Despite the hurricanes in 2004, Florida real estate was on fire. Pre-construction developments, commercial buildings, and home constructions dotted the coast. The lenders have a field day handing out mortgages to interested investors rushing to buy properties. Even the hurricane threat and the stigma of being a hurricane country did not stop investors of Florida real estate from backing out. What’s surprising is that after every hurricane, new rebuilding projects seem to rise up from wave-washed lands.
Then Katrina came in 2005 and wiped almost everything out. Almost everybody expected the collapse of the Florida real estate bubble. But no, the Florida real estate developers faced the challenge of rebuilding the cities and coastal areas. The result? Before the year ended, Florida real estate was back and stronger than ever. It was as if Katrina never came, and healthy business backlog sustained the finance and real estate blocks making them even more active than before. The only problem developers expect to have other than the rising cost of construction is the source of their skilled laborers. Now, this is not what you would call a dead industry, is...