Miami’s in with the in-crowd, tastemakers say, debuting on Christie’s International Real Estate’s list of top 10 luxury residential markets.
The real estate arm of the iconic auction house publishes a global research report of trends across the world’s prime real estate markets, tracking spending patterns among wealthy buyers.
And this year for the first time it named Miami as one of the cities where the rich not only play but also stay.
“Miami is on everybody’s radar across the world,” said Ron Shuffield, president and CEO of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realtors, an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate. “We have a lot of people coming here to spend their money and enjoy what we have.”
In naming the choicest markets, Christie’s selection criteria included cities’ gross domestic product; number of billionaire residents; their tally of Fortune 500 company headquarters; performance on S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price indices; position on the AT Kearny Global Cities Index; ranking on Swiss bank UBS’ list of most expensive cities; Globalization and World Cities Research Network rankings; and the presence of a Christie’s affiliate.
Emerging as the most attractive cities for the rich: Dallas, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Paris, San Francisco and Toronto. Côte d’Azur, also called the French Riviera, even though not a city, also made the list, “added to this elite survey group for being one of Europe’s most highly prized second-home destinations for more than a century.”
“As the only real estate network owned by a fine-art auction house, Christie’s International Real Estate has unparalleled access to the [high-net-worth individuals] around the globe who procure assets such as art, wine, jewelry and, of course, luxury real estate,” said Bonnie Stone Sellers, Christie’s International Real Estate CEO. “Together with the collective knowledge of its 125 affiliated real estate brokerages in 41 countries… Christie’s International Real Estate is uniquely qualified to understand the characteristics and trends associated with the prestige real estate market.”
And observers say Miami has cultivated the cachet to draw these buyers.
Helping its appealing: An emerging cultural offering that now includes the internationally renowned Miami City Ballet, the Miami Symphony Orchestra, major art museums and world-class food, art and cultural festivals.
Add to that plans to draw boaters, coupled with the area’s luxury retail outlets, daily flights to major world centers and a growing financial services sector, and it’s clear Miami allows wealthy homebuyers access to choice recreation and international business centers, Mr. Shuffield said.
“And as trite as it sounds,” he said, “the weather is still a big draw.”
Source: http://www.miamitodaynews.com/2013/11/13/miami-cracks-top-10-luxury-residential-markets/
Written by Samantha Joseph on November 13, 2013
The Criscitos has been selling South Florida luxury and commercial real estate for over a decade and has sold over $1 billion dollars of property. They work as a multi-lingual team speaking english, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. They carved out a niche as a leading boutique real estate company with two distinct divisions -residential and commercial- both personally overseeing by Marcela and Anthony Criscito.
Showing posts with label Luxury Real Estate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Luxury Real Estate. Show all posts
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Foreclosure rate falls in metropolitan Miami
The foreclosure rate – the percentage of mortgages in some stage of foreclosure – fell to 14.59 percent in Greater Miami in November 2012, down 3.13 percentage points from a year earlier, continuing a long downward trend, CoreLogic said.
The percentage of delinquent mortgage loans in the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall area fell 3.87 percentage points in November to 21.24 percent from 25.11 percent a year earlier, the Irvine, Calif.-based data firm reported.
The delinquency rate is the percentage of loans more than 90-days delinquent, including foreclosures and mortgages in which a lender has taken title to a property.
While metro Miami’s trends show continued solid improvement, its rates of foreclosure and mortgage delinquency remain far above national and state levels.
In November, the foreclosure rate was 10.41 percent across Florida and 2.97 percent nationwide. The delinquency rate was 15.45 percent in Florida and 6.45 percent nationally, CoreLogic reported.
Source:
By Martha Brannigan
mbrannigan@MiamiHerald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/29/3206736/foreclosure-rate-fell-in-metropolitan.html
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Miami New-Condo Sales Revive As Biggest Markets Fall
The new-condo boom struck louder in Miami than it did in other markets and fell hardest there when the thunder stopped.
Now the area stands out again. Its new-condo market is coming back stronger in sales and pricing, though it's a fraction of its old self.
Thank all-cash buyers from Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Europe and other locales. They see Miami's luxury condos at discounted prices as safe havens for investment money.
Positive sales trends continue.
"These people are parking their cash," said Peter Zalewski, principal of real estate consultancy Condo Vultures. "In Venezuela, they're fearful they're going to lose it (under President Hugo Chavez's strong-arm rule). Canadians are saying their currency is on par with the U.S. dollar, so in their minds they are getting a 25% discount."
Of the top eight U.S. metro areas, Miami was the only one in 2010 to show volume gains in attached-home closings, mainly condos, according to data gathered by Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
The other seven fell 5% to 37% as Miami rose 8%. New York dropped 13%, Los Angeles 20% and San Francisco 37%. Unit sales totaled 4,120 in Miami — above L.A.'s 3,935 — but that still pales vs. pre-crash years 2005-07, when 20,000 to 30,000 units sold each year.
The Miami metro figures cited by Hanley Wood include Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Miami-Dade is almost 70% of the total, at 2,842 closings.
"Miami is a happening place; it's really become a dynamic marketplace," said Jay Massirman, managing director of Asentus Real Estate, a real estate investment and merchant banking firm in Miami Beach.
All About Inventory
L.A. and other spots that dropped off in new-condo sales hadn't seen as big a spike in construction as the Miami area. Some 85,000 new condo units were built in the area from 2003-10, with 49,000 in coastal areas east of I-95, says Condo Vultures. Greater downtown Miami accounted for 22,250 units.
Bulk sales have figured in Miami's condo recovery, as investors bet that South Florida's cachet will continue. Last year 3,700 units in downtown Miami sold, up 57% from 2,300 in 2009, says Condo Vultures. Some 1,600 units sold in 10 bulk deals, Zalewski says. The rest were to individual all-cash buyers, mostly from overseas.
New construction has virtually halted as the market works through new inventory from prior years that hasn't sold yet. As prices rise, the pace of bulk buying seems to be slowing, at least in the coastal and downtown urban cores, leaving those markets to all-cash individual buyers, local watchers say.
Meanwhile, in Miami-Dade County the median price of an attached home — a condo, for the most part — rose 11% to $288,614 last year, says Hanley Wood. The median price was higher than the peak year of 2006, when 17,400 closings were recorded. But many low-price condos have been converted to rentals, skewing inventory to luxury units.
"A lot of the inventory has been absorbed fairly rapidly and it is continuing to be absorbed," Massirman said. Where blocks of brand-new condo towers on Brickell Avenue near downtown stood dark, "lights are on, people are jogging on the street and dining in restaurants."
Buying In Landlord Land
Most new occupants are renters.
"The number of buyers we see who are end users is a very tiny minority," Zalewski said. "The family of four with a dog doesn't have a chance in this (new-construction) market because there's no financing. If you can find a lender, you have to put down 50%."
Even so, the sales rebound is welcome relief to condo associations that have struggled to keep up services at empty or half-empty buildings. At least new owners pay monthly association fees, as their tenants live the high life, enjoying amenities such as sleek kitchens and rooftop pools.
"A lot of these association issues are working themselves out," Massirman said.
Falling prices had a lot to do with the rebound. "In 2009, prices started to bottom," Massirman said, noting that new condos on Brickell fell to as low as $200 a square foot from $600 three years earlier. In late 2009, investors "started piling in."
Bulk buyers and other investors are starting to turn their sights to suburban neighborhoods away from the coast, where prices are still falling, observers say.
"East of I-95 is well past the bottom," Zalewski said. "West of I-95 is a market that doesn't have any kind of safety stop. The 10% local unemployment rate has a drastic effect on the suburban market."
The median price of an existing single-family home in the Miami metro area, which includes condos, fell 18.3% in January from a year ago, to $165,800, says the National Association of Realtors. As prices fell, sales rose 32.9%.
Investors scouting the western suburbs of Miami are looking to pick up multiple units in garden-style condo conversions for $25,000 to $50,000 each, Zalewski says.
"The new-condo market is starting to slow. The resale condo market is starting to heat up," he said.
New construction has virtually halted as the market works through new inventory from prior years that hasn't sold yet. As prices rise, the pace of bulk buying seems to be slowing, at least in the coastal and downtown urban cores, leaving those markets to all-cash individual buyers, local watchers say.
Meanwhile, in Miami-Dade County the median price of an attached home — a condo, for the most part — rose 11% to $288,614 last year from 2009, says Hanley Wood. Both years showed higher median prices than the peak year of 2006, when 17,400 closings were recorded.
"A lot of the inventory has been absorbed fairly rapidly and it is continuing to be absorbed," Massirman said. Where blocks of brand-new condo towers on Brickell Avenue near downtown stood dark, "lights are on, people are jogging on the street and dining in restaurants."
Buying In Landlord Land
Most new occupants are renters.
"The number of buyers we see who are end users is a very tiny minority," Zalewski said. "The family of four with a dog doesn't have a chance in this (new-construction) market because there's no financing. If you can find a lender, you have to put down 50%."
Even so, the sales rebound is welcome relief to condo associations that have struggled to keep up services at empty or half-empty buildings. At least new owners pay monthly association fees, as their tenants live the high life, enjoying amenities such as sleek kitchens and rooftop pools.
"A lot of these association issues are working themselves out," Massirman said.
Falling prices had a lot to do with the rebound. "In 2009, prices started to bottom," Massirman said, noting that new condos on Brickell fell to as low as $200 a square foot from $600 three years earlier. In late 2009, investors "started piling in."
Bulk buyers and other investors are starting to turn their sights to suburban neighborhoods away from the coast, where prices are still falling, observers say.
"East of I-95 is well past the bottom," Zalewski said. "West of I-95 is a market that doesn't have any kind of safety stop. The 10% local unemployment rate has a drastic effect on the suburban market."
The median price of an existing single-family home in the Miami metro area, which includes condos, fell 18.3% in January from a year ago, to $165,800, says the National Association of Realtors. As prices fell, sales rose 32.9%.
Investors scouting the western suburbs of Miami are looking to pick up multiple units in garden-style condo conversions for $25,000 to $50,000 each, Zalewski says.
"The new-condo market is starting to slow. The resale condo market is starting to heat up," he said.
Source: http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/564849/201103031443/Miami-New-Condo-Sales-Revive-As-Biggest-Markets-Fall.aspx
By MARILYN ALVA, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Now the area stands out again. Its new-condo market is coming back stronger in sales and pricing, though it's a fraction of its old self.
Thank all-cash buyers from Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Europe and other locales. They see Miami's luxury condos at discounted prices as safe havens for investment money.
Positive sales trends continue.
"These people are parking their cash," said Peter Zalewski, principal of real estate consultancy Condo Vultures. "In Venezuela, they're fearful they're going to lose it (under President Hugo Chavez's strong-arm rule). Canadians are saying their currency is on par with the U.S. dollar, so in their minds they are getting a 25% discount."
Of the top eight U.S. metro areas, Miami was the only one in 2010 to show volume gains in attached-home closings, mainly condos, according to data gathered by Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
The other seven fell 5% to 37% as Miami rose 8%. New York dropped 13%, Los Angeles 20% and San Francisco 37%. Unit sales totaled 4,120 in Miami — above L.A.'s 3,935 — but that still pales vs. pre-crash years 2005-07, when 20,000 to 30,000 units sold each year.
The Miami metro figures cited by Hanley Wood include Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Miami-Dade is almost 70% of the total, at 2,842 closings.
"Miami is a happening place; it's really become a dynamic marketplace," said Jay Massirman, managing director of Asentus Real Estate, a real estate investment and merchant banking firm in Miami Beach.
All About Inventory
L.A. and other spots that dropped off in new-condo sales hadn't seen as big a spike in construction as the Miami area. Some 85,000 new condo units were built in the area from 2003-10, with 49,000 in coastal areas east of I-95, says Condo Vultures. Greater downtown Miami accounted for 22,250 units.
Bulk sales have figured in Miami's condo recovery, as investors bet that South Florida's cachet will continue. Last year 3,700 units in downtown Miami sold, up 57% from 2,300 in 2009, says Condo Vultures. Some 1,600 units sold in 10 bulk deals, Zalewski says. The rest were to individual all-cash buyers, mostly from overseas.
New construction has virtually halted as the market works through new inventory from prior years that hasn't sold yet. As prices rise, the pace of bulk buying seems to be slowing, at least in the coastal and downtown urban cores, leaving those markets to all-cash individual buyers, local watchers say.
Meanwhile, in Miami-Dade County the median price of an attached home — a condo, for the most part — rose 11% to $288,614 last year, says Hanley Wood. The median price was higher than the peak year of 2006, when 17,400 closings were recorded. But many low-price condos have been converted to rentals, skewing inventory to luxury units.
"A lot of the inventory has been absorbed fairly rapidly and it is continuing to be absorbed," Massirman said. Where blocks of brand-new condo towers on Brickell Avenue near downtown stood dark, "lights are on, people are jogging on the street and dining in restaurants."
Buying In Landlord Land
Most new occupants are renters.
"The number of buyers we see who are end users is a very tiny minority," Zalewski said. "The family of four with a dog doesn't have a chance in this (new-construction) market because there's no financing. If you can find a lender, you have to put down 50%."
Even so, the sales rebound is welcome relief to condo associations that have struggled to keep up services at empty or half-empty buildings. At least new owners pay monthly association fees, as their tenants live the high life, enjoying amenities such as sleek kitchens and rooftop pools.
"A lot of these association issues are working themselves out," Massirman said.
Falling prices had a lot to do with the rebound. "In 2009, prices started to bottom," Massirman said, noting that new condos on Brickell fell to as low as $200 a square foot from $600 three years earlier. In late 2009, investors "started piling in."
Bulk buyers and other investors are starting to turn their sights to suburban neighborhoods away from the coast, where prices are still falling, observers say.
"East of I-95 is well past the bottom," Zalewski said. "West of I-95 is a market that doesn't have any kind of safety stop. The 10% local unemployment rate has a drastic effect on the suburban market."
The median price of an existing single-family home in the Miami metro area, which includes condos, fell 18.3% in January from a year ago, to $165,800, says the National Association of Realtors. As prices fell, sales rose 32.9%.
Investors scouting the western suburbs of Miami are looking to pick up multiple units in garden-style condo conversions for $25,000 to $50,000 each, Zalewski says.
"The new-condo market is starting to slow. The resale condo market is starting to heat up," he said.
New construction has virtually halted as the market works through new inventory from prior years that hasn't sold yet. As prices rise, the pace of bulk buying seems to be slowing, at least in the coastal and downtown urban cores, leaving those markets to all-cash individual buyers, local watchers say.
Meanwhile, in Miami-Dade County the median price of an attached home — a condo, for the most part — rose 11% to $288,614 last year from 2009, says Hanley Wood. Both years showed higher median prices than the peak year of 2006, when 17,400 closings were recorded.
"A lot of the inventory has been absorbed fairly rapidly and it is continuing to be absorbed," Massirman said. Where blocks of brand-new condo towers on Brickell Avenue near downtown stood dark, "lights are on, people are jogging on the street and dining in restaurants."
Buying In Landlord Land
Most new occupants are renters.
"The number of buyers we see who are end users is a very tiny minority," Zalewski said. "The family of four with a dog doesn't have a chance in this (new-construction) market because there's no financing. If you can find a lender, you have to put down 50%."
Even so, the sales rebound is welcome relief to condo associations that have struggled to keep up services at empty or half-empty buildings. At least new owners pay monthly association fees, as their tenants live the high life, enjoying amenities such as sleek kitchens and rooftop pools.
"A lot of these association issues are working themselves out," Massirman said.
Falling prices had a lot to do with the rebound. "In 2009, prices started to bottom," Massirman said, noting that new condos on Brickell fell to as low as $200 a square foot from $600 three years earlier. In late 2009, investors "started piling in."
Bulk buyers and other investors are starting to turn their sights to suburban neighborhoods away from the coast, where prices are still falling, observers say.
"East of I-95 is well past the bottom," Zalewski said. "West of I-95 is a market that doesn't have any kind of safety stop. The 10% local unemployment rate has a drastic effect on the suburban market."
The median price of an existing single-family home in the Miami metro area, which includes condos, fell 18.3% in January from a year ago, to $165,800, says the National Association of Realtors. As prices fell, sales rose 32.9%.
Investors scouting the western suburbs of Miami are looking to pick up multiple units in garden-style condo conversions for $25,000 to $50,000 each, Zalewski says.
"The new-condo market is starting to slow. The resale condo market is starting to heat up," he said.
Source: http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/564849/201103031443/Miami-New-Condo-Sales-Revive-As-Biggest-Markets-Fall.aspx
By MARILYN ALVA, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Pending home sales up in Miami-Dade, Broward
Pending home sales in Miami-Dade and Broward counties rose in February, according to the Miami Association of Realtors.
Miami-Dade saw the biggest boost, with total pending sales – including single-family homes and condominiums – rising 22 percent, year-over-year, in February – to 11,182 from 9,164.
An increase in pending sales is an indication of future market conditions. A sale is listed as pending when a contract is signed, but the transaction has not closed.
Pending condo deals in Miami-Dade County saw the biggest year-over-year gains in February, increasing 26.9 percent to 6,497 from 5,122.
Sales of single-family homes in Miami-Dade rose 16 percent, to 4,685 from 4,042.
In Broward County, total pending sales increased 7.7 percent in February, to 8,391 from 7,791 contracts signed.
The county’s pending condo sales outperformed single-family home selling, rising 12.3 percent, year-over-year, to 4,878 from 4,343 contracts.
Pending sales of single-family homes increased 2 percent, to 3,513 from 3,448.
“Current statistics for pending sales reflect the positive performance of the South Florida real estate market over the last few months,” said Jack H. Levine, chairman of the Miami Association of Realtors. “We have seen year-over-year increase for pending sales for nearly one year. Pending sales have also increased month-over-month 10 out of the last 13 months.”
Nationwide, pending home sales decreased in January for the second straight month, according to the National Association of Realtors. The Pending Home Sales Index, a national forward-looking indicator, declined 2.8 percent from December to January, and is down 1.5 percent from its January 2010 level.
Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2011/02/28/pending-home-sales-up-in-miami-dade.html
Miami-Dade saw the biggest boost, with total pending sales – including single-family homes and condominiums – rising 22 percent, year-over-year, in February – to 11,182 from 9,164.
An increase in pending sales is an indication of future market conditions. A sale is listed as pending when a contract is signed, but the transaction has not closed.
Pending condo deals in Miami-Dade County saw the biggest year-over-year gains in February, increasing 26.9 percent to 6,497 from 5,122.
Sales of single-family homes in Miami-Dade rose 16 percent, to 4,685 from 4,042.
In Broward County, total pending sales increased 7.7 percent in February, to 8,391 from 7,791 contracts signed.
The county’s pending condo sales outperformed single-family home selling, rising 12.3 percent, year-over-year, to 4,878 from 4,343 contracts.
Pending sales of single-family homes increased 2 percent, to 3,513 from 3,448.
“Current statistics for pending sales reflect the positive performance of the South Florida real estate market over the last few months,” said Jack H. Levine, chairman of the Miami Association of Realtors. “We have seen year-over-year increase for pending sales for nearly one year. Pending sales have also increased month-over-month 10 out of the last 13 months.”
Nationwide, pending home sales decreased in January for the second straight month, according to the National Association of Realtors. The Pending Home Sales Index, a national forward-looking indicator, declined 2.8 percent from December to January, and is down 1.5 percent from its January 2010 level.
Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2011/02/28/pending-home-sales-up-in-miami-dade.html
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Cash is King as New Wave of Home Buyers Shuns Loans and Pays Small Bucks for Bargains
It's a new beginning in America's home-buying market. More and more buyers are saying no to expensive and convoluted bank loans and paying cash instead for bargain properties.
The Wall Street Journal reports scores of bargain-basement deals being closed by cash-bidding buyers who feel the bottom has been reached in the market.
Where are they getting the cash from? They are selling other investments like paintings, cars and jewelry.
For example, In Atlanta, 62-year-old piano teacher Virginia Hall-Busch paid cash for a 93-year-old three-bedroom, one-bath bungalow in scenic Stone Mountain, GA.
The property initially listed for $159,000, then dropped to $129,000 and then to $79,900. The piano teacher didn't think her bid of $52,500 would be taken seriously. It was. She is the new owner.
In Miami Beach, Richard Stoker, a 73-year-old retired sales executive, paid cash for two condominiums and soon plans to close on a third. He is paying $1.8 million, $1.2 million and $1 million for properties that were initially listed for double those amounts.
The Stokers have a home in Potomac, Md., but spend most of the year in Florida. Stoker doesn't plan to rent out any of his new properties. He tells the WSJ he and his wife will live in one with two dogs, his son might live in another and the third will house an older dog and guests.
Cash buyers represented more than half of all transactions in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area last year, according to an analysis from real-estate portal Zillow.com.
In the fourth quarter of 2006, they represented just 13% of deals. Meanwhile, downtown Miami prices rose 15% in 2010 from a year earlier, according to the Miami Downtown Development Authority.
The percentage of buyers in Phoenix paying cash hit 42% in 2010--more than triple the rate in 2008, according to Raymond James's equity research division.
Nationally, 28% of sales were all-cash transactions last year, according to the National Association of Realtors. The rate was 14% in October 2008, when the trade group began tracking the measure.
The Federal Reserve reports that Americans increased their use of credit cards in December 2010 for the first time since August 2008.
Henry Schlangen
"Some of the cash purchases reflect a tight lending environment, where even people with good credit and ample down payments are sometimes turned away for conventional borrowing," reports the WSJ.
"The rates are great but the underwriting is brutal," said Henry Schlangen, an agent with real-estate firm Pacific Union International who buys and sells for clients, mainly in Napa Valley, CA.
Schlangen tells the WSJ, "They (lenders) hang these people upside down and shake them till they see what falls out of their pockets. So people are buying with cash and maybe they'll 'Refi' later."
Schlangen, who deals in higher-end properties such as vineyard estates, estimated that 95% of his deals last year were all-cash, up from about half in previous years.
"The deals that are consummating, these are buyers who feel they got a great deal," he said. He notes the number of buyers from China are increasing.
Mohammed Siddiq
Cash buyers can often command 5% to 10% more off the asking price than a potential buyer using a mortgage, Mohammed Siddiq, a real-estate professional in Fort Lauderdale, FL, tells the WSJ.
Sellers prefer cash deals since they close more quickly and avoid risks such as a buyer's job loss or a bank's changing its mind, he says.
Nationally, it isn't clear whether prices have bottomed.
The Case-Shiller index of housing prices in 20 cities showed a steep decline in prices until 2009, when they appeared to bottom and began to trend upward.
But in the second half of last year, prices began falling again. A Zillow index, meanwhile, never noted the uptick, reports the WSJ.
Source: http://www.realestatechannel.com/us-markets/residential-real-estate-1/raymond-james-zillowcom-national-association-of-realtors-henry-schlangen-pacific-union-international-mohammed-siddiq-stone-mountain-ga-miami-beach-skyline-3915.php
Posted by Alex Finkelstein
The Wall Street Journal reports scores of bargain-basement deals being closed by cash-bidding buyers who feel the bottom has been reached in the market.
Where are they getting the cash from? They are selling other investments like paintings, cars and jewelry.
For example, In Atlanta, 62-year-old piano teacher Virginia Hall-Busch paid cash for a 93-year-old three-bedroom, one-bath bungalow in scenic Stone Mountain, GA.
The property initially listed for $159,000, then dropped to $129,000 and then to $79,900. The piano teacher didn't think her bid of $52,500 would be taken seriously. It was. She is the new owner.
In Miami Beach, Richard Stoker, a 73-year-old retired sales executive, paid cash for two condominiums and soon plans to close on a third. He is paying $1.8 million, $1.2 million and $1 million for properties that were initially listed for double those amounts.
The Stokers have a home in Potomac, Md., but spend most of the year in Florida. Stoker doesn't plan to rent out any of his new properties. He tells the WSJ he and his wife will live in one with two dogs, his son might live in another and the third will house an older dog and guests.
Cash buyers represented more than half of all transactions in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area last year, according to an analysis from real-estate portal Zillow.com.
In the fourth quarter of 2006, they represented just 13% of deals. Meanwhile, downtown Miami prices rose 15% in 2010 from a year earlier, according to the Miami Downtown Development Authority.
The percentage of buyers in Phoenix paying cash hit 42% in 2010--more than triple the rate in 2008, according to Raymond James's equity research division.
Nationally, 28% of sales were all-cash transactions last year, according to the National Association of Realtors. The rate was 14% in October 2008, when the trade group began tracking the measure.
The Federal Reserve reports that Americans increased their use of credit cards in December 2010 for the first time since August 2008.
Henry Schlangen
"Some of the cash purchases reflect a tight lending environment, where even people with good credit and ample down payments are sometimes turned away for conventional borrowing," reports the WSJ.
"The rates are great but the underwriting is brutal," said Henry Schlangen, an agent with real-estate firm Pacific Union International who buys and sells for clients, mainly in Napa Valley, CA.
Schlangen tells the WSJ, "They (lenders) hang these people upside down and shake them till they see what falls out of their pockets. So people are buying with cash and maybe they'll 'Refi' later."
Schlangen, who deals in higher-end properties such as vineyard estates, estimated that 95% of his deals last year were all-cash, up from about half in previous years.
"The deals that are consummating, these are buyers who feel they got a great deal," he said. He notes the number of buyers from China are increasing.
Mohammed Siddiq
Cash buyers can often command 5% to 10% more off the asking price than a potential buyer using a mortgage, Mohammed Siddiq, a real-estate professional in Fort Lauderdale, FL, tells the WSJ.
Sellers prefer cash deals since they close more quickly and avoid risks such as a buyer's job loss or a bank's changing its mind, he says.
Nationally, it isn't clear whether prices have bottomed.
The Case-Shiller index of housing prices in 20 cities showed a steep decline in prices until 2009, when they appeared to bottom and began to trend upward.
But in the second half of last year, prices began falling again. A Zillow index, meanwhile, never noted the uptick, reports the WSJ.
Source: http://www.realestatechannel.com/us-markets/residential-real-estate-1/raymond-james-zillowcom-national-association-of-realtors-henry-schlangen-pacific-union-international-mohammed-siddiq-stone-mountain-ga-miami-beach-skyline-3915.php
Posted by Alex Finkelstein
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Metro-Miami's Pending Home Sales Rise 28% Year-over-year
(MIAMI, FL ) -- According to the Miami Association of Realtors and the Southeast Florida Multiple Listing Service (SEFMLS), total cumulative pending home sales - including single-family homes and condominiums - in Miami-Dade County increased 28 percent in January compared to a year earlier, from 8,388 to 10,698, and 2.5 percent, from 10,437, compared to the previous month.
"Over the last few months, we have seen pending and closed sales gain momentum while inventory levels continue to drop, said Jack H. Levine, 2010 chairman of the board of the Miami Association of Realtors. "This trend in rising sales, particularly for condominiums, coupled with significant reductions in housing inventory, is a very positive sign for the local market. We expect this trend to continue as the job market, economy, and consumer confidence improve."
Pending Condominium Contract Activity on the Rise
Pending sales of condominiums in Miami-Dade County continue to outperform that of single-family homes. In January, condominium pending sales increased a significant 37.2 percent compared to a year ago, from 4,647 to 6,376 and increased 3.3 percent from 6,173 the previous month. Pending sales of single-family homes in January increased 15.531 percent from the previous year, from 3,741 to 4,322, and 1.4 percent from the previous month, when pending single-family home sales totaled 4,264.
Significant Reduction in Housing Inventory
The Miami-Dade real estate market continues to experience drops in housing inventory. Inventory for all housing types has dropped 47 percent since mid-2008 and eight percent compared to a year ago. Just over the last month, inventory in the county dropped six percent, pointing to increased demand for local properties.
"Local buyers are taking advantage of the many opportunities the local market offers, including high affordability that continues to boost contract activity," said 2011 Miami Association of Realtors Residential President Ralph E. De Martino. "International buyers continue to continue to have a significant impact in rising sales and declining inventory in the local market."
Increased pending sales are an indication of increased future sales. A sale is listed as pending when a contract is signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.
Source: http://www.realestatechannel.com/us-markets/residential-real-estate-1/miami-pending-home-sales-dade-county-home-sales-miami-association-of-realtors-southeast-florida-multiple-listing-service-sefmls-miami-condo-foreclosures-3826.php
Posted by Michael Gerrity
"Over the last few months, we have seen pending and closed sales gain momentum while inventory levels continue to drop, said Jack H. Levine, 2010 chairman of the board of the Miami Association of Realtors. "This trend in rising sales, particularly for condominiums, coupled with significant reductions in housing inventory, is a very positive sign for the local market. We expect this trend to continue as the job market, economy, and consumer confidence improve."
Pending Condominium Contract Activity on the Rise
Pending sales of condominiums in Miami-Dade County continue to outperform that of single-family homes. In January, condominium pending sales increased a significant 37.2 percent compared to a year ago, from 4,647 to 6,376 and increased 3.3 percent from 6,173 the previous month. Pending sales of single-family homes in January increased 15.531 percent from the previous year, from 3,741 to 4,322, and 1.4 percent from the previous month, when pending single-family home sales totaled 4,264.
Significant Reduction in Housing Inventory
The Miami-Dade real estate market continues to experience drops in housing inventory. Inventory for all housing types has dropped 47 percent since mid-2008 and eight percent compared to a year ago. Just over the last month, inventory in the county dropped six percent, pointing to increased demand for local properties.
"Local buyers are taking advantage of the many opportunities the local market offers, including high affordability that continues to boost contract activity," said 2011 Miami Association of Realtors Residential President Ralph E. De Martino. "International buyers continue to continue to have a significant impact in rising sales and declining inventory in the local market."
Increased pending sales are an indication of increased future sales. A sale is listed as pending when a contract is signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.
Source: http://www.realestatechannel.com/us-markets/residential-real-estate-1/miami-pending-home-sales-dade-county-home-sales-miami-association-of-realtors-southeast-florida-multiple-listing-service-sefmls-miami-condo-foreclosures-3826.php
Posted by Michael Gerrity
Friday, December 3, 2010
Miami Pending Home Sales Up 26% in November
Miami, FL - Total cumulative pending home sales - including single-family homes and condominiums - in Miami-Dade County increased 26 percent in November compared to a year earlier, from 8,288 to 10,495, and increased 2.3 percent, up from 10,264, compared to the previous month according to the MIAMI Association of REALTORS and the Southeast Florida Multiple Listing Service (SEFMLS).
November marks the fourth consecutive month of increased pending home sales in Miami-Dade County. A sale is listed as pending when a contract is signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing. "As an indication of future sales, consistently increasing pending sales is a very positive sign for the South Florida real estate market," said Jack H. Levine, 2010 chairman of the board of the MIAMI Association of REALTORS.
Pending sales of condominiums in Miami-Dade County continue to perform stronger than that of single-family homes. In November, condominium pending sales increased 38 percent compared to the previous year, from 4,414 to 6,094 and increased 3.68 percent, up from 5,878 the previous month.
Pending sales of single-family homes in November increased 14 percent from the previous year, from 3,874 to 4,401, and increased .34 percent from the previous month, when pending single-family home sales totaled 4,386. "The current strengthening Miami real estate market is motivating all types of buyers to act now," said Oliver Ruiz, 2010 residential president of the MIAMI Association of REALTORS.
Source: http://www.thestreet.com/story/10937134/1/miami-pending-home-sales-up-26-in-november.html
By DQNews.com 12/02/10 - 12:12 PM EST
November marks the fourth consecutive month of increased pending home sales in Miami-Dade County. A sale is listed as pending when a contract is signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing. "As an indication of future sales, consistently increasing pending sales is a very positive sign for the South Florida real estate market," said Jack H. Levine, 2010 chairman of the board of the MIAMI Association of REALTORS.
Pending sales of condominiums in Miami-Dade County continue to perform stronger than that of single-family homes. In November, condominium pending sales increased 38 percent compared to the previous year, from 4,414 to 6,094 and increased 3.68 percent, up from 5,878 the previous month.
Pending sales of single-family homes in November increased 14 percent from the previous year, from 3,874 to 4,401, and increased .34 percent from the previous month, when pending single-family home sales totaled 4,386. "The current strengthening Miami real estate market is motivating all types of buyers to act now," said Oliver Ruiz, 2010 residential president of the MIAMI Association of REALTORS.
Source: http://www.thestreet.com/story/10937134/1/miami-pending-home-sales-up-26-in-november.html
By DQNews.com 12/02/10 - 12:12 PM EST
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Art of the deal
New Yorkers who regularly visit Miami often talk about how hard it is to get any work done there — how the city's lazy, beautiful people just bounce around to beaches, restaurants, hotel lounges, nightclubs, house parties and boat parties.
But the reality is more complicated. There’s no other American city that works this hard at partying and is full of so many people hustling for business while they’re partying. And this is especially true when it comes to selling real estate during the Miami social season, which kicks off with a big splash this week as Art Basel and dozens of satellite events take over South Beach and beyond.
Miami is always a place where out-of-towners can show up to a random apartment party, mention that they might want to buy a vacation home and find themselves talking to a broker and a salesperson of furniture packages while they’re still drinking their first glass of champagne. And with thousands of New Yorkers and rich foreigners in Miami for Art Basel, developers and brokers all over the city know that this week is an especially good time for marketing their real estate.
“Out of all the different festivals in Miami, Art Basel is the one that brings in the kind of demographic that is really prime for our properties,” says local broker Mark Zilbert, who specializes in luxury condos. “We’re working seven days a week. And people come into town with no intentions of buying, but they get caught up in the moment.”
In October, we visited the site of 3 Indian Creek, a new, listed-for-$60-million house that’s part of a private, extremely exclusive 300-acre community whose homeowners include Carl Icahn, Julio Iglesias and Art Basel chairperson Norman Braman. Designer and co-owner Felix Cohen greeted us wearing frayed jeans and a white shirt with paint stains. He offered a quick tour of the 30,000-square-foot mansion while contractors were hard at work all around us.
There was no time to waste, Cohen said, because he had a serious deadline. The house, which had already been visited by potential buyers, among them Alex Rodriguez, had to be ready for Art Basel week. Cohen admitted that he was “nervous” about the timing, but 3 Indian Creek (which is being marketed in New York by Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Oren Alexander) was indeed unveiled with a party on Tuesday.
That was the same evening the W South Beach Hotel & Residences held the official Art Basel opening party. The W, like many Miami spots, is hosting events all week and hoping that some art collectors also turn into homebuyers.
Other highlights of the week include:
The Icon Brickell condo building downtown has a Scope Art Show film premiere on Friday and just unveiled its new iPhone/iPad app, which offers neighborhood information, floor plans and event locations. In addition, the Fortune International brokerage is having open houses at Icon Brickell and Jade Ocean in Sunny Isles Beach, where brokers and potential buyers can pick up “VIP Basel” bags with passes to various art events.
The $2.3 billion Midtown Miami mixed-use project is hosting several fairs, including Art Miami, Red Dot Fair, Scope and Art Asia, and offering an exhibit from London artist Willard Wigan, who creates ultra-tiny sculptures that can only be seen through a microscope.
The new JW Marriott Marquis, part of the billion-dollar Metropolitan Miami mixed-use project downtown, has partnered with Christie’s on an exhibit with pieces by Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Keith Haring, Eduardo Chillida and others.
The tony Golden Beach community (where Ricky Martin has put his mansion on the market and where Basel-participating artist Bruce Weber lives) is offering tours with Mayor Glenn Singer to show off the town’s $30 million renovation.
In Wynwood, an emerging area near the Design District, the Bakehouse Art Complex is offering a tour of local studios while also showcasing its two galleries (the Audrey Love Gallery has an exhibit inspired by the seven deadly sins, while the Swenson Gallery is selling budget-friendly $100 5-by-7-inch pieces) and 33,000 square feet of exhibition space
But the reality is more complicated. There’s no other American city that works this hard at partying and is full of so many people hustling for business while they’re partying. And this is especially true when it comes to selling real estate during the Miami social season, which kicks off with a big splash this week as Art Basel and dozens of satellite events take over South Beach and beyond.
Miami is always a place where out-of-towners can show up to a random apartment party, mention that they might want to buy a vacation home and find themselves talking to a broker and a salesperson of furniture packages while they’re still drinking their first glass of champagne. And with thousands of New Yorkers and rich foreigners in Miami for Art Basel, developers and brokers all over the city know that this week is an especially good time for marketing their real estate.
“Out of all the different festivals in Miami, Art Basel is the one that brings in the kind of demographic that is really prime for our properties,” says local broker Mark Zilbert, who specializes in luxury condos. “We’re working seven days a week. And people come into town with no intentions of buying, but they get caught up in the moment.”
In October, we visited the site of 3 Indian Creek, a new, listed-for-$60-million house that’s part of a private, extremely exclusive 300-acre community whose homeowners include Carl Icahn, Julio Iglesias and Art Basel chairperson Norman Braman. Designer and co-owner Felix Cohen greeted us wearing frayed jeans and a white shirt with paint stains. He offered a quick tour of the 30,000-square-foot mansion while contractors were hard at work all around us.
There was no time to waste, Cohen said, because he had a serious deadline. The house, which had already been visited by potential buyers, among them Alex Rodriguez, had to be ready for Art Basel week. Cohen admitted that he was “nervous” about the timing, but 3 Indian Creek (which is being marketed in New York by Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Oren Alexander) was indeed unveiled with a party on Tuesday.
That was the same evening the W South Beach Hotel & Residences held the official Art Basel opening party. The W, like many Miami spots, is hosting events all week and hoping that some art collectors also turn into homebuyers.
Other highlights of the week include:
The Icon Brickell condo building downtown has a Scope Art Show film premiere on Friday and just unveiled its new iPhone/iPad app, which offers neighborhood information, floor plans and event locations. In addition, the Fortune International brokerage is having open houses at Icon Brickell and Jade Ocean in Sunny Isles Beach, where brokers and potential buyers can pick up “VIP Basel” bags with passes to various art events.
The $2.3 billion Midtown Miami mixed-use project is hosting several fairs, including Art Miami, Red Dot Fair, Scope and Art Asia, and offering an exhibit from London artist Willard Wigan, who creates ultra-tiny sculptures that can only be seen through a microscope.
The new JW Marriott Marquis, part of the billion-dollar Metropolitan Miami mixed-use project downtown, has partnered with Christie’s on an exhibit with pieces by Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Keith Haring, Eduardo Chillida and others.
The tony Golden Beach community (where Ricky Martin has put his mansion on the market and where Basel-participating artist Bruce Weber lives) is offering tours with Mayor Glenn Singer to show off the town’s $30 million renovation.
In Wynwood, an emerging area near the Design District, the Bakehouse Art Complex is offering a tour of local studios while also showcasing its two galleries (the Audrey Love Gallery has an exhibit inspired by the seven deadly sins, while the Swenson Gallery is selling budget-friendly $100 5-by-7-inch pieces) and 33,000 square feet of exhibition space
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Visa deal funding realty, investors get homeland
At a time international investors are drawn to Miami's real estate bargains, the government's EB-5 visa program is an attractive vehicle for them to invest here in exchange for US residency.
Exclusive Visas, an EB-5 consulting firm based in Weston, is advising developers of several projects that would boost the local economy and create jobs while offering participating investors permanent residency for them and their families.
These projects include the University of Miami's Life Science and Technology Park, rising in Miami's health district, and the planned construction of 50 Sonic fast-food restaurants throughout Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
Fred Burgess, president of Exclusive Visas, has been a practicing attorney for 20 years and got involved in the EB-5 program in 2007.
His firm advises clients on how to apply for a regional center and demonstrate the creation of a certain number of jobs to get the federal government to approve the projects.
The EB-5 visa program was created by the government to provide employment-based visas. The government basically requires a foreign national to invest $500,000 to $1 million into a venture that would create 10 sustainable jobs and in exchange, receive a green card.
If the project is in a geographic area of high unemployment, the investor is only required to put in $500,000.
Basically, Mr. Burgess said, "we need to make sure their funds come from credible sources and that they don't have a criminal background."
One project Mr. Burgess has been working on is UM's Life Science and Technology Park.
Under the EB-5 program, developer Wexford Miami is raising $20 million capital from 40 participating investors.
"They are close to selling off," he said. "That EB-5 project will be filled by the end of this year."
He is also advising Miami-based QueensFort Capital Corp., which bought exclusive development rights to build 50 Sonic restaurants in Miami-Dade and Broward in the next four years.
The development firm is acquiring the land where it plans to build the restaurants at discounted prices, which benefits the investors involved. It is seeking six to eight investors per package of two to four restaurants.
Carolina Oliva, QueensFort Capital's senior vice president, said right now most interest in the Sonic project is coming from China, Latin America — particularly Venezuela and Mexico — and the Middle East.
Mr. Burgess and his team travel globally with clients to market their projects, making frequent trips to countries such as China, Korea and Venezuela.
"We travel throughout the world regularly, so we know what the market is looking for and we can advise companies raising capital how to structure their project so it's attractive to the investor," he explained.
Some internationals are drawn to invest in these ventures because they want to come to the US for social, political and even climate reasons.
"We have a big push from Mexico and Venezuela for safety and political reasons," respectively, he said.
More than half of EB-5 visas come from China and Korea, Mr. Burgess noted, adding that when the program first took off it became popular in the United Kingdom.
Although this government-backed visa program has been in place since the 1990s, he said, it got little use until the regional center model was added in 2003.
But the model kept sunsetting every six months, until in October 2009 President Obama extended it three years with a push to make it permanent.
Today, he said, more than 120 projects nationwide are participating under the regional center model.
Source: http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/101202/story4.shtml
By Yudislaidy Fernandez
Exclusive Visas, an EB-5 consulting firm based in Weston, is advising developers of several projects that would boost the local economy and create jobs while offering participating investors permanent residency for them and their families.
These projects include the University of Miami's Life Science and Technology Park, rising in Miami's health district, and the planned construction of 50 Sonic fast-food restaurants throughout Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
Fred Burgess, president of Exclusive Visas, has been a practicing attorney for 20 years and got involved in the EB-5 program in 2007.
His firm advises clients on how to apply for a regional center and demonstrate the creation of a certain number of jobs to get the federal government to approve the projects.
The EB-5 visa program was created by the government to provide employment-based visas. The government basically requires a foreign national to invest $500,000 to $1 million into a venture that would create 10 sustainable jobs and in exchange, receive a green card.
If the project is in a geographic area of high unemployment, the investor is only required to put in $500,000.
Basically, Mr. Burgess said, "we need to make sure their funds come from credible sources and that they don't have a criminal background."
One project Mr. Burgess has been working on is UM's Life Science and Technology Park.
Under the EB-5 program, developer Wexford Miami is raising $20 million capital from 40 participating investors.
"They are close to selling off," he said. "That EB-5 project will be filled by the end of this year."
He is also advising Miami-based QueensFort Capital Corp., which bought exclusive development rights to build 50 Sonic restaurants in Miami-Dade and Broward in the next four years.
The development firm is acquiring the land where it plans to build the restaurants at discounted prices, which benefits the investors involved. It is seeking six to eight investors per package of two to four restaurants.
Carolina Oliva, QueensFort Capital's senior vice president, said right now most interest in the Sonic project is coming from China, Latin America — particularly Venezuela and Mexico — and the Middle East.
Mr. Burgess and his team travel globally with clients to market their projects, making frequent trips to countries such as China, Korea and Venezuela.
"We travel throughout the world regularly, so we know what the market is looking for and we can advise companies raising capital how to structure their project so it's attractive to the investor," he explained.
Some internationals are drawn to invest in these ventures because they want to come to the US for social, political and even climate reasons.
"We have a big push from Mexico and Venezuela for safety and political reasons," respectively, he said.
More than half of EB-5 visas come from China and Korea, Mr. Burgess noted, adding that when the program first took off it became popular in the United Kingdom.
Although this government-backed visa program has been in place since the 1990s, he said, it got little use until the regional center model was added in 2003.
But the model kept sunsetting every six months, until in October 2009 President Obama extended it three years with a push to make it permanent.
Today, he said, more than 120 projects nationwide are participating under the regional center model.
Source: http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/101202/story4.shtml
By Yudislaidy Fernandez
Monday, November 29, 2010
NAR predicts commercial vacancies to fall in 2011 as market stabilizes
Commercial real estate markets are stabilizing nationwide and will modestly improve in 2011, according to the latest National Association of Realtors economic outlook released Monday.
The outlook cited a recent commercial real estate index by The Society of Industrial and Office Realtors, which reported a 1.6% increase in the third quarter, to 42.6 on the index. This is the fourth consecutive quarter of improvement in the index, however, it still remains well below normal.
The index is measured on a scale to 100. An index of 100 represents equilibrium in the commercial marketplace.
NAR's chief economist, Lawrence Yun, said that signs of stabilization in the market are due primarily to an increase in demand for commercial space, which "means overall vacancy rates have already peaked or will soon top out."
The current vacancy rate for office space nationally stands at 16.7%, but NAR predicts that rate to drop to 16.4% by the fourth quarter of 2011. New York City and Honolulu are the cities with the lowest vacancy rates, both near 9%, according to NAR. All other office markets monitored by NAR — which monitors a range of 50 to 60 markets for each commercial category — reported an office vacancy rate more than 10%.
NAR expects vacancy rates in the industrial and multifamily sectors to decline as well. Industrial vacancies are projected to fall to 13.2% by the fourth quarter of 2011, down from the current 13.9%.
Multifamily properties are also predicted to improve, according to NAR's outlook. Vacancy rates will drop to 5.8% by the end of 2011, down from the current 6.4%.
As of the report's release, San Jose, Calif, Miami, Boston and Portland, Ore., had the lowest multifamily vacancies rates, around 4%.
Lower vacancy rates suggest and increase in property rent, according to Yun; however, only rent in the multifamily sector is expected to rise, up 0.2% in the fourth quarter of 2010 and up 1.6% in 2011.
Rent in the retail sector is expected to drop 3.4% from the fourth quarter of 2010 to the same period 2011, while rent for industrial property is predicted to fall 7.4%. NAR said rent for office space will drop 3.4% by the end of 2011.
Source: http://www.housingwire.com/2010/11/29/nar-predicts-commercial-vacancies-to-fall-in-2011-as-market-stabilizes
http://www.housingwire.com/2010/11/29/nar-predicts-commercial-vacancies-to-fall-in-2011-as-market-stabilizes
by CHRISTINE RICCIARDI
The outlook cited a recent commercial real estate index by The Society of Industrial and Office Realtors, which reported a 1.6% increase in the third quarter, to 42.6 on the index. This is the fourth consecutive quarter of improvement in the index, however, it still remains well below normal.
The index is measured on a scale to 100. An index of 100 represents equilibrium in the commercial marketplace.
NAR's chief economist, Lawrence Yun, said that signs of stabilization in the market are due primarily to an increase in demand for commercial space, which "means overall vacancy rates have already peaked or will soon top out."
The current vacancy rate for office space nationally stands at 16.7%, but NAR predicts that rate to drop to 16.4% by the fourth quarter of 2011. New York City and Honolulu are the cities with the lowest vacancy rates, both near 9%, according to NAR. All other office markets monitored by NAR — which monitors a range of 50 to 60 markets for each commercial category — reported an office vacancy rate more than 10%.
NAR expects vacancy rates in the industrial and multifamily sectors to decline as well. Industrial vacancies are projected to fall to 13.2% by the fourth quarter of 2011, down from the current 13.9%.
Multifamily properties are also predicted to improve, according to NAR's outlook. Vacancy rates will drop to 5.8% by the end of 2011, down from the current 6.4%.
As of the report's release, San Jose, Calif, Miami, Boston and Portland, Ore., had the lowest multifamily vacancies rates, around 4%.
Lower vacancy rates suggest and increase in property rent, according to Yun; however, only rent in the multifamily sector is expected to rise, up 0.2% in the fourth quarter of 2010 and up 1.6% in 2011.
Rent in the retail sector is expected to drop 3.4% from the fourth quarter of 2010 to the same period 2011, while rent for industrial property is predicted to fall 7.4%. NAR said rent for office space will drop 3.4% by the end of 2011.
Source: http://www.housingwire.com/2010/11/29/nar-predicts-commercial-vacancies-to-fall-in-2011-as-market-stabilizes
http://www.housingwire.com/2010/11/29/nar-predicts-commercial-vacancies-to-fall-in-2011-as-market-stabilizes
by CHRISTINE RICCIARDI
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Know condo rules before decking the halls
Before you tack, nail or tape holiday decorations outside your condominium or home, consider your governing documents, your right to religious freedom and the story of Laurie Richter Spector.
Richter Spector, of Fort Lauderdale, fought back in court several years ago when her condo association demanded she remove a Jewish mezuzah from her door shortly after the holidays. While the case was eventually dismissed, now all Floridians share a state-supported right to post religiously mandated symbols — albeit small in size — anytime of year, regardless of association rules.
"I had a bad experience," said Richter Spector, about her association's order to remove her mezuzah — a small display case no longer than 6 inches long that encases a scroll with religious messages — from the exterior of her front door.
"But I am glad we went through it," added Spector, who left the condo community after the 2007 incident. "Nobody should be deprived of freedom of religion, especially in their own home."
Spector's experience is especially relevant this time of year, when residents' religious beliefs — and desire to express them publicly through holiday decorations — sometimes run afoul of HOA and condo rules.
Richter Spector argued that her right to religious freedom trumped the authority of the association. She said she was following Jewish religious law by keeping a mezuzah near the entrance of her home, and in letters to the association cited the fact that at least one other owner was allowed to keep a Christmas wreath up months after the holiday.
The association cited rules against exterior modifications and threatened eviction and a $1,000 fine.
Both sides refused to budge and ended up in civil court until the Florida Attorney General's Office intervened on behalf of Richter Spector and ordered the association to allow mezuzahs. The association was also ordered to post a sign in the building to let owners know their right to display mezuzahs.
Now it's a rule of the land. In 2008, the Legislature amended state law to guarantee condo owners a special right to display religious objects outside the door. While the statute does not mention the word "mezuzah," it covers objects with the same dimensions of a traditional mezuzah — 6 inches long, 3 inches wide and 1.5 inches deep.
Richter Spector says her ordeal remains a bittersweet victory. It also serves as a civics lesson about protecting your rights as an owner in a shared community.
But keep this in mind: Your condo or homeowners association may be able to put the kibosh on large religious displays and nonreligious decorations of any size.
Before you decorate this year, give your governing documents a once-over. Some associations limit sizes and locations of holiday displays, some enforce fines for taking too long to remove them post-holiday. Others may have no rules because they were not passed properly or have lapsed.
The state of Florida, which regulates condo communities, allows condo associations to pass rules that keep the community and residents safe. That means if your decorations interfere with that, you could have a problem.
There are not similar regulations for homeowners association per se, but an HOA may ban displays that block common areas, walkways, street intersections or the view of drivers on the road. An outdoor lighting display with poor wiring could be the subject of removal, possibly at the expense of the owner should governing documents provide the association the authority to fine and/or pay to have a display moved.
Source:http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/realestate/condos/fl-decorations-condocol-1117-20101116,0,7701864.column
Daniel Vasquez can be reached at CondoColumn@Sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4219 or 561-243-6686. His condo column runs Wednesdays in Your Money and at SunSentinel.com/condos. Check out Daniel's Condos & HOAs blog for news, information and tips related to life in community associations at SunSentinel.com/condoblog. You can also read his consumer column Mondays in Your Money and at sunsentinel.com/vasquez.
Richter Spector, of Fort Lauderdale, fought back in court several years ago when her condo association demanded she remove a Jewish mezuzah from her door shortly after the holidays. While the case was eventually dismissed, now all Floridians share a state-supported right to post religiously mandated symbols — albeit small in size — anytime of year, regardless of association rules.
"I had a bad experience," said Richter Spector, about her association's order to remove her mezuzah — a small display case no longer than 6 inches long that encases a scroll with religious messages — from the exterior of her front door.
"But I am glad we went through it," added Spector, who left the condo community after the 2007 incident. "Nobody should be deprived of freedom of religion, especially in their own home."
Spector's experience is especially relevant this time of year, when residents' religious beliefs — and desire to express them publicly through holiday decorations — sometimes run afoul of HOA and condo rules.
Richter Spector argued that her right to religious freedom trumped the authority of the association. She said she was following Jewish religious law by keeping a mezuzah near the entrance of her home, and in letters to the association cited the fact that at least one other owner was allowed to keep a Christmas wreath up months after the holiday.
The association cited rules against exterior modifications and threatened eviction and a $1,000 fine.
Both sides refused to budge and ended up in civil court until the Florida Attorney General's Office intervened on behalf of Richter Spector and ordered the association to allow mezuzahs. The association was also ordered to post a sign in the building to let owners know their right to display mezuzahs.
Now it's a rule of the land. In 2008, the Legislature amended state law to guarantee condo owners a special right to display religious objects outside the door. While the statute does not mention the word "mezuzah," it covers objects with the same dimensions of a traditional mezuzah — 6 inches long, 3 inches wide and 1.5 inches deep.
Richter Spector says her ordeal remains a bittersweet victory. It also serves as a civics lesson about protecting your rights as an owner in a shared community.
But keep this in mind: Your condo or homeowners association may be able to put the kibosh on large religious displays and nonreligious decorations of any size.
Before you decorate this year, give your governing documents a once-over. Some associations limit sizes and locations of holiday displays, some enforce fines for taking too long to remove them post-holiday. Others may have no rules because they were not passed properly or have lapsed.
The state of Florida, which regulates condo communities, allows condo associations to pass rules that keep the community and residents safe. That means if your decorations interfere with that, you could have a problem.
There are not similar regulations for homeowners association per se, but an HOA may ban displays that block common areas, walkways, street intersections or the view of drivers on the road. An outdoor lighting display with poor wiring could be the subject of removal, possibly at the expense of the owner should governing documents provide the association the authority to fine and/or pay to have a display moved.
Source:http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/realestate/condos/fl-decorations-condocol-1117-20101116,0,7701864.column
Daniel Vasquez can be reached at CondoColumn@Sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4219 or 561-243-6686. His condo column runs Wednesdays in Your Money and at SunSentinel.com/condos. Check out Daniel's Condos & HOAs blog for news, information and tips related to life in community associations at SunSentinel.com/condoblog. You can also read his consumer column Mondays in Your Money and at sunsentinel.com/vasquez.
Monday, November 15, 2010
For the quarter, home prices fall
South Florida home prices continued to drop in the third quarter, spurring an increase in condominium sales, even as single-family sales slumped, a report released Thursday by the Florida Association of Realtors found.
In Miami-Dade County, condo sales jumped to 2,527 in the third quarter, up 43 percent compared to the third quarter of last year. Single-family home sales dipped slightly to 1,812, down 1 percent from last year.
In Broward County, both condo sales and single-family home sales were down in the third quarter. Condo sales totaled 2,459 for an 8 percent drop, and single-family home sales totaled 2,076, an 18 percent drop.
Median prices dropped across the board. Single-family homes in Miami-Dade was $191,100, down 1 percent. Median-priced condos cost $104,600, a decrease of 24 percent.
In Broward, condo prices were $73,100 and single-family home prices stood at $209,600, down 10 and 2 percent, respectively.
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/12/1921731/for-the-quarter-home-prices-fall.html
TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA
In Miami-Dade County, condo sales jumped to 2,527 in the third quarter, up 43 percent compared to the third quarter of last year. Single-family home sales dipped slightly to 1,812, down 1 percent from last year.
In Broward County, both condo sales and single-family home sales were down in the third quarter. Condo sales totaled 2,459 for an 8 percent drop, and single-family home sales totaled 2,076, an 18 percent drop.
Median prices dropped across the board. Single-family homes in Miami-Dade was $191,100, down 1 percent. Median-priced condos cost $104,600, a decrease of 24 percent.
In Broward, condo prices were $73,100 and single-family home prices stood at $209,600, down 10 and 2 percent, respectively.
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/12/1921731/for-the-quarter-home-prices-fall.html
TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Slide in South Florida home prices continues
South Florida homes continued to shed value, sellers were still slashing prices and distressed sales were still dominating the market in the third quarter of the year-- all signs that the real estate recovery has a long way to go.
A report released Wednesday by real estate firm Zillow found that 45.2 percent of South Florida homes sold between June and September were sold for a loss, up slightly from the previous quarter, but down 2 percent for the month.
``Distressed sales have contributed to that 50 percent decline,'' said David Dabby, president of Coral Gables-based Dabby Group. ``They will continue to put a lid on prices for the foreseeable future.''
The continued slide has added to the ranks of underwater homes in the region. Since the June 2006 peak, home values have fallen 53.5 percent in South Florida, the largest drop among the top 25 markets covered by Zillow. That has left some 42 percent of single-family homeowners underwater, or owing more on their mortgages that their homes are worth.
That's slightly better than the third quarter of last year, when 45.1 percent of homes were underwater, but still much higher than the national average of 25 percent.
A high foreclosure rate and a weak job market continued to influence housing in the third quarter, the report found.
Deborah Katsikas, who recently sold her home in Southwest Miami-Dade County, said she had to cut the price, finally accepting an offer that was considerably less than she originally hoped for.
``The only way to sell is if you're competitive with everything that's out there,'' she said.
Now she's reaping the benefit of a buyer's market as she looks to purchase a new home. She has a contract to buy a short sale in Palmetto Bay, and the price of that home has been slashed multiple times, said her real estate agent, Anthony Askowitz.
According to Zillow, 21 percent of South Florida home sellers reduced prices in the third quarter, with a median reduction of 10 percent. The median selling price for a single-family home was $221,200 in the third quarter, up 1 percent quarter-over-quarter, but down 7.8 percent from last year.
For South Florida condominiums, the median sales price was $109,800, down 4.3 percent over last quarter, and down 14.2 percent from last year.
Askowitz, who owns two Re/Max offices, said price-cutting is the new normal, as home sellers seek to compete with the glut of foreclosures on the market.
According to a sales analysis by Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realty, short sales and foreclosures account for more than 60 percent of South Florida home sales.
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/10/1917884/slide-in-south-florida-home-prices.html
By TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA
tolorunnipa@MiamiHerald.com
A report released Wednesday by real estate firm Zillow found that 45.2 percent of South Florida homes sold between June and September were sold for a loss, up slightly from the previous quarter, but down 2 percent for the month.
``Distressed sales have contributed to that 50 percent decline,'' said David Dabby, president of Coral Gables-based Dabby Group. ``They will continue to put a lid on prices for the foreseeable future.''
The continued slide has added to the ranks of underwater homes in the region. Since the June 2006 peak, home values have fallen 53.5 percent in South Florida, the largest drop among the top 25 markets covered by Zillow. That has left some 42 percent of single-family homeowners underwater, or owing more on their mortgages that their homes are worth.
That's slightly better than the third quarter of last year, when 45.1 percent of homes were underwater, but still much higher than the national average of 25 percent.
A high foreclosure rate and a weak job market continued to influence housing in the third quarter, the report found.
Deborah Katsikas, who recently sold her home in Southwest Miami-Dade County, said she had to cut the price, finally accepting an offer that was considerably less than she originally hoped for.
``The only way to sell is if you're competitive with everything that's out there,'' she said.
Now she's reaping the benefit of a buyer's market as she looks to purchase a new home. She has a contract to buy a short sale in Palmetto Bay, and the price of that home has been slashed multiple times, said her real estate agent, Anthony Askowitz.
According to Zillow, 21 percent of South Florida home sellers reduced prices in the third quarter, with a median reduction of 10 percent. The median selling price for a single-family home was $221,200 in the third quarter, up 1 percent quarter-over-quarter, but down 7.8 percent from last year.
For South Florida condominiums, the median sales price was $109,800, down 4.3 percent over last quarter, and down 14.2 percent from last year.
Askowitz, who owns two Re/Max offices, said price-cutting is the new normal, as home sellers seek to compete with the glut of foreclosures on the market.
According to a sales analysis by Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realty, short sales and foreclosures account for more than 60 percent of South Florida home sales.
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/10/1917884/slide-in-south-florida-home-prices.html
By TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA
tolorunnipa@MiamiHerald.com
Friday, October 29, 2010
Firm can buy debt of downtown condo
A New York-based real estate investment firm has won a bank auction and court approval to buy the debt of downtown Miami's Everglades on the Bay condominium towers.
Rockwood Capital paid about $142 million for the note, according to South Florida real estate consultancy Condo Vultures. But the sale of the 849-unit project on Biscayne Boulevard did not go smoothly, with the developer, another bidder and the bank holding the debt battling over terms.
Developer Cabi Downtown LLC -- which faced a 2009 foreclosure suit by Bank of America on a $209 million construction loan -- claimed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court this week that Rockwood went behind its back to cut a deal with the lender, after pledging to deal directly with the developer. Elias Cababie, managing member of Cabi, claimed he had secured a higher bid from a San Antonio-based private investment group, court documents show.
Cabi had been juggling negotiations with Rockwood and San Antonio-based Lynd Company this summer, taking representatives from both groups to see the property's twin 49-story towers.
According to Cababie's sworn statement, sometime in July, Lynd put in an offer for the note, and Cabi solicited Rockwood to make a counteroffer. Rockwood responded by asking for more information about the property and then abruptly cut communication with Cabi, Cababie claims.
Rockwood execs tell a different story: ``Before we had completed our due diligence, [Cabi] informed Rockwood that it intended to accept a different entity's proposal and to end negotiations with Rockwood,'' said Dwight ``Arne'' Arnesen, Rockwood's senior managing director of portfolio and asset management, in a sworn statement. Arnesen also said Rockwood had been willing to pay more than Lynd's initial offer.
Attorneys for Cabi and Bank of America did not return calls for comment. The purchase may be the target of future litigation from Cabi as well as Lynd, who lost the bid, said Peter Zalewski, principal at Condo Vultures.
One motivation for the drama: The building offered what may be the last sizable bulk purchase of new condos in downtown Miami, where developers have built more than 20,000 units in the last seven years.
Developers have sold just over 175 units at Everglades, and there are hundreds of renters in the building, which was completed about two years ago.
The purchase price amounted to at least $191 per square foot, Zalewski said. ``I think Rockwood paid too much,'' he said. ``But with time, that number will end up looking better and better.''
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/29/1897264/firm-can-buy-debt-of-downtown.html
BY TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA
tolorunnipa@MiamiHerald.com
Rockwood Capital paid about $142 million for the note, according to South Florida real estate consultancy Condo Vultures. But the sale of the 849-unit project on Biscayne Boulevard did not go smoothly, with the developer, another bidder and the bank holding the debt battling over terms.
Developer Cabi Downtown LLC -- which faced a 2009 foreclosure suit by Bank of America on a $209 million construction loan -- claimed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court this week that Rockwood went behind its back to cut a deal with the lender, after pledging to deal directly with the developer. Elias Cababie, managing member of Cabi, claimed he had secured a higher bid from a San Antonio-based private investment group, court documents show.
Cabi had been juggling negotiations with Rockwood and San Antonio-based Lynd Company this summer, taking representatives from both groups to see the property's twin 49-story towers.
According to Cababie's sworn statement, sometime in July, Lynd put in an offer for the note, and Cabi solicited Rockwood to make a counteroffer. Rockwood responded by asking for more information about the property and then abruptly cut communication with Cabi, Cababie claims.
Rockwood execs tell a different story: ``Before we had completed our due diligence, [Cabi] informed Rockwood that it intended to accept a different entity's proposal and to end negotiations with Rockwood,'' said Dwight ``Arne'' Arnesen, Rockwood's senior managing director of portfolio and asset management, in a sworn statement. Arnesen also said Rockwood had been willing to pay more than Lynd's initial offer.
Attorneys for Cabi and Bank of America did not return calls for comment. The purchase may be the target of future litigation from Cabi as well as Lynd, who lost the bid, said Peter Zalewski, principal at Condo Vultures.
One motivation for the drama: The building offered what may be the last sizable bulk purchase of new condos in downtown Miami, where developers have built more than 20,000 units in the last seven years.
Developers have sold just over 175 units at Everglades, and there are hundreds of renters in the building, which was completed about two years ago.
The purchase price amounted to at least $191 per square foot, Zalewski said. ``I think Rockwood paid too much,'' he said. ``But with time, that number will end up looking better and better.''
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/29/1897264/firm-can-buy-debt-of-downtown.html
BY TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA
tolorunnipa@MiamiHerald.com
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Take a dip - Miami luxury stays afloat
There are many ways to take the pulse of the Miami market, many methods of observing and appreciating and worrying about its real estate. But as developer Gil Dezer says, “You haven’t really seen Miami until you’ve seen it by boat.”
So, late on a recent Saturday afternoon, obligations are ignored, schedules re-jiggered, and a sunset cruise on Miami jewelry mogul Bobby Yampolsky’s 72-foot boat commences. The small group of VIP guests includes Dezer and Francois-Henry Bennahmias, president and CEO of Audemars Piguet North America. (This is a friendly gathering, but Yampolsky is in business with his guests, too: One of his East Coast Jewelry shops is in Dezer’s Trump International Beach Resort, and East Coast moves a lot of Audemars Piguet watches.)
The Trump Towers development in Sunny Isles has sold more than $150 million of condos this year, mostly to buyers who have paid all cash.
ONE TO WATCH: The eye-catching One Bal Harbour is on the ocean and near the pricey Bal Harbour Shops.
WOW: W South Beach has closed $170M.
These are men whose fortunes are dependent on selling something nobody really needs: diamond-encrusted bracelets, vacation homes and $20,000 limited-edition timepieces. And, recession or no, they are in a good mood as the boat leaves North Miami Beach.
In the background, one can see Dezer’s Trump Towers, a three-tower, 813-unit Sunny Isles Beach development that’s sold more than $150 million of condos in its second tower this year — at prices around $450 per square foot, with an average transaction around $880,000. (Tower III sales started a few weeks ago.)
“We were just amazed at how many people have the ability to pay cash,” Dezer says a couple days after the boat ride, noting that about 80 percent of his recent transactions have been with all-cash buyers. “It used to be [developers] would take 20 percent down and wait three years for the rest of the money. Now a guy walks in Monday and can close on Wednesday.”
Recent price reductions have no doubt been significant. Dezer’s nearby Trump Royale condo building, which once fetched around $1,000 per square foot, is now trading oceanfront units — with terraces, Miele and Sub-Zero appliances and master-suite Jacuzzi tubs — at around $550 per square foot. (“The Royale is where we got stuck,” Dezer says, freely admitting that many buyers walked away from deals during the economic downturn. “We had 364 units sold out of 384. Only 90 came to close. We have sold about 190 in the last two years.”)
The boat passes Bal Harbour, where excitement about the St. Regis Bal Harbour hotel and condos, scheduled for completion in 2011, is growing. But there’s already the beachfront One Bal Harbour, where condo resales are around $850 per square foot and the developer might put hotel-condo units on the market at around $1,000 per square foot next year. On the same day as the boat cruise, the hotel hosted a runway show for Kiki Hamann Canine Couture, which sells $500 dog dresses. “The spending pattern [in Miami] is finally coming back,” says Florent Gateau, general manager at One Bal Harbour. “You see it at the Bal Harbour Shops.”
Right across from the St. Regis site are the fancy-pants Bal Harbour Shops, where the 700-square-foot Audemars Piguet store racked up more than $6 million in sales last year. “Even though last year was bad in terms of the economy, we were the second brand in terms of revenue per square foot at the Bal Harbour Shops,” Bennahmias says. (No. 1 was a jeweler that declined to comment.)
The store’s average transaction was around $30,000, largely powered by a customer base that is about 60 percent Latin American, Bennahmias adds. “Business overall in Florida is picking up; many retailers are calling to get the brand,” he says. “But I just cannot sell to everybody.”
The Trump Towers development in Sunny Isles has sold more than $150 million of condos this year, mostly to buyers who have paid all cash.
ONE TO WATCH: The eye-catching One Bal Harbour is on the ocean and near the pricey Bal Harbour Shops.
WOW: W South Beach has closed $170M.
Yes, there are those in the Miami luxury market who can afford to be selective. Members at Miami Beach’s new Soho Beach House, for example, report that the club has sold its initial memberships ($1,800 per year, $900 for those under 27) so briskly that it is being extra choosy about additional members.
The boat heads down to South Beach, where the W South Beach Hotel & Residences closed a $6.2 million sale of a fully furnished, three-bedroom, 2,752-square-foot unit (with a 2,090-square-foot rooftop) in September. The W, where LeBron James celebrated after announcing he was taking his “talents to South Beach,” has closed on about $170 million of condos, including an all-cash deal for a 1,950-square-foot, $3 million unit this month, says developer David Edelstein.
“The enthusiam [surrounding James] is like having another entertainment venue open up,” he says. “People will extend their stay — a lot of games are Mondays and Fridays — to see the Heat.”
Of course, all is not so rosy in Miami, especially in the downtown areas near the Heat arena. The boat passes the tony, private Fisher Island. Next up is downtown, where thousands of condo units along the river and beyond remain empty. By now, it’s dark — which makes downtown, with entire buildings without a single light on, seem even more depressing.But Dezer sees opportunity here, too, and says he has been bidding on multiple downtown buildings.
And the truth is, the emerging neighborhoods that make up downtown are showing serious signs of life. In the area north of Brickell Avenue, which Ocean Drive magazine just christened “NoBri,” the new, ultra high-tech JW Marriott Marquis hotel is home to a 10,000-square-foot, NBA-approved basketball court and a soon-to-open Daniel Boulud restaurant. The hotel is part of Metropolitan Miami, a billion-dollar mixed-used development, where the 40-story Met 1 condo building has prices starting at $350 per square foot and 447 units that are 80 percent occupied.
A few miles away, another mixed-used development, the $2.3 billion, 56-acre Midtown Miami complex, has created its own neighborhood.“The idea was to have it be a very pedestrian-friendly environment,” Midtown developer Jack Cayre says. “A lot of people call it home now.” (So do about 900 dogs.)
Midtown’s three residential towers, with more than 900 units, were originally intended to be all condos. Midtown sold about half the units (closing condos for around $350 per square foot in 2007) and decided to rent the rest. The rentals are now more than 95 percent occupied. (One-bedrooms start at $1,500 and 800 square feet.) And Midtown’s big-box stores, boutique shops and destination restaurants like Sugarcane and Sakaya Kitchen, bring in the masses.
Lee Brian Schrager, who runs the South Beach and New York Wine and Food festivals and lives in Miami’s Design District, says he visits Sugarcane at least three times a month, sometimes walking the less than 2 miles there. “Before Sugarcane opened [in January], I had never been to Midtown before,” he says. “Now that we go, we sometimes stop at Target and West Elm, and eat at Mercadito, Five Guys and Cheese Course fairly often, as well. To me, Midtown now has a pulse, and that clearly came from the culinary scene.”
The boat leaves downtown and cruises back toward North Miami Beach. After an entertaining and enlightening almost-three-hour ride, Yampolsky and friends are back on land. It’s not even 9 p.m., still early for Miami on a Saturday, and the restaurants and bars near the dock are just starting to buzz.
Source: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/realestate/residential/take_dip_6isnqcIy2bnFgM0bDqhKaL/1
By ANDY WANG
So, late on a recent Saturday afternoon, obligations are ignored, schedules re-jiggered, and a sunset cruise on Miami jewelry mogul Bobby Yampolsky’s 72-foot boat commences. The small group of VIP guests includes Dezer and Francois-Henry Bennahmias, president and CEO of Audemars Piguet North America. (This is a friendly gathering, but Yampolsky is in business with his guests, too: One of his East Coast Jewelry shops is in Dezer’s Trump International Beach Resort, and East Coast moves a lot of Audemars Piguet watches.)
The Trump Towers development in Sunny Isles has sold more than $150 million of condos this year, mostly to buyers who have paid all cash.
ONE TO WATCH: The eye-catching One Bal Harbour is on the ocean and near the pricey Bal Harbour Shops.
WOW: W South Beach has closed $170M.
These are men whose fortunes are dependent on selling something nobody really needs: diamond-encrusted bracelets, vacation homes and $20,000 limited-edition timepieces. And, recession or no, they are in a good mood as the boat leaves North Miami Beach.
In the background, one can see Dezer’s Trump Towers, a three-tower, 813-unit Sunny Isles Beach development that’s sold more than $150 million of condos in its second tower this year — at prices around $450 per square foot, with an average transaction around $880,000. (Tower III sales started a few weeks ago.)
“We were just amazed at how many people have the ability to pay cash,” Dezer says a couple days after the boat ride, noting that about 80 percent of his recent transactions have been with all-cash buyers. “It used to be [developers] would take 20 percent down and wait three years for the rest of the money. Now a guy walks in Monday and can close on Wednesday.”
Recent price reductions have no doubt been significant. Dezer’s nearby Trump Royale condo building, which once fetched around $1,000 per square foot, is now trading oceanfront units — with terraces, Miele and Sub-Zero appliances and master-suite Jacuzzi tubs — at around $550 per square foot. (“The Royale is where we got stuck,” Dezer says, freely admitting that many buyers walked away from deals during the economic downturn. “We had 364 units sold out of 384. Only 90 came to close. We have sold about 190 in the last two years.”)
The boat passes Bal Harbour, where excitement about the St. Regis Bal Harbour hotel and condos, scheduled for completion in 2011, is growing. But there’s already the beachfront One Bal Harbour, where condo resales are around $850 per square foot and the developer might put hotel-condo units on the market at around $1,000 per square foot next year. On the same day as the boat cruise, the hotel hosted a runway show for Kiki Hamann Canine Couture, which sells $500 dog dresses. “The spending pattern [in Miami] is finally coming back,” says Florent Gateau, general manager at One Bal Harbour. “You see it at the Bal Harbour Shops.”
Right across from the St. Regis site are the fancy-pants Bal Harbour Shops, where the 700-square-foot Audemars Piguet store racked up more than $6 million in sales last year. “Even though last year was bad in terms of the economy, we were the second brand in terms of revenue per square foot at the Bal Harbour Shops,” Bennahmias says. (No. 1 was a jeweler that declined to comment.)
The store’s average transaction was around $30,000, largely powered by a customer base that is about 60 percent Latin American, Bennahmias adds. “Business overall in Florida is picking up; many retailers are calling to get the brand,” he says. “But I just cannot sell to everybody.”
The Trump Towers development in Sunny Isles has sold more than $150 million of condos this year, mostly to buyers who have paid all cash.
ONE TO WATCH: The eye-catching One Bal Harbour is on the ocean and near the pricey Bal Harbour Shops.
WOW: W South Beach has closed $170M.
Yes, there are those in the Miami luxury market who can afford to be selective. Members at Miami Beach’s new Soho Beach House, for example, report that the club has sold its initial memberships ($1,800 per year, $900 for those under 27) so briskly that it is being extra choosy about additional members.
The boat heads down to South Beach, where the W South Beach Hotel & Residences closed a $6.2 million sale of a fully furnished, three-bedroom, 2,752-square-foot unit (with a 2,090-square-foot rooftop) in September. The W, where LeBron James celebrated after announcing he was taking his “talents to South Beach,” has closed on about $170 million of condos, including an all-cash deal for a 1,950-square-foot, $3 million unit this month, says developer David Edelstein.
“The enthusiam [surrounding James] is like having another entertainment venue open up,” he says. “People will extend their stay — a lot of games are Mondays and Fridays — to see the Heat.”
Of course, all is not so rosy in Miami, especially in the downtown areas near the Heat arena. The boat passes the tony, private Fisher Island. Next up is downtown, where thousands of condo units along the river and beyond remain empty. By now, it’s dark — which makes downtown, with entire buildings without a single light on, seem even more depressing.But Dezer sees opportunity here, too, and says he has been bidding on multiple downtown buildings.
And the truth is, the emerging neighborhoods that make up downtown are showing serious signs of life. In the area north of Brickell Avenue, which Ocean Drive magazine just christened “NoBri,” the new, ultra high-tech JW Marriott Marquis hotel is home to a 10,000-square-foot, NBA-approved basketball court and a soon-to-open Daniel Boulud restaurant. The hotel is part of Metropolitan Miami, a billion-dollar mixed-used development, where the 40-story Met 1 condo building has prices starting at $350 per square foot and 447 units that are 80 percent occupied.
A few miles away, another mixed-used development, the $2.3 billion, 56-acre Midtown Miami complex, has created its own neighborhood.“The idea was to have it be a very pedestrian-friendly environment,” Midtown developer Jack Cayre says. “A lot of people call it home now.” (So do about 900 dogs.)
Midtown’s three residential towers, with more than 900 units, were originally intended to be all condos. Midtown sold about half the units (closing condos for around $350 per square foot in 2007) and decided to rent the rest. The rentals are now more than 95 percent occupied. (One-bedrooms start at $1,500 and 800 square feet.) And Midtown’s big-box stores, boutique shops and destination restaurants like Sugarcane and Sakaya Kitchen, bring in the masses.
Lee Brian Schrager, who runs the South Beach and New York Wine and Food festivals and lives in Miami’s Design District, says he visits Sugarcane at least three times a month, sometimes walking the less than 2 miles there. “Before Sugarcane opened [in January], I had never been to Midtown before,” he says. “Now that we go, we sometimes stop at Target and West Elm, and eat at Mercadito, Five Guys and Cheese Course fairly often, as well. To me, Midtown now has a pulse, and that clearly came from the culinary scene.”
The boat leaves downtown and cruises back toward North Miami Beach. After an entertaining and enlightening almost-three-hour ride, Yampolsky and friends are back on land. It’s not even 9 p.m., still early for Miami on a Saturday, and the restaurants and bars near the dock are just starting to buzz.
Source: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/realestate/residential/take_dip_6isnqcIy2bnFgM0bDqhKaL/1
By ANDY WANG
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Foreigners Buying Up US Property
Home and condo prices have gotten so low in many areas of the country that foreign nationals are buying up property like it's an old Blue Light sale at K-Mart. American real estate seems like its on sale at bargain basement prices. But whether the spike in foreigners buying property materializes into a full swung market rebound may be the bigger question.
“We’re seeing an increase,” said Lamont Crump, director of sales for Condo Vultures in Miami, Florida. “Foreign purchases make up 50 to 60% of our sales.” Investors are swarming to Miami Beach from as far away as Europe and Israel to grab American land and condos. Buyers from Columbia, Brazil, France, Italy and Norway have been counted in recent transactions.
The trend has also been seen in many other large urban U.S. markets, including Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Las Vegas where housing prices have deflated at least halfway from their market peaks. Record low mortgage rates tied with low property prices may be driving the beginning of a real estate rebound anticipated and hoped for by real estate professionals for years.
Pending home sales, including single-family homes and condominiums in Miami-Dade County increased 28.6% in September compared to year ago figures, according to the Miami Association of Realtors. South Florida real estate sales are up due to the impact of international buyers.
“Current market performance points to sustainable demand for South Florida properties,” said Jack H. Levine, chairman of the board of the Miami association. “Record affordability, a wide selection of properties to choose, and an enviable lifestyle continue to attract both international and U.S. buyers.”
Pending condominium sales in Miami are higher than single family homes. In September, condominium pending sales increased 40% over a year ago to 5,838 units for the month. Pending sales of single-family homes rose 16.1% over 2009 levels.
“The Euro has recently re-strengthened, resulting in even greater demand from European buyers,” said Oliver Ruiz, the association’s president. “Many Latin American buyers are looking for a safe haven to invest their money. The Miami area is the top market for European and Latin American buyers in Florida.”
Source: http://www.housingpredictor.com/foreign-buyers.html
“We’re seeing an increase,” said Lamont Crump, director of sales for Condo Vultures in Miami, Florida. “Foreign purchases make up 50 to 60% of our sales.” Investors are swarming to Miami Beach from as far away as Europe and Israel to grab American land and condos. Buyers from Columbia, Brazil, France, Italy and Norway have been counted in recent transactions.
The trend has also been seen in many other large urban U.S. markets, including Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Las Vegas where housing prices have deflated at least halfway from their market peaks. Record low mortgage rates tied with low property prices may be driving the beginning of a real estate rebound anticipated and hoped for by real estate professionals for years.
Pending home sales, including single-family homes and condominiums in Miami-Dade County increased 28.6% in September compared to year ago figures, according to the Miami Association of Realtors. South Florida real estate sales are up due to the impact of international buyers.
“Current market performance points to sustainable demand for South Florida properties,” said Jack H. Levine, chairman of the board of the Miami association. “Record affordability, a wide selection of properties to choose, and an enviable lifestyle continue to attract both international and U.S. buyers.”
Pending condominium sales in Miami are higher than single family homes. In September, condominium pending sales increased 40% over a year ago to 5,838 units for the month. Pending sales of single-family homes rose 16.1% over 2009 levels.
“The Euro has recently re-strengthened, resulting in even greater demand from European buyers,” said Oliver Ruiz, the association’s president. “Many Latin American buyers are looking for a safe haven to invest their money. The Miami area is the top market for European and Latin American buyers in Florida.”
Source: http://www.housingpredictor.com/foreign-buyers.html
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Foreign buyers see big opportunity in housing bust
The Viceroy, a swanky condominium complex in downtown Miami, gives the impression that the United States is in another real estate boom. The sales office is strangely exuberant. Buyers gush about the glam condos — designed by hipster tastemaker Kelly Wearstler — and their hotel-like amenities: poolside libations, daily housekeeping and room service food stirred up by a celebrity chef.
Since January, 262 of the Viceroy's 372 units have sold. But there's a twist: Almost 90 percent of the buyers are foreigners. And they all paid cash.
The Viceroy's story is playing out across Miami. Individual investors from as far as Argentina, Canada, Colombia, France, Israel, Italy, Norway and Venezuela are swarming the city's sales offices to get in on what they see as one of the greatest real estate fire sales in the history of the United States.
At one time, these people would have invested in the U.S. stock market. Now they see the opportunity of a lifetime in the nation's debilitated housing market. The idea is to rent out the properties and then sell them once the economy turns around.
The math is seductive: Prices at the Viceroy are roughly 52 percent off the 2007 peak. Units once sold for as much $670 a square foot. Today the average price is $319.
"I have never seen such a high concentration of foreign nationals acquiring real estate," says Peter Zalewski, who has been in real estate for 15 years and founded Condo Vultures, a consulting and brokerage firm. "Eighty percent of the sales in downtown Miami are foreign-based. This is unprecedented."
Miami is hardly the only hot spot for buyers from outside the United States. Real estate brokers say they've seen a surge in Washington, New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco. In Seattle, Asians are buying property sight unseen, says Joe Brazen of Brazen Sotheby's International. In New York, 25 percent of buyers at the Armani-designed 20 Pine building, near the World Trade Center site, are from overseas.
"It's a positive in a sea of negatives," says Jonathan Miller, chief executive of Miller Samuel, a real estate consulting firm in New York.
This year in Phoenix, for the first time, there have been more buyers from Canada than from California, according to real estate data outfit Information Market. With the Canadian dollar approaching parity with its U.S. counterpart, the opportunity was simply irresistible to Jim Chuong, a 38-year-old Novartis sales manager from Toronto.
Chuong, whose house in Canada is already paid off, used to invest in U.S. stocks. Now he's investing in Phoenix condos, paying $50 a square foot for units that would cost $500 a square foot in Toronto.
"It's ridiculous is what it is," Chuong says.
For foreigners with cash, the deals can make them money from day one. Chuong buys two-bedroom condos for less than $40,000 in low-crime areas. He only picks up units that already have renters. After paying association fees and taxes, he walks away with $300 a month, pre-tax, on each. The deals are now easy to do, thanks to the cottage industry of companies that has grown up to manage virtually everything for foreign buyers, down to badgering renters for the monthly check.
For the international investor class, the United States' bloated inventory of homes, high unemployment and weak currency make for an unusually attractive buyer's market.
"Never before have all these things come together like this," says Patrick O'Neill, chief executive officer of the Hong Kong-based O'Neill Group, which helps Chinese invest in international real estate. O'Neill says Chinese buying in places like New York is on track to double this year.
"Unless you want to go to Baghdad," O'Neill says, "the United States is the best you can get."
The trend is showing up in the statistics. In a National Association of Realtors report released in July, 28 percent of brokers reported they had worked with at least one international client, up from 23 percent a year earlier. Among those, 18 percent had completed at least one sale, compared with 12 percent in the 2009 report.
"I was going invest in the stock market, but I decided to invest in real estate instead," says Diego Garcia, a Mexico City native on assignment in New York City with Pfizer Inc., where he is a regional finance director. Garcia paid $850,000 for a Manhattan one-bedroom in a gleaming new high-rise that he plans to live in for now. "I'm a conservative guy," Garcia says, "and this was more conservative."
That's not to say there aren't steep risks. An economic jolt could easily throw the whole plan into disarray. The housing market is far from a recovery. In many places, prices continue to fall. What happens if currency values reverse and a foreign owner needs a quick sale? Or a renter bolts in the middle of the night, leaving an empty unit and no cash flow?
It's not as if foreign buying can be counted on for a housing market turnaround. Overseas buyers represent a mere 7 percent or so of today's total. Yet in some cities, such as Miami and Washington, the foreign sales are helping to stabilize the markets.
In past downturns, buying a property in the U.S. was the prestigious purview of the wealthy, but today the market is within reach of the swelling ranks of the global upper-middle class.
Colombians, who often call Miami the most beautiful city in their country, have always been drawn to Florida. The difference now is the upside-down economics. It is cheaper to buy in Miami than in Bogota, and you can fly between the two cities for $59 each way.
"Muchos muchos muchos muchos opportunity," says Elsa de Blaschke, who owns a construction company with her husband in Barranquilla, Colombia, and is hunting for an investment property to buy in Miami. De Blaschke chose not to invest the capital at home because she says Florida offers a better chance of a bigger return.
"The international buyer pool is better than we have ever seen it before," says Phillip White, president of Sotheby's International, based in New York.
To match demand, U.S. brokerages are hiring agents who can speak foreign languages and are pouring more resources into marketing overseas.
In October, agents from 11 Sotheby's International branches will descend on Hong Kong's convention center to regale wealthy buyers there with slick visuals on showcase properties. In Toronto, agents from Florida Home Finders play to crowds of 800 every other Sunday at a Holiday Inn banquet hall. Jenny Huertas, Condo Vultures' international sales director, throws seminars for potential clients across South America.
"Their jaws drop. They can't believe it," Huertas says. "They think these deals are too good to be true."
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gLyL-V2T4vaQdAOvlFcoliG1yGoQD9IL4I780?docId=D9IL4I780
By MICHELLE CONLIN
Since January, 262 of the Viceroy's 372 units have sold. But there's a twist: Almost 90 percent of the buyers are foreigners. And they all paid cash.
The Viceroy's story is playing out across Miami. Individual investors from as far as Argentina, Canada, Colombia, France, Israel, Italy, Norway and Venezuela are swarming the city's sales offices to get in on what they see as one of the greatest real estate fire sales in the history of the United States.
At one time, these people would have invested in the U.S. stock market. Now they see the opportunity of a lifetime in the nation's debilitated housing market. The idea is to rent out the properties and then sell them once the economy turns around.
The math is seductive: Prices at the Viceroy are roughly 52 percent off the 2007 peak. Units once sold for as much $670 a square foot. Today the average price is $319.
"I have never seen such a high concentration of foreign nationals acquiring real estate," says Peter Zalewski, who has been in real estate for 15 years and founded Condo Vultures, a consulting and brokerage firm. "Eighty percent of the sales in downtown Miami are foreign-based. This is unprecedented."
Miami is hardly the only hot spot for buyers from outside the United States. Real estate brokers say they've seen a surge in Washington, New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco. In Seattle, Asians are buying property sight unseen, says Joe Brazen of Brazen Sotheby's International. In New York, 25 percent of buyers at the Armani-designed 20 Pine building, near the World Trade Center site, are from overseas.
"It's a positive in a sea of negatives," says Jonathan Miller, chief executive of Miller Samuel, a real estate consulting firm in New York.
This year in Phoenix, for the first time, there have been more buyers from Canada than from California, according to real estate data outfit Information Market. With the Canadian dollar approaching parity with its U.S. counterpart, the opportunity was simply irresistible to Jim Chuong, a 38-year-old Novartis sales manager from Toronto.
Chuong, whose house in Canada is already paid off, used to invest in U.S. stocks. Now he's investing in Phoenix condos, paying $50 a square foot for units that would cost $500 a square foot in Toronto.
"It's ridiculous is what it is," Chuong says.
For foreigners with cash, the deals can make them money from day one. Chuong buys two-bedroom condos for less than $40,000 in low-crime areas. He only picks up units that already have renters. After paying association fees and taxes, he walks away with $300 a month, pre-tax, on each. The deals are now easy to do, thanks to the cottage industry of companies that has grown up to manage virtually everything for foreign buyers, down to badgering renters for the monthly check.
For the international investor class, the United States' bloated inventory of homes, high unemployment and weak currency make for an unusually attractive buyer's market.
"Never before have all these things come together like this," says Patrick O'Neill, chief executive officer of the Hong Kong-based O'Neill Group, which helps Chinese invest in international real estate. O'Neill says Chinese buying in places like New York is on track to double this year.
"Unless you want to go to Baghdad," O'Neill says, "the United States is the best you can get."
The trend is showing up in the statistics. In a National Association of Realtors report released in July, 28 percent of brokers reported they had worked with at least one international client, up from 23 percent a year earlier. Among those, 18 percent had completed at least one sale, compared with 12 percent in the 2009 report.
"I was going invest in the stock market, but I decided to invest in real estate instead," says Diego Garcia, a Mexico City native on assignment in New York City with Pfizer Inc., where he is a regional finance director. Garcia paid $850,000 for a Manhattan one-bedroom in a gleaming new high-rise that he plans to live in for now. "I'm a conservative guy," Garcia says, "and this was more conservative."
That's not to say there aren't steep risks. An economic jolt could easily throw the whole plan into disarray. The housing market is far from a recovery. In many places, prices continue to fall. What happens if currency values reverse and a foreign owner needs a quick sale? Or a renter bolts in the middle of the night, leaving an empty unit and no cash flow?
It's not as if foreign buying can be counted on for a housing market turnaround. Overseas buyers represent a mere 7 percent or so of today's total. Yet in some cities, such as Miami and Washington, the foreign sales are helping to stabilize the markets.
In past downturns, buying a property in the U.S. was the prestigious purview of the wealthy, but today the market is within reach of the swelling ranks of the global upper-middle class.
Colombians, who often call Miami the most beautiful city in their country, have always been drawn to Florida. The difference now is the upside-down economics. It is cheaper to buy in Miami than in Bogota, and you can fly between the two cities for $59 each way.
"Muchos muchos muchos muchos opportunity," says Elsa de Blaschke, who owns a construction company with her husband in Barranquilla, Colombia, and is hunting for an investment property to buy in Miami. De Blaschke chose not to invest the capital at home because she says Florida offers a better chance of a bigger return.
"The international buyer pool is better than we have ever seen it before," says Phillip White, president of Sotheby's International, based in New York.
To match demand, U.S. brokerages are hiring agents who can speak foreign languages and are pouring more resources into marketing overseas.
In October, agents from 11 Sotheby's International branches will descend on Hong Kong's convention center to regale wealthy buyers there with slick visuals on showcase properties. In Toronto, agents from Florida Home Finders play to crowds of 800 every other Sunday at a Holiday Inn banquet hall. Jenny Huertas, Condo Vultures' international sales director, throws seminars for potential clients across South America.
"Their jaws drop. They can't believe it," Huertas says. "They think these deals are too good to be true."
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gLyL-V2T4vaQdAOvlFcoliG1yGoQD9IL4I780?docId=D9IL4I780
By MICHELLE CONLIN
Monday, October 4, 2010
Interest Rates And Property Prices Are Going Down In Miami
Miami, Fl – When interest rates and property prices drop many renters start to wonder - ”will be this the right time to become a homeowner instead of a renter? ” This is the biggest question for many residents of Miami in these days, and since property prices and interest rates went down, in many cases buying can be a better choice.
The prices of properties in South Florida are being affected by the big number of short sales and foreclosures; making homes more affordable for investors and home buyers.
These days, international investors are putting their eyes in Miami as one of the best real estate investment places in the world; many of them are using cash instead of financing to accelerate the closing process.
So this might be a big opportunity for Miami renters to become homeowners. The price of properties and the interest in the banks are at their lowest point in many years
Source: http://www.webnewswire.com/node/594393
The prices of properties in South Florida are being affected by the big number of short sales and foreclosures; making homes more affordable for investors and home buyers.
These days, international investors are putting their eyes in Miami as one of the best real estate investment places in the world; many of them are using cash instead of financing to accelerate the closing process.
So this might be a big opportunity for Miami renters to become homeowners. The price of properties and the interest in the banks are at their lowest point in many years
Source: http://www.webnewswire.com/node/594393
Friday, October 1, 2010
Heat's Chris Bosh scores a deal for Miami Beach home
Miami Heat big man Chris Bosh has purchased a 12,000-square-foot home on North Bay Road in Miami Beach, the real estate firm listing the property said Friday, shortly after the sale closed.
The 7-bedroom, 8-bath mansion just south of La Gorce Island sold for $12.5 million, said listing agent Lourdes Alatriste, of real estate firm Engel & Voelkers.
Built in 2009, the home features 20-foot ceilings, a gourmet kitchen, gym, elevator and an infinity pool with unobstructed views of Biscayne Bay.
``When he saw the house, he was overwhelmed,'' Alatriste said. ``It's perfect for him. He's seen a lot of houses, but he wanted a brand new house.''
Alatriste said she nabbed the high-profile sale by tracking the NBA free agent drama this summer, and watching the movements of the Miami Heat's new stars in the weeks following LeBron James' decision to join the team.
In late July, Bosh and his girlfriend traveled to the Hamptons, staying at the home of Alan and Diane Lieberman, who own seven hotels on South Beach. Diane Lieberman, who also owns SBI Realty, started discussing housing options with Bosh during the trip and Alatriste called to offer up the North Bay Road home she was listing.
In the next few weeks, Bosh and Lieberman visited a lot of homes, not settling on any, and Alatriste continued to put in calls to Lieberman pitching the North Bay Road home as Bosh's next pad. Eventually, Lieberman took a visit, and Bosh later viewed the home and put an offer in, Alatriste said.
Lieberman declined to comment on the sale, as did Bosh's representative.
The home is also the reportedly the site where Bosh proposed to his fiancée, Adrienne Williams, on Aug. 27, soon after going into contract.
The owner of the home, Glenna Norton, developed the property, completing the all-white, glass-enveloped structure in March 2009. ``It's a beautiful contemporary home -- it's perfectly proportioned, and it has all the amenities,'' Norton said. ``It has beautiful finishes, and it's a transparent house, with all glass and with fantastic walls for art.''
The North Bay Road neighborhood has housed a number of celebrities, including Jennifer Lopez, members of the Bee Gees and Matt Damon, who lives a few doors away from Bosh's new home. The mansion owned by insurance executive Mel Harris, also a few blocks away, is rumored to be the top choice of Heat guard Dwyane Wade, who has been house hunting this summer after selling his Pinecrest home earlier this year.
Bosh's home was originally listed for more than $16 million.
Norton said she had offers to buy and rent the home back in 2009, but wanted to wait out the market, since new homes in Miami Beach are scarce.
``The market at that time when I finished (construction) wasn't good, but I was patient and I knew the right person would come along,'' she said. ``And he did.''
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/25/1841821/heats-chris-bosh-scores-a-deal.html
By TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA
tolorunnipa@MiamiHerald.com
The 7-bedroom, 8-bath mansion just south of La Gorce Island sold for $12.5 million, said listing agent Lourdes Alatriste, of real estate firm Engel & Voelkers.
Built in 2009, the home features 20-foot ceilings, a gourmet kitchen, gym, elevator and an infinity pool with unobstructed views of Biscayne Bay.
``When he saw the house, he was overwhelmed,'' Alatriste said. ``It's perfect for him. He's seen a lot of houses, but he wanted a brand new house.''
Alatriste said she nabbed the high-profile sale by tracking the NBA free agent drama this summer, and watching the movements of the Miami Heat's new stars in the weeks following LeBron James' decision to join the team.
In late July, Bosh and his girlfriend traveled to the Hamptons, staying at the home of Alan and Diane Lieberman, who own seven hotels on South Beach. Diane Lieberman, who also owns SBI Realty, started discussing housing options with Bosh during the trip and Alatriste called to offer up the North Bay Road home she was listing.
In the next few weeks, Bosh and Lieberman visited a lot of homes, not settling on any, and Alatriste continued to put in calls to Lieberman pitching the North Bay Road home as Bosh's next pad. Eventually, Lieberman took a visit, and Bosh later viewed the home and put an offer in, Alatriste said.
Lieberman declined to comment on the sale, as did Bosh's representative.
The home is also the reportedly the site where Bosh proposed to his fiancée, Adrienne Williams, on Aug. 27, soon after going into contract.
The owner of the home, Glenna Norton, developed the property, completing the all-white, glass-enveloped structure in March 2009. ``It's a beautiful contemporary home -- it's perfectly proportioned, and it has all the amenities,'' Norton said. ``It has beautiful finishes, and it's a transparent house, with all glass and with fantastic walls for art.''
The North Bay Road neighborhood has housed a number of celebrities, including Jennifer Lopez, members of the Bee Gees and Matt Damon, who lives a few doors away from Bosh's new home. The mansion owned by insurance executive Mel Harris, also a few blocks away, is rumored to be the top choice of Heat guard Dwyane Wade, who has been house hunting this summer after selling his Pinecrest home earlier this year.
Bosh's home was originally listed for more than $16 million.
Norton said she had offers to buy and rent the home back in 2009, but wanted to wait out the market, since new homes in Miami Beach are scarce.
``The market at that time when I finished (construction) wasn't good, but I was patient and I knew the right person would come along,'' she said. ``And he did.''
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/25/1841821/heats-chris-bosh-scores-a-deal.html
By TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA
tolorunnipa@MiamiHerald.com
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Miami Real Estate Market It’s Slowly Recovering
Miami, Florida, US - The Miami homes and condos pending sales have risen 33.7 percent in august compare to august 2009 according to Miami Association of Realtors and South Florida Multiple Listing Services.
This rise it’s happening because the properties in Miami Florida are reaching the bottom price. Since 2005 most properties lost up to 50% of their value, giving to investors and first time home buyers the opportunity to become homeowners in Miami.
“This is the right time to buy a home or a condo in Miami. Buyers can take advantage of this down market opportunity and save thousands of dollars before the market goes up again”
The property prices are at their lowest point, and as history shows and happened many times before, the market will be changing slowly into a seller’s market, the property prices will go up and today opportunities will be all gone in the near future.
This is a great opportunity for South Florida renters that want to become homeowners. They can take a look of what it is available in today’s market; in some cases their mortgage monthly payments will be lower than their current monthly rent.
Source: http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=123619
Julio Hernandez
(786) 587 4654
www.miamirealestatelistings.org
This rise it’s happening because the properties in Miami Florida are reaching the bottom price. Since 2005 most properties lost up to 50% of their value, giving to investors and first time home buyers the opportunity to become homeowners in Miami.
“This is the right time to buy a home or a condo in Miami. Buyers can take advantage of this down market opportunity and save thousands of dollars before the market goes up again”
The property prices are at their lowest point, and as history shows and happened many times before, the market will be changing slowly into a seller’s market, the property prices will go up and today opportunities will be all gone in the near future.
This is a great opportunity for South Florida renters that want to become homeowners. They can take a look of what it is available in today’s market; in some cases their mortgage monthly payments will be lower than their current monthly rent.
Source: http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=123619
Julio Hernandez
(786) 587 4654
www.miamirealestatelistings.org
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)