[Who is going to buy all the Condos, (Part II)]

Indeed, and this was the reason there were proposals for 3 50 story and a dozen more 25+ story residential towers in a city that has absolutely no reason to build such structures. And now the apparent collapse of this market along with people now fearing for their jobs is the reason that two of these towers have stopped work and are embroiled in lawsuits, why one can't break 20% in sales, and why dozens of high profile projects are on permanent hold which is basically a euphemism for canceled. I am watching with great interest as to what is going to happen with The Vue. If it remains at 40% unsold, I predict some pretty big problems there too.

What we have seen over the last 5 years was unsustainable, the bottom has dropped out, people who rolled the dice, like the ones you mentioned, got snake eyes and are paying dearly for it now.

It's also the reason this signals the end of this kind of thing in downtown Charlotte for very long time in my estimation. There won't be construction projects like this again until the population/land pressures in Charlotte force it. Given the absolute absence of any kind of comprehensive urban development strategy that would slow down low density development, it's just not going to happen as they predicted. i.e. there won't be 35,000 people living inside I-277 by 2010. My guess is they will be very lucky to hit 1/3 this by the next census.

Agree with your assessment, but it is may not as bleak as you point out. The fact that the projects are getting canceled actually helps buyers such as myself. I live at the Avenue, and plan to be here for a long time. Rents are increasing as people still want to live up-town, but can not afford to put 20% down. If supply is further limited, the value of the property from a rental or ownership perspective will at least stabilize. A major difference between Miami/Las Vegas and Charlotte is that Charlotte was just starting to boom uptown, and thankfully did not overbuild as much as these cities. Also, the rents are not completely out of line. If an investor puts down 20%, rents can get close to covering interest, HOA and taxes, with a little left over. In Miami, a condo with a mortgage of $3k a month, would rent out for $1k. Prices have to fall a lot in order for this to even out. I am not a pollyanna, but think some of the developments that people view as negative (projects not getting done), is better than a problem where all the projects got done but no one able to afford it and they sat vacant. Market is working itself out, and price depreciation will likely be no more than 5 to 10%.