Miami Beach Real Estate Roars Back

Apogee South Beach

I knew this was a really good year, but it wasn’t until I started to pull the stats that I realized HOW good a year it’s been – and continues to be.  We regularly track nine condos in South Beach’s South of Fifth (SoFi) neighborhood for a few reasons:

  • Location
  • Types of buildings
  • Buyer profile

These to me are the most important factors for really gauging the luxury condo market here in Miami Beach.

South Beach-South of Fifth Condos We Track

“I Have a Friend, and He Told Me…”

I’ve had many (oodles) clients during the last few years who wanted “deals.”  Of course, because I do these stats regularly, I know the numbers in my sleep.  (For the record, I’ve encouraged them ALL to pull the trigger.)  I’ve had to explain, ad nauseam, that Miami proper is NOT Miami Beach/South Beach.  I would liken Miami proper to Los Angeles and the Miami Beach/South Beach luxury condo market to, say, Beverly Hills.

You Want a “Deal?” It May Be Too Late.

Some bought, some didn’t.  It was ALWAYS their choice.  I must admit, I do get a certain sense of satisfaction knowing that my clients are making smart moves.

Okay… on to the stats.

Number of Miami Beach/South Beach Condos Sold

  • 2008: 153
  • 2009: 129
  • 2010: 149
  • 2011: 128 thru June 30

South Beach real estate condo market

A few notes on the graph above.  The Apogee Penthouse closed in Q2 for $11.5M.  I thought it was a very unremarkable price for the property, but I’ll leave it at that.  Apogee South Beach tends to sell in waves.  One wave was May-July of 2010.  The last wave started in March 2011.  The current all-time high PPSF sold is Apogee unit #1404 at $1,769.  I’m particularly proud of this because #1404 was my listing.  The penthouse sold for $1,678/SF.  Ahem.

Continuum South has really impressed this year with 17 sales, and unit #3603/04 traded for $10.576M for a PPSF of $1,643!

Well, it’s clear that we are on track to get back to pre-2008 numbers.  Madoff and that whole economic “bizness” affected SoFi, and Miami Beach luxury real estate in general, more than that “other” stuff (sub-prime loans, jobs losses, etc.).

The Miami Beach/South Beach real estate market is a cash market.  There were a few peeps who had to do a short sale or foreclosure, but those deals were the exception, not the rule.  I would venture to guess that 80% of the 2,000+ units in this index were purchased with cash. (I’m so not doing THAT research.)

Most Expensive Condo for Sale in Miami Beach

Average Days on Market [DOM]

2008: 148

2009: 188

2010: 193

2011: 161 thru June 30th

Wow. Wow. Wow.  A market is considered “normal” when approximately 10% of its total inventory is available for sale at any given time.  It is definitely a sellers’ market.  Continuum North has fairly substantial inventory available because the developer held back and dumped about 40 units on the market at one time.  Although it seems like there are plenty of units left in this condo — the oceanside of the building is basically sold out.  Now, let’s take a look at available units in the rest of the South of Fifth buildings:  all hover around 5% of inventory.  That’s nothing.

Miami Beach real estate

Apogee is clearly the most expensive condominium in South Florida on a PPSF basis.  In six months, the average PPSF rose from $1,303 to $1,659.  All buildings are enjoying a nice increase in PPSF from 2010′s numbers.  I’ll end my post with one little nugget: low inventory and high demand only mean ONE thing.  Draw your own conclusions.

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