Desperate South Florida Developers Turn To Lease To Own Programs To Fill Up Unsold Inventory

In Miami, Florida, The Miami Herald reports:

• [W]ith some of the region's swankiest projects honeycombed with empty units, developers are increasingly using lease-to-own programs as a way of attracting wary buyers and eager renters. Some are offering terms unheard of in normal markets.

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• The proliferation of lease-to-own options represents the latest survival strategy for developers whose projects came to market just as prices crashed and credit markets dried up, making it nearly impossible for potential condo buyers to obtain financing. Developers currently hold about 10,000 new units in the greater downtown Miami area alone, not to mention the thousands of new condos and condo conversions built throughout the rest of Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

For more, see Lease-to-own condo deals attracting buyers (South Florida condo developers are using lease-to-own options to attract renters and fill unsold units. Would-be buyers are responding because condo loans are hard to get).