When the Uptown paper starts wondering out-loud about the financial health of Crosland — the go-to developer for so many local insiders and government officials — the Average Joe should pay attention. Foreclosures and a general lack of income-producing projects have stung Crosland, but no more than other local developers who bet on permanent boom times. And that is the commercial side.
The national residential side is still a mess. One estimate is that foreclosures need to double or it will take eight years to work through the inventory. Even better, the massive HELOC overhang — 13.6 million of them — stands right behind the first and second liens to smack homeowners.
