South Florida home prices and sales rose in September

Juiced by foreign buyers and investors, South Florida’s housing market registered strong gains in September.

The latest price and sales increases — mirroring a string of similar results in prior months — underscore a solid housing recovery for a region hard-hit by the real estate crash.
The median price of a single-family home in Miami-Dade County jumped 18.4 percent in September to $225,000 from $190,000 a year earlier, while the median condo price rose 21.3 percent year over year to $181,875 from $150,000, according to the Miami Association of Realtors.
In Broward, the median price for a single-family home jumped 31.7 percent in September to $270,000 from $205,000 a year earlier, and was up 18 percent to $104,999 from $89,000 for condos and townhouses year over year, according to the Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors.
Sales of Miami-Dade single-family homes rose by 21.8 percent with 1,108 closings in September, up from 910 a year earlier, while Miami-Dade condo sales increased 4.6 percent to 1,352 closings from 1,292 a year earlier.

Miami-Dade — ground zero during the real estate bust — has now chalked up 27 consecutive months of year-over-year price increases for condominiums and 22 months of year-over-year price increases for single-family homes.

The housing market kept humming in Broward County, as well.
Sales of Broward single-family homes rose 13.4 percent in September to 1,211 from 1,068 a year earlier, and condo sales rose 6.6 percent to 1,252 units from 1,174 a year earlier.
“Everything is still trending up,” said Stephen B. McWilliam, president and broker at Florida StateRealty Group in Fort Lauderdale and immediate past president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors.

Cash continues to be king: 71 percent of Miami-Dade condo closings in September were cash deals.
“It’s putting a lot of strain on buyers with 5 percent or 10 percent down. They can’t have choices,” said Michael Davalos, an agent with Coldwell Banker in Miami Beach who just helped a buyer nail a deal on a foreclosed house after a protracted search.
Eric Schneider, a first-time homebuyer who was looking to put down 20 percent, said he made several offers in the past eight months that didn’t pan out before he finally clinched a foreclosed property in the Richmond Heights neighborhood. “Certainly, at times, there’s been a lot of competition,” said Schneider, who works in healthcare.
Inventory remained relatively tight in both counties during September, although the supply of Miami-Dade condos listed for sale jumped 20.5 percent to 8,970 units from 7,442 units a year earlier. That amounted to a 6.3-month supply, up from a 5.6-month supply in September 2012. Meanwhile, condos newly listed in Miami-Dade in September totaled 2,727, up from 2,212 a year earlier.
“It’s moving toward a more balanced market for condominiums,” said Lynda Fernandez, a spokeswoman for the Miami Realtors.

The inventory of Miami-Dade single-family homes rose 4.8 percent in September from a year earlier. With homes selling at a rapid clip, that amounted to just a 4.9-month supply in September, or 4.9 times the number of homes sold, down from a 5.6-month of supply a year earlier.
A supply of less than six months is typically regarded as a sellers’ market, in which sellers can call the shots and prices rise at a brisk pace.
Single-family homes in Miami-Dade took a median of 41 days to sell, compared with 42 days a year earlier.

In Broward, amid tight inventory and robust demand, the median period to sell a home was 27 days, down from 42 days in September 2012.
The number of homes listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service in Broward in September was 4,737, up 0.9 percent from 4,693 a year earlier. That is just a 3.8-month supply, or 3.8 times as many homes on the market as were sold in a month, down from a 4.2-month supply a year earlier.
The inventory of condos for sale rose 9 percent to 6,430 from 5,901. But with units selling quickly, the supply inched up to 4.6 months in September from 4.4 months a year earlier. That is still a very tight supply.

Condos in Broward sold at a median pace of 36 days in September, down from 38 days a year earlier.
“We certainly have a shortage of inventory, which is leading to price increases,” said Philip Vias, a broker associate with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Realty in Fort Lauderdale. Homebuyers are motivated, he said, as “they have seen the prices go up and the interest rates are so low.” It’s a great time to buy.”

While the year-over-year gains remain strong, both Miami-Dade and Broward sales softened from the peak summer month of August.

The median prices for both single-family homes and condos in Miami-Dade were down 4.3 percent in September from August. The volume of condo sales dropped 15 percent month-to-month, while single-family home sales were down 8.4 percent from August to September. “We think that year-over-year comparisons are more meaningful. There are fluctuations month-to-month,” Miami Realtors’ Fernandez said.

Compared with August, the median price of a Broward single-family home in September was essentially flat, while the median price of a condo fell 11 percent. Sales of condos were down 17 percent from 1,513 closings in August, and single-family home sales dropped 13 percent month to month, from 1,396 closings in August.  Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/21/v-fullstory/3702589/broward-existing-home-prices-and.html

By Martha Brannigan

mbrannigan@MiamiHerald.com

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/21/v-fullstory/3702589/broward-existing-home-prices-and.html#storylink=cpy

Miami home sellers cut prices by $123.8M in August

Nearly one in five home sellers in the city of Miami reduced prices in August, according to a report released Wednesday by real estate search firm Trulia.com. The average reduction was 10 percent, according to the report, which tracked the nation's 50 largest cities.

Miami recorded a total of $123.8 million in home price reductions in August, the report found.

Nationally, price reductions have increased for three months in a row, totaling 26 percent of all properties for sale. Home sellers have slashed prices by more than $29 billion since July, Trulia found. The average reduction nationally was 10 percent, or $33,892, in August.

Trulia's report does not include foreclosure properties, which make up less than 10 percent of properties listed for sale in South Florida.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/15/1825376/miami-home-sellers-cut-prices.html

Trulia: Miami homeowners continue to slash prices

Eighteen percent of homes for sale in Miami saw their prices slashed in August by an average of 12 percent, according to data from real estate website Trulia.com.

Still, Miami actually ranks fairly low – at No. 49 on the list of 50 cities – with $123.8 million in price reductions. It was ahead of only Detroit, which saw 16 percent of homeowners slashing prices – though they did cut deeper, at 25 percent.

Nationwide, 26 percent of homeowners cut prices to account for a total reduction of more than $29 billion nationwide. The average national price reduction was 10 percent.

Despite the increase of price reduction figures to historic levels, 24 of the 50 largest U.S. cities held steady or dropped, compared with data from the previous month, according to Trulia.

"On the surface, the latest price reduction data carries with it conflicting messages," Trulia co-founder and CEO Pete Flint said in a news release. "Nationwide, sellers continue to slash prices, and this is a worrisome trend. However, we're seeing gradual improvement in many U.S. cities – several for consecutive months. What this shows us is that, while we're in for a long climb to bring stability back to the housing market and while it's going to take time, that climb appears to at least be under way in some parts of the country."

Meanwhile, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday that, for the week ended Sept. 10, mortgage loan application volume fell 8.9 percent from the previous week on a seasonally adjusted basis. The number of refinancings fell 10.8 percent, despite the fact that mortgage rates fell.


The average interest rate for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.47 percent from 4.5 percent.
The average interest rate for 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.96 percent from 4 percent.
The average interest rate for one-year, adjustable rate mortgages decreased to 6.89 percent from 7 percent.


Source: http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2010/09/13/daily28.html

Home Sales Drop in Some Areas and Remain Stable in Others

If you have been paying attention to the news on the television and in the papers lately, you probably know that the real estate market seems to be in a bit of a bind. Home sales are dwindling, and people aren’t able to get into the homes that they want. While this may be a problem in many areas of the country, it doesn’t hold true for certain locations.

Why is there such a difference based on geography? The old saying of “location, location, location,” is very true in the real estate world. People are still buying homes in Miami because of the location. It offers people a close proximity to the beach as well as all of the attractions and shopping in the city. They have major sports teams, and they have great weather; the city offers excellent nightlife and incredible restaurants too. Miami is far more than just a vacation destination: people truly want to live there and experience the good life throughout the year. Who could blame them?

Who are all of the people who are moving south and stimulating the real estate market? They are people just like you, people who are tired of spending time in the cold, people who want to enjoy their retirement. You can also find people who are in the prime of their lives, young families and singles who want all of the glamour and excitement that a city like Miami holds.

It is more than just the snowbirds and the retirees that are buying up property in Miami. People from all around the world are attracted to the great prices on the luxury condos. The prices are only part of the factor though. People want to live near the water and they want to be close to a large city with great schools. All of these are reasons that the area around Miami is still doing so well even though other places in the country are struggling when it comes to real estate.

This is particularly excellent news for those who are looking to sell their homes. They should have no trouble in finding buyers who are ready to make the move to Miami.

With all of the great properties that are available now, with more high-rise condo buildings coming, now is a great time to start looking at a new home in Miami.

Greater Miami real estate soars

Condo sales soared by 70% in May 2010 compared to May 2009. Sales of existing single-family homes rose 22%.

Sales in the Greater Miami area beat national sales of existing single-family homes, which increased 19.2 percent from May 2009, according to the Realtor Association of Greater Miami and the Beaches (RAMB). Compared to May 2008, condominium sales in Miami increased 131% and sales of single-family homes rose 115%. Median sales prices posted a month-to-month gain, and both residential inventory and the time a home stays on the market decreased. "International buyers continue to fuel the current market resurgence," said Oliver Ruiz, 2010 RAMB Residential President. "Sixty percent of sales happening now involve international buyers and mostly cash transactions ... This is resulting in over bidding and multiple offers even in the high-end sector."

Source: http://www.poder360.com/dailynews_detail.php?blurbid=7876

Foreign buyers are flocking to Florida condos again

May 30--Nearly 800 Canadians will jam a hotel ballroom near the Toronto airport Sunday to hear the gospel of Florida real estate.

High-end Brazilian buyers prefer to be wooed more intimately -- perhaps at a cocktail party or a small private dinner -- but they are just as pumped.

Lured by rock-bottom prices, international buyers are now flocking to buy Florida properties. It's especially true in countries where the currency is strong against the dollar.

"We're telling Canadians this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity -- the perfect storm," said Brian Ellis, who heads Toronto-based Florida Home Finders of Canada. "The prices are just incredible and the Canadian dollar has been so strong."

At least three of five buyers in the Greater Downtown Miami condo market are coming from abroad, estimates Jenny Huertas, international sales director for Condo Vultures, a real estate advisory and research firm.

The stampede from overseas is "kind of like a foreign subsidy helping us resolve our real estate problems," said Peter Zalewski, a Condo Vultures principal. "This time the assistance isn't coming from Washington. It's coming from Caracas, London, Milan, Bogota."

The buying frenzy was set off by developers lowering prices on new units to below what it cost to build in today's market, Huertas said.

"There were many people on the sidelines watching for the floor. In the last three or four months there's the perception that we're there," said developer Edgardo Defortuna, president and chief executive of Fortune International.

CASH CUSTOMERS

Most of the foreigners are cash buyers like Leroy Jean Francois, who has snapped up 47 properties since January for the two real estate firms he works for in France and Switzerland. The plan, he said, is to buy, fix up if necessary, rent out for the next five years, then sell -- for a profit.

The Frenchman has already made a paper profit on a unit he closed on in January at Marquis Residences, a 67-story luxury tower in downtown Miami where prices for a one-bedroom apartment start at $375,000. His unit cost $317 per square foot -- "a great price, incredible," he said.

A recent plunge in the euro -- it's now worth $1.23, down from its high of more than $1.60 in 2008 -- could cool things off a little. To buy a $1 million condo, it now takes around 814,000 euros compared to 625,000 euros under the old exchange rate.

Meantime, prices at Marquis Residences also have strengthened to around $400 per square foot.

But even the declining euro has barely given Francois pause.

"I think the euro will weaken more. But even if the exchange rate is $1 to 1 euro, South Florida real estate is still a great bargain for us," said Francois, who is president of The Bridge, a real estate fund consultancy.

AVERAGE JOES

Luxury condos are once again popular among Latin America buyers who purchase them as investments but also as a home base while their children attend school here, they attend to business interests or escape strife at home.

But for his Canadian buyers, Ellis scours South Florida for condo units at around the $150,000 price point. "We're basically the Wal-Mart. We're for the average Joe."

And these days average Joe Canadian can afford much more. For decades the U.S. dollar was worth more than the Canadian dollar and buying in the U.S. was always more expensive for Canadians. But in September 2007, the Canadian dollar reached parity with the greenback for the first time in 31 years. It fell back again, but now the Canadian loonie, which takes its name from the loon pictured on the one-dollar coin, is near parity at around 95 cents.

So Ellis has been offering his Florida real estate seminars to packed houses in Ontario and is thinking about taking the show on the road to Montreal. There was so much interest in the latest seminar that he had to schedule two sessions for 400 people each this Sunday.

Most of his Canadian buyers are what Ellis calls "end-vestors," meaning they plan on renting a unit out for now with an eye toward using it themselves down the road.

Since Home Finders is licensed as a brokerage only in Canada, it works with Florida brokers who complete the sales and pay the Canadian firm referral fees. By year's end, Ellis said he expects to have facilitated 500 Florida closings.

PRICES HALVED

Though Home Finders is now working with one Sunny Isles Beach property where condos are listed for up to $350,000, the Sun Vista Gardens in Tamarac is a more typical offering.

There, buyers can find a one-bedroom for under $75,000 and a two-bedroom for under $100,000. That same one-bedroom, used to cost $190,000, according to Florida Home Finders' website.

Ellis said he's actually having a hard time coming up with enough Florida properties in the $150,000 range. Of course, he's picky. He's looking for good value, a good location and properties without legal complications. Most of the Canadians want condos, but Ellis said he has some requests for single-family homes.

Though buyers from Europe, Latin America -- most from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela -- and Canada predominate in the South Florida market, a smattering of Chinese investors and African buyers also are starting to make purchases.

"We recently sold a $7.5 million penthouse at Jade Ocean to a Nigerian buyer," said Defortuna. "They were here and they loved it."

CHINA, TOO

At Fortune's 237-unit Artech building, Defortuna said 11 condos were sold to Chinese investors. Units in the building are selling for almost half of the original asking price.

"I think China is still a marginal market," said Defortuna. "The Chinese are more focused on the West Coast and New York, but small pockets [of Chinese buyers] can make a big difference in a building."

With international offices in Mexico and Argentina, Fortune can tap directly into those markets, and it frequently holds seminars on the legal and financial aspects of owning property in the United States. At one recent event in Buenos Aires there was space for just 200 people, so Fortune decided to charge a $60 fee. "We still had to close reservations," said Defortuna.

One big concern of foreign buyers is what happens to their properties when they lock up after a vacation, said Defortuna. But Fortune International's property management division will take care of things like paying utilities and condo fees -- and even turn over a client's car engine once a week so the battery doesn't die.

A number of local brokerages have country specialists on staff who work with their counterparts abroad to bring in buyers.

Elite Global Reality, for example, has sales associates who specialize in the French, Italian and Chilean markets, said Thiago Costa, executive director and sales associates.

Costa, who is Brazilian, travels frequently to his homeland where local partners have set up meetings with potential buyers in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro or Belo Horizonte who are "willing and able to buy."

He prefers to present one South Florida project at a time to 10 to 20 people at a cocktail party or even a dinner at the home of a potential buyer.

With Miami prices so low, the Brazilian currency (the real) strong, the Brazilian economy robust and real estate prices on the rise in cities like Sao Paulo, where a luxury property might cost $800 to $1,000 per square foot, Brazilians like what they see in South Florida.

'IMPOSSIBLE TO LOSE'

"They feel it's almost impossible to lose money," said Costa.

Africa Israel USA, the New York-based developer of the 292-unit Marquis Residences, also works with the brokerage community in target markets like Venezuela, the South of France, Mexico and Brazil. Working with brokers, it has put on events ranging from fashion shows to invitation-only cocktail parties and dinners, said Lori Odover, the managing director.

"It needs to be someone they know, that they have a one-on-one relationship," she said. So that means even an event at a synagogue or someone's uncle's pool party can be a selling opportunity.

Though most international buyers pay cash, there's an international financing program at Marquis that has proven popular. Some 57 percent of Marquis' foreign buyers have chosen it.

While the program's 45 percent down payment for a five-year ARM seems steep, Bob Wuan, managing director of Americore Mortgage/Vacation Finance, said, "We find international buyers are more than willing to put 50 percent or more down. They want to put money in U.S. real estate as a currency hedge or an inflation hedge."

Meanwhile, Ellis keeps telling Canadians what a great deal Florida is: "We believe Florida is in for quite a rebound. We just don't know when."

Source: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/yb/145584684

By Mimi Whitefield, The Miami Herald

Sales Of Previously Owned Homes

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Sales of previously owned U.S. homes jumped 6.8 percent in March, a national group said Thursday.

Real estate agents have been counting on a spring surge brought on by an expanded and extended federal tax credit for buyers. The March sales pace reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.35 million units, up from 5.01 million in February and 16.1 percent above the 4.61-million-unit pace in March 2009, according to the National Association of Realtors in Washington.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the group, said the federal tax credit that was to expire at the end of this month had been a "resounding success."

Whether home sales will hold up after the expiration remains a question in debate.

"I'm fairly sanguine, frankly," said Michael D. Larson, a housing and interest-rate analyst with Weiss Research. "While the credit expires April 30, more forces are at work here. Home prices are now reasonable in many parts of the country, and financing costs remain low."

The national median home price was $170,700 last month, up 0.4 percent from the same month the prior year, the Realtors group said.

Regionally, sales of previously owned homes rose 6.6 percent in the West, 7.1 percent in the South, 7.2 percent in the Midwest and 6 percent in the East.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/22/1593001/sales-of-previously-owned-homes.html

By ALEJANDRO LAZO
Los Angeles Times

In Miami, Condo Sales Rise as Prices Bottom Out

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MIAMI — Though it overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and offers high-end amenities like a wine vault and a cigar humidor, the Caribbean condominium complex in Miami Beach seemed by last summer to be just another casualty of the glutted South Florida housing market.

The Caribbean in Miami Beach.
There were buyers for all 103 units in the complex, which includes a small renovated Art Deco building and a new glass tower, but only 14 had been willing to close. The rest had simply walked away from their deposits.

The Caribbean, at 37th Street and Collins Avenue, resulted in heavy losses for its developers, a partnership of Christa Development of Victor, N.Y., and Bluerock Real Estate of New York City, and its lender, the now-defunct Corus Bankshares of Chicago.

But it has reaped a nice profit for another real estate investor, Melohn Properties, also of New York City, which assumed control of the property after buying the $127.7 million mortgage from Corus last August. Melohn paid less than half the face value of the loan, according to the building’s broker, Diane Lieberman, the owner of SBI Realty in Miami Beach.

There are now just 15 units left at the Caribbean, Ms. Lieberman said. Originally priced around $1,100 a square foot, the condos are selling for an average of $600 a square foot, with those on a high floor with wraparound terraces selling at $750 a square foot. Most of the buyers paid cash, and all plan to use the condos themselves, she said.

Peter Zalewski, the owner of Condo Vultures, a brokerage firm that specializes in selling units in bulk, said a dozen other investors had taken a look at the Caribbean loan and passed. “Now they’re all having remorse,” he said.

Though the Miami market remains deeply troubled, it is no longer moribund, real estate specialists say. Activity is picking up, though buyers who intend to live in their units are primarily interested in top properties in the best locations, said Robert Kaplan, a principal of Olympian Capital Group, a real estate investment bank in Miami. Even though the Caribbean is opposite a stalled project and is north of South Beach, its ocean views and solid construction are attractive, he said.

Brokers say that South Beach, because of its glamorous night life and smaller inventory as well as its proximity to the ocean, continues to do much better than downtown, with its canyons of new high-rise condos.

From May through December last year, 1,000 new units sold in downtown Miami — an area from Brickell Avenue north to the Julia Tuttle Causeway — according to a study prepared for the Miami Downtown Development Authority, a quasi-independent city agency. But the majority of the buyers were investors, many of them from South America, real estate specialists said. And though occupancy in new downtown buildings increased to 74 percent from 68 percent, more than half of the new residents were renters, and 7,000 of the 22,000 new condo units built since 2003 remained unsold. Most are in the Brickell area, where much of the new construction is concentrated.

Since the study was completed, another 700 units have sold downtown, Mr. Zalewski said.

A big chunk of these sales were made at the Icon Brickell, a new 1,646-unit condominium complex that became a symbol of downtown excess because of features like as a $15 million entryway with 100 sculptured columns. By the end of last year, only 125 condos had sold, with an average price of $543 a square foot, Mr. Zalewski’s data shows.

Since January, however, 199 sales have closed at the complex, which is situated where the Miami River meets Biscayne Bay. But the average price in the first quarter was $404 a square foot and about 30 units have sold for less than $300 a square foot.

“In South America, a Brickell address is like a U.S. savings bond,” said Jay Massirman, a senior managing director of Related Group of Florida, which developed the complex. “They know that prices are not going any lower. He said buyers also know they are buying for less than it cost to build the units.

Over all, condo prices in Miami-Dade County have declined by 51 percent since 2007, when the median price was $275,000, said Ronald A. Shuffield, the president of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realtors of Coral Gables. Last month, 2,381 condos in the county went to contract — nearly twice as many as in March 2009 — but the median price had slipped to $135,000, he said.

Still, the increase in sales may not translate into higher prices. With so many investment sales, many units will come back to the market when prices begin to rise, in turn keeping prices down, said Lewis M. Goodkin, a real estate analyst and a co-author of the downtown association’s report. “So we’re far from out of the woods,” Mr. Goodkin said. “I think we have a minimum of five years left before we have equilibrium in the market.”

Jack McCabe, a real estate consultant in Deerfield Beach, Fla., said rents had fallen so far that a new condo with 1,200 square feet could be leased for as little as $1,200 a month, less than what it cost most owners to cover their expenses. “The mini-boom is not creating a healthy real estate market,” he said.

But the influx of renters has meant that downtown no longer looks like a ghost town. More lights are on at night, and new shops and restaurants have opened. “It’s bringing a vibrancy to the downtown that we haven’t ever felt here,” said Alyce Robertson, the executive director of the downtown association. Two Publix supermarkets have been added to downtown since the mini-boom began. While some stores and restaurants closed during the recession, and a planned Whole Foods never materialized, the area had a net gain of 42 retailers in 2009, Ms. Robertson said.

Brokers said more owner-occupiers were in the market now that both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had loosened restrictions that made it harder for prospective buyers to get loans. Some condos in foreclosure had even received multiple bids, said Lucas Lechuga, a sales agent with Keller Williams Realty in Miami. Mr. Lechuga said one of his clients lost out on a one-bedroom condo at the Vue at Brickell in downtown Miami that was listed at $142,500 but sold for $225,000. Buyers do not seem deterred even in cases when the previous owner made off with the appliances, Mr. Lechuga said. “It’s crazy what I’ve been seeing in the last three months,” he said.

But anyone looking for a bargain at the Paramount Bay, at North East 21st Street and North Bayshore Drive, or at the new Mint, on the Miami River at South West Third Street, will have to wait. The two developments were part of Corus’s $5 billion national loan portfolio. Starwood Capital and several partners bought a 40 percent stake in the portfolio in January in a deal valued at $2.77 billion. “It will be some time before we are offering units for sale to the public at either property,” said Tom Johnson, a spokesman for Starwood, which is managing the portfolio.

To make the portfolio attractive, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation took a majority stake and provided $1 billion in interest-free financing.

“Our purchase price for Corus coupled with the unusual financing we have in place allows us to be very patient,” Barry Sternlicht, chief executive of Starwood, said in an e-mail message.

Craig A. Werley, the president of Focus Real Estate Advisors, a Miami consulting firm, and a co-author of the downtown study, said Starwood would be well-positioned in the future when other new buildings had sold out. “They are sitting in the
catbird seat.” he said.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/realestate/commercial/21miami.html
By TERRY PRISTIN