Madoff mansion loses value...Pulte buys Centex...Class action suite over drywall

It was a relatively slow news day in real estate yesterday. Still there were a few tid bits that catch one's eye...

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Looks like Bernie Madoff's Florida mansion lost nearly $2 million in value over a relatively short period:

Even Bernie Madoff isn't exempt from the real estate slump. The Florida mansion that prosecutors seized from the Wall Street swindler appears to have lost a big chunk of its value since Palm Beach County officials assessed its worth last year at $9.3 million.

A new appraisal that federal officials had done in March pegged the property's likely market price at $7.45 million.

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Attorneys with Higer Lichter Givner, The Blumstein Law Firm and Podhurst Orseck have filed a federal class action on behalf of Florida homeowners Janet Morris-Chin and Dajan Green against the foreign manufacturer of defective Chinese drywall, Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. Ltd., and the foreign company that distributed it in the United States, Rothchilt Int'l., LTD.

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Pulte Homes has agreed to acquire Centex Corp. - creating the nation's largest homebuilding company - in a stock transaction worth $3.1 billion, including $1.8 billion of debt. The combined company will use the Pulte name, with Dugas becoming chairman, president and CEO. Centex Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Timothy Eller will be vice chairman. The new company will be based in Pulte's home of Bloomfield Hills, Mich. The merged company will reach into 59 markets, including 29 states and the District of Columbia.

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Maybe Bernie Madof can join in the class action law suit against eh Chinese drywall and pick up a few bucks to help payback the fold he swindled.

Certainly, good luck to the home town Pulte Corporation. Let's hope the new build drought ends soon and they get back to building new homes.

Some economists are starting to talk about the end of the current recession, which is good news. Usually they wait until well after a turn in the economy and then pontificate that they knew it all along.