South Beach Condos Blog

This month I have started to feel that Miami Beach condo sellers are coming to terms with the reality of the “new” market. The impending wave of new condos “across the bridge” will no doubt bring down the market as a whole. Don’t worry, the best properties in the best locations are the LAST to go down and the FIRST to come up!

Three new luxury buildings will be added to the Miami Beach real estate mix: Continuum II, Apogee South Beach and Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach. It will be interesting to see how many speculators place their units on the market at Continuum II.  Since Apogee South Beach has so few units (67), I think that any inventory that comes to market will be quickly absorbed.

So….You Want to Buy a Condo in South Beach?—What to Do

Always be guided by your gut instinct. Never let anyone talk you into something that you don’t feel is quite right. Even in this wobbly market, I would have NO problem buying a unit a Continuum, NONE! Here’s why: Location and supply and demand.

Kevin’s Recommendations

Continuum I. I believe it is actually a steal. Yup, UNDER-PRICED!

Apogee South Beach. This building is very pricey but will no doubt become the most prestigious condominium in ALL of South Florida. To be delivered later this year.

Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach. One of the only projects along with Setai South Beach that is actually a destination.

One Bal Harbour. Arguably one of the two best locations in all of South Florida.

ICON South Beach. This one is all about timing. There is a lot of inventory on the market and not many condo sales. The owners that need to sell will be in reality VERY SOON.

Miami Beach Real Estate Condo Buying Tips:

• East and Southeast exposures are the most desired. If the condominium is on the bay, then the Southwest exposure would be the preferred exposure.
• Two bedroom units are better than three bedroom units (larger pool of buyers)
• If you can find a luxury condo on the ocean with one bedroom units with eastern exposure, those are rare. Continuum II has some and so does Canyon Ranch Living. They are gold. Developers typically give the larger units the preferred east exposure.
• Never buy a “flow-through” unit without seeing it or taking a tour of others. Some people like them—some people don’t.
• Corner “flow-through” units (three exposures) are rare. Apogee has them and so does Canyon Ranch Living. Great on paper, GREATER in reality.

Miami Beach Condos, Miami Beach real estate, One Bal Harbour, South Beach real estate, South Beach condos, Continuum II South Beach, Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach

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Sorry about the late update of the October installment of the South Beach condo statistics. I just re-launched my new website. The new website, www.kevintomlinson.com, has incredible and first-ever features like the ability to track changes of the list price of all Miami Beach condos (or at least the ones represented on the site).

South Beach Real Estate Blog: Your Miami Beach Real Estate On-line Newsroom

Ok, so historically, August and September are the slowest months of the year with regard to Miami Beach real estate sales activity. The numbers from last month’s post don’t really reflect anything earth-shattering.

This data is based on information from the Southeast Florida Regional (SEFR) MLS or from the associations participating in the SEFR for the period 1/1/07 through 10/3/2007.

This South Beach condo analysis covers the South Beach condos: Continuum South Beach, Murano at Portofino, Murano Grande, ICON South Beach, Portofino Tower, Yacht Club at Portofino, and South Pointe Tower

Here are some of the highlights:

Continuum had five closings from 9/4/2007–10/3/2007. That is impressive given the time of the year.

Miami Beach Condo Sellers: Time Is NOT Your Friend

Here, surprisingly, the average days on market has actually fallen in every condominium except Murano Grande from the previous months stats. ICON South Beach and Portofino Tower are continuing to choke on their own inventory. Every building except for Murano at Portofino and Continuum has problems with their amount of inventory and time on the market.

I sense that many owners are waiting for “season” before adjusting their prices where they need to be. Being “on the ground,” I know that there are buyers out there, it is just that so many sellers are not being realistic or hearing what the market is telling them.

Kevin’s advice: If you are a serious Miami Beach condo seller, don’t wait until after the “season” (“season” typically is December-June) to re-evaluate your pricing, DO IT NOW! If you plan on re-evaluating your list price, here is a guide to help you do it, the right way.

A normal real estate market dictates that about 10% of the condominium’s units could be available for sale at any given time. Murano Grande, ICON South Beach, and Portofino Tower have way too much inventory. Real estate market fundamentals, like location and supply and demand, are more important than ever.

Here is a quick run-down of the Miami Beach real estate activity in the SoFi neighborhood of South Beach from 9/4/07 thru 10/3/07:

Nine units closed, four of which were in Continuum South Beach

Two units pended (awaiting closing, under contract); both of which were in ICON South Beach

40 units came on the market

• Continuum: 7
• Murano at Portofino: 6
• Murano Grande: 7
• ICON South Beach: 5
• Portofino Tower: 2
• Yacht Club at Portofino: 9
• South Pointe Tower: 4

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I hear that Apogee is to be delivered before the end of the year. I know a lot of readers have been asking me about construction updates so here it is! What was even more fun was that I went out to check out the $12M penthouse at Murano at Portofino for a client and I was treated to a birdseye view right into the penthouses of Apogee. So I’m doing my best to get my readers on the “inside” first!

The penthouses are two-story units with roof-top balconies and summer kitchens (what’s with that term?) The west-facing penthouse is owned by Tom Daly of Related Group; the center penthouse was purchased by a well-known sports figure for a local team; the east-facing penthouse was purchased by Peter Fine.

Here is the pool area at Apogee South Beach. It is really cool and has these “pod-like” beds that extend into the pool. It is for those priveliged enough to be in the pool without getting wet. Now that’s living!

Apogee South Beach Resales

Resale condos available at Apogee South Beach: super-desirable, west-facing corner unit, $6.899M. Click here for floor plan

• Fisher Island and Ocean Drive views
• 4154 sq. ft. of interior sq. ft.
• 2441 sq. ft. of exterior balconies
• Summer Kitchen on balcony
• Air-conditioned 2–car garage

Stopped over at Apogee South Beach the other day to see how the building was coming along.  I overheard a buyer compaining to their agent that they didn’t like their unit, and wished they had picked a corner unit. Uh…DUH!  Of course the corner unit is better than the flow-through unit.

Flow through units have been “all the rage” in Miami Beach condo floor plans in the last four or five years.  I would describe these units as typically having exposure on the ‘prime’ side of the building and exposure on the street-side as well.  When a building goes up for sale in the pre-construction phase, these are usually the best selling units in the building for a couple of reasons:

1.  they are less expensive $ psf than compared to units which enjoy more exposure on the “prime” side of the building

2.  the developer “highlights” the fact that you have “both views”, thus making you feel like these units are steals compared to the corner units.

APOGEE SOUTH BEACH FLOOR PLATE

The problem with flow-through units is that they look great on paper, but in reality they are not.  Though they do have two exposures, the units tend to be narrow and dark.  Whenever one of my clients thinks something looks really great…on paper..I try to take them to a similar unit in an existing building.  This way they get a chance to see what I already know:  some things look a whole lot better on paper than they do when they are completed.