Where is everyone going to live? Cram 'em in affordable condos!

Big cities just won't not have room for all these people to have a house (unless they want to commute 2 hours). In addition, they will need places to work, and when you run out of office space, you have to create more. Office condos anyone? Not only will we see a growing demand for condos worldwide, but i foresee height limitations going out the window. A 40 story building will be considered a low-rise....100 floors and up if you want to consider yourself in a high rise.

In conclusion...unless we somehow cut back on breeding, which is very unlikely because people love to have sex, condos will continue to be on the rise. Welcome to the condo world my friends.

Well Hulk Hogan just bought himself a multimillion dollar home in Miami, but word on the street is he's looking for a luxury condo on the side. Could any condo out there fit this super-human? Where do you guys think the Hulkster could live? The Setai just doesn't seem right. Maybe the Portofino would be more his type?

More than 5,000 condominium units have been launched since 2003 in Pattaya with 72% in the low-end segment below three million baht per unit, according to research by Raimon Land Plc. However, there has been an increase in medium- to high-end developments priced from 3-10 million baht, in the last six months, representing 18% of the total supply.

Only about 10% of the supply is classified as premium, but the value of these developments is five billion baht in a total condo market worth 17 billion. The four current premium developments have 521 units.

Among premium projects in the pipeline are Northpoint by Raimon Land, Ocean One by Siam Best Enterprise, and a luxury complex to be developed by TCC Capital Land in Jomtien. The combined value of these new developments is an impressive 15 billion baht.

The survey also showed that in the first half of this year condos with a combined value of 2.5 billion baht were sold in Pattaya. Of this total, 161 premium units accounted for 1.42 billion.

In terms of location, 60% of the sales were in Jomtien, largely from The Sails, La Royale Beach and Ocean Portofino. Sales in central Pattaya were relatively low simply because land is limited and few new units are actually available.

The Biloxi Planning Commission on Thursday recommended variance approvals for the 373-foot condominium tower, which would go immediately west of Edgewater Village.

The developers are seeking height, density, parking and other variances. Their request now goes to the Biloxi City Council.

The tower would have studio units, penthouses, office space and a restaurant on the 33rd floor. The development also would have 160 townhouse units of modular construction on the northern end of the 10-acre site, which stretches from Beach Boulevard to C.T. Switzer Boulevard.

"We expect this to be a premium property all the way through," said Mike Boudreaux of Gulf Coast Investment Developers.

The development is a joint venture of the Miami-based Berman Group and Kenny Lobell, who is also responsible for other condominium towers along the beachfront.

The development has an estimated price tag of $200 million to $225 million.

The price of a 796-square-foot studio unit, which will be designed for short-term rental, would run about $380,000. Penthouse units would cost about $800,000. The development is designed for a total of 340 units.

One thing you will notice with my posts...is that I'm interested in new features or amenities that builders use to help their marketing. Sometimes they give away a car, and sometimes they just throw in a rooftop pool.

A building called the Clinton West Green is advertising actual putting greens in the courtyard. Not a bad idea! In addition they are throwing in free putters and balls for buyers! As Christine Haughney and Michael Corkery report, "The developer considered creating a driving range in the courtyard, using a series of nets to keep windows from being smashed. But after some thought, 'we decided it wasn't the best use of the space,' said Mario Procida, a managing member of GPG Equities, the developer."