Tag Archives: miami condos

Miami newest condos

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Miami newest condos

So you would like to know about miami’s newest condos ?

Let’s first clarify, what you mean by “newest condos”. 

There are those that are truly new developments, i.e. new condo buildings that are in the planning, selling or constructions stage. Examples of those are MyBrickell, Brickell House, Brickell City Center, Resorts World, The Porsche Designed Tower in Sunny Isles, etc. 

Then there are buildings that were built during the boom, but unfortunately did not – at least initially – survive long enough to becomes successful and have recently been taken over by new investment groups, often being re-modeled, newly marketed and are now successfully selling.

Examples of those would be Vizcayne North & Vizcayne South  (formerly Everglades on the Bay) and Paramount Bay.

These buildings – despite their initial failures – are now seeing great success and are selling at a much more rapid pace than initially anticipated. 

As of recently Vizcayne had approx. 250 unsold condos out of a total of 849 condos (between both towers). Paramount Bay has sold over 200 of their 346 luxury condos since they started selling in October of 2011. 

Last but not least, people looking for miami newest condos might actually be referring to the newest available condos in Miami. If that is what you are looking for, I have a dedicated page for newly listed Miami Beach condos or you can contact me with specific criteria of what you are looking for and I can create a custom list for you, that shows you all the newest condos in Miami or Miami Beach that fit your specific needs. 

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Miami condo prices 2012 – Greater Downtown Area

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Miami condo prices 2012 – Greater Downtown Area

I get a lot of questions about what will happen to miami condo prices in 2012.

Unfortunately I still haven’t figured out how to predict the future, but I have figured out how to get facts from the past and present, which can be used to interpret what the future might bring. In the areas I work in -Miami Beach and Greater Downtown Miami – the price decline has not only stopped, but prices are past the bottom and are slowly, but steadily, creeping up again. While this meant that the very best deals are one (sorry, if you missed the boat), there are still deals to be had. For how much longer, I don’t know, but I wouldn’t wait too long.

If you look at this graph, you see that in the greater downtown area of miami, the median sales price for condos has increased by 29% from $220k to $284k in the past 12 months. Currently I don’t see any indication of why this trend would not continue since sales are still going strong and developers are increasing asking prices and successfully selling new developments. This is s good indication of what going to happen to Miami condo prices 2012.

Downtown condos median sales price

 

 

The same can be said for the average price per sqft. It increased by 12% from $258 to $288.

 

Downtown condos average price per sqft

Strong international demand and easier access to financing should help to further reduce inventories thus leading to an increase of miami condo prices 2012.

The last fact I would like to share is the decreased inventory, which again reconfirms all that was said above. 6 months of inventory is considered to be a balanced market. I’m not quite ready yet to call this a seller’s market, since we just dropped below 6 months, however if these trends continue we are well on our way to a seller’s market.

Downtown condos month of inventory

 

For more Miami Downtown condo market stats you can check out my post about Downtown Miami condo prices per sqft.

If you have questions or want to buy or sell a downtown miami condo, please don’t hesitate to contact me using below contact form.

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Miami condos for sale

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Miami Condos for Sale

Miami condos for sale are hot again.  For the past three decades, Miami has been favored by people as the ultimate global hotspot for vacation and investment real estate.  And this is with reason, too.  Where else can you enjoy luxurious, seaside living that’s accompanied with fantastic weather year-round, a dynamically hot nightlife, famous restaurants, and a chance to meet the hottest celebrities?

Furthermore, what other American city is enjoying positive economic growth in trade, tourism, commerce, entertainment, real estate and banking like Miami is?

It’s these reasons and more that makes Miami “the place” to live, and thus, has people who desire to be a part of this metropolis, searching for Miami condos for sale.

Miami is exploding with people looking for Miami condos for sale. These buyers have different reasons for their interest in condo ownership here however most of them are buying either investment properties or vacation properties (second homes).

The fast growing demand is part of the reason Miami’s real estate market has changed.  With condos selling at a faster pace and inventories declining, there are not only less available Miami condos for sale, but  as a result, prices have risen and are most likely going to continue to rise throughout 2012.

None of this has managed to deter Miami and those searching for Miami condos for sale, however.  In fact, new luxury Miami condos in areas such as Downtown Miami are selling very well.  This real estate trend will continue too, possibly throughout 2012, especially since international condo buyers have been bullish on Miami’s real estate market.  These anxious buyers alone make up over thirty percent of those searching for Miami condos for sale.

If you too are interested in Miami condos for sale please feel free to utilize our property search feature or contact us for more details.

In conclusion, as 2012 moves on, so is the likelihood of prominence that has fallen upon Miami’s real estate market. With condo sales rising, realtors foresee Miami as a dominant force in the American real estate market for a long time – something most American cities can only dream of. And this will make buyers continue on their quest for Miami condos for sale.

Is condo financing back ?

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The short answer: yes and no.

You’re probably aware that financing Miami Beach condos has been difficult to impossible in the past 3 years. Personally I have only done one transaction that involved financing in more than 3 years. Again, we are speaking of condos only, single family homes are a different story. The problem is that most lenders go by Fannie Mae guidelines, which have been very strict and therefore most Miami Beach condos did not qualify for financing, regardless of how qualified the borrower might be. In other words, perfect credit, a well paying steady job and a sizable down payment are great to have, but don’t help much when the lender tells you that the building you are planning on buying in does not meet their standards.

Recently things have changed a bit. I have seen an increase in inquiries from buyers that would require financing which has prompted me to finally look into the option of  obtaining a mortgage on condos in miami and miami beach

The process is still a bit tricky and does require a sizable downpayment of generally at least 30%, however for the most part it seems like financing is more attainable then it was in the past years.

Fannie Mae has a list of approved condo buildings, which means that if a building is on the list, chances of getting a mortgage on this building – of course assuming you personally meet the qualifying criteria – are very good. There are some lenders that have guidelines stricter than Fannie Mae’s, but I recently spoke with my contact at Wells Fargo who advised me that any condo on the approved list (assuming the approval hasn’t expired yet) will definitely qualify for financing with them.

You can see the Fannie Mae list of approved condos by clicking this link. 

If you are interesting in obtaining condo financing, please contact us by either clicking on the contact buttons on the main menu or on the left side of your screen and we’ll be happy to help you get the process started.

Living in Miami

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Living in Miami already or planning on living in miami some time in the near future ? Either way, here are some useful tools that might help you find information on just about anything you want from restaurants, shopping & nightlife to homes and condos.

Looking for things to do in Miami ?

Check out our lifestyle search feature here

This tool will allow you to look for restaurants, shopping, nightlife, schools, places of worship, etc. Need to find the closest bank ? Looking for a dentist within walking distance ? Want to know where the golf course is that your friends have been talking about ? Our miami lifestyle search feature can answer all of these questions

You can also check our Miami area guide for some useful links to area attractions.

Planning on moving to Miami (or moving in Miami) ?

You can use our property search feature as well as the newly listed condos and newly listed houses pages to help you find the right property  in miami.

If you have considered living in Miami, whether as a full or part time resident, you should seriously consider buying a miami property. The time is right, since our city was just rated as one of the  top cities in the US where buying a home might be cheaper than renting.

For more information reg. buying a property in Miami, please do not hesitate to contact us with your questions.

South Beach condos – sales by price range

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If you’ve seen my post on the July 2010 condo stats, you know that in July of 2010 there were 78 condos sold in South Beach.

Below graph will show you the distribution by price range:

Sales by price range

…and here’s a look at the average price per sqft that is achieved in each of these price ranges:

Average sales per sqft on South Beach Condos July 2010

If you are wondering what to do with this information, well, really nothing, I just like running numbers for the sake of running numbers.

Ok, seriously, you can of course use these numbers as a guideline if you are a buyer of seller of a miami beach condo or more specifically a south beach condo, however please do use them as a guideline only as there are still major fluctuations within each price range, e.g. even though the avg. price per sqft in the 1MM+ range was almost $800, the lowest sales price per sqft in this range was $497 and the highest was $1288.

Any realtor with a market knowledge of South Beach will be able to help you determine the right selling price (or purchase price) for your Miami Beach condo.

Top 9 transactions account for almost 50% of sales volume in South Beach

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Lately I’ve seen large fluctuations in the average price per sqft on the sales of South Beach condos. Since there aren’t any major price changes (in either direction) happening these days, I started to dig a little deeper and found that the reason is generally simply that there is one (or a handful) of large transactions that have a major impact on the average price per sqft.

For example, in June a penthouse at the Setai sold for $15,000,000 or just over $2400 per sqft. This one sale accounted for almost 20% of the whole transaction volume of sales in the month of June (~77 mio. worth of South Beach condos changed hands that month) and thus had a major impact on all the averages.

To further illustrate this point let’s look at the month of July 2010.

There were 78 sales made in July, with 9 condos selling for $1 mio. or more. As you can see from the following graph, these 9 condo sales account for almost 50 % of the total transaction volume for the month of July. Do you think that this would affect the numbers in a major way ?

South beach condos sales volume July 2010

If  you’re wondering why I’m pointing this out, just think about all the statistics you read about the real estate market and whether they are affected by similar issues. In other words, don’t trust any statistics without knowing all the details.

So after all of this, what do you think is happening in the South Beach condo market ? Is it stabilizing, improving or still declining ?

South Beach condos – stats for July 2010

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Here are the latest statistics for South Beach condos:

As of July 31st, 2010 there were 1637 condos for sale in South Beach (zip code 33139). Since Jan 2010 the number of listed condominiums remained relatively stable, fluctuacting only between a low of 1586 units at the beginning of May and high of 1652 South Beach condos for sale at the beginning of April.

With 78 condos sold in July, this has been an one of the slower month, albeit in line with the amount of sales for Jan, Feb and April. The three most active months this year so far were March with 128 closed sales, May with 100 closed sales and June with 120 condos sold in the 33139 zip code.

Currently approximately 22% of all south beach condos listed for sale are either short sales or foreclosures, with almost 45% of all closed sales beeing one or the other. That means that almost half of all the sales that happen involve some kind of distressed property, while only one fifth of all units listed for sale are distressed.

One major trend I’ve been noticing over the past few months is that the amount of bank owned condos listed for sale in South Beach and Miami Beach has been steadily increasing for the past 4 months (see graph below).

Bank owned South beach condos for sale

While I don’t have firm evidence to prove this point, all my numbers and indicators point to the fact that this increase isn’t caused by an actual increase in foreclosure activity in the area, but rather by a release of the so called “shadow inventory” from the banks. I will be monitoring this trend closely over the next few months. I have disagree or even have any evidence that suggests otherwise, I would love to hear from you.