South Beach Condos Blog

Ok off the heels of last week’s wildy successful “Great Deals” post, I decided to make it a regular here at the SBCB.  Some of these condos may or may not be in foreclosure or bank-owned.  I truly believe that the best deals are out there, it’s just that they are being overlooked because many people’s eyes light up when they hear foreclosure or short-sale.  Word to the wise:
short-sales and foreclosures are not always the best buys.  Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you!

Blue Diamond:

4775 Collins Avenue #3106.  Best buy for a 1/2 + den on a high floor.  Bank-owned.  Have at it!

Check out all Blue and Green Diamond condos for sale here

Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach

6801 Collins Avenue #1405. $1.2M.  Incredible flow-through unit with east, south, and west exposures.  This deal is almost too good to be true.  AAA building with a great future!

6801 Collins Avenue #2006. $837K.  LPH unit on the 20th floor.  2/2 split floor plan.  Western views of Miami Beach and downtown Miami.  Huge terrace.  See for yourself.  Great price point to be in this exclusive resort.

Check out all Canyon Ranch Living Condos for sale here

The Floridian

650 West Avenue #1008. $599K.  3 bedroom/2 bath with 1191 sq. ft.  in newer bay front building in South Beach.  Haven’t seen these numbers in a while.  Bank-owned

AQUA Allison Island Condos

Gorlin Building: 6101 Aqua Avenue PH 11B.  $1.999M
Spectacular two-level penthouse in super desirable Gorlin building. Unit is drop dead! 2800 +/- interior sq. ft. with 20 ft. glass atrium and rooftop hot tub. Make offers.

Click here for all available condos for sale in AQUA Allison Island.

One Bal Harbour

10295 Collins Avenue #909. $2.25M. Incredible direct oceanfront northeast corner in the most talked about building on Miami Beach and Bal Harbour. Quality, finishes and amenities unrivaled by ANY luxury building in South Beach or Bal Harbour!

Click here for all available condos for sale at One Bal Harbour.

So Miami and Miami Beach were front and center today on CNBC and the Today Show. I brought together video segments from today’s coverage for my readers. I’ll let the videos, good and bad, do the talking.

Here’s my official comment on the Miami real estate market:

The developers did overbuild, thus creating an oversupply, but is that such a bad thing? A wound was created on the Miami real estate market by the gold rush mentality of the real estate developers, and it is ok. Do you know why it’s ok? Because the wound will heal and Miami will still have the sexy allure that NO other city in the US has.

As many of you may know, I tell the good AND the bad. I was watching the Today Show and they did a GREAT segment on Miami and our unprecedented growth as a city, and why all will, eventually, be ok.

Also, one thing I would like to clarify: Miami and Miami Beach are two completely different markets. Comparing Miami real estate to Miami Beach real estate is like comparing the Upper East Side of Manhattan to the Bronx.

The CEO of my firm, Ron Shuffield, was interviewed by Carl Quintanilla of CNBC. The subtitle for the segment is: One can buy five condos on Miami beach for the price of one in Manhattan, reports CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla. They were clearly talking about Miami condos NOT Miami Beach or South Beach condos.

Search Miami Beach real estate here

Say you want to sell your unit at Related Group’s new 50 Biscayne Condo in downtown Miami, you find a buyer willing to purchase your unit, you agree on terms, and you probably think, “whew, I’m really lucky I sold.”  Not so fast: today’s Daily Business Review is reporting

Banks and mortgage lenders compile lists of buildings they find too risky for lending, and they refuse to finance purchases there. 

What This Means if Your Miami Condo is “On the List”

It could mean that it will very hard to obtain financing for your condo, whether you are a buyer or a seller, in one of the “non-warrantable” condominiums.

The lists include finished buildings and projects still under development.

Prominent projects on BankUnited’s list include the Related Group’s 50 Biscayne and 500 Brickell; Terra Group’s 600 Biscayne and 900 Biscayne, and Cabi Developers’ Everglades on the Bay.

Is This the Last Nail in the Coffin for Miami Condos?

The impact of today’s news on the Miami condo market:

• Developers with unfinished buildings on the list may have high “walk-away” rates
• Owners of units in “blacklisted” condos may find it next to impossible to sell

Check out Miami’s “blacklisted” condos here:

• Bank United list
• Washington Mutual list
• Popular Mortgage list
• Citimortgage questionnaire

UPDATE:  South Florida Business Journal is reporting that Bank United has blacklisted Opera Tower as well. 

Even buyers with good credit can’t get a mortgage for a condo that has an uncertain value, said Lewis Goodkin, president of Miami-based Goodkin Research. He said because sales have been so slow and 35 percent to 40 percent of buyers could pull out of contracts in some buildings, no one knows the real value of these condos. And, if lenders don’t know the value, he said, they can’t set a loan-to-value ratio with any certainty.

When I was interviewed last month by The New York Times for a piece Miami Beach real estate, specifically luxury condos, I was asked to research the condo market going back two years. 

 What I decided to do, since SO many people have asked me, was to do a three year snapshot of the market, specifically for the SoFi neighborhood in South Beach, which includes Continuum South Beach, Murano at Portofino, Murano Grande, ICON South Beach, Portofino Tower, Yacht Club at Portofino, and South Pointe Tower.  When doing this type of analysis, I really like using this neighborhood because it has a high concentration of units, which provides accurate insight into the luxury condo market activity of Miami Beach condos. 

I used one time period: January 1st-October 3^rd of three years (2005, 2006, and 2007).  It is very interesting to see how the market has progressed during the last three years.  Here is a great Miami Beach neighborhood map

The graph above represents number of sales for each building in the SoFi neighborhood.  Most would think that the number of sales would be highest in 2004–2005.  Even though 2007 is down from 2006, in ALL cases the number of sales are higher than in 2005.

This graph shows the issue for condos in general—with the exception of Continuum South Beach, the average days on market have all substantially increased from 2005.

The graph above shows a three year history of average $ p.s.f.  SOLD prices for all the condos in the South of Fifth neighborhood.  Continuum South Beach continues to climb without any fluctuations.  Overall,  each building is holding its own and the neighborhood in general continues to do well.

This graph represents the list price ($ p.s.f.) to the sold price ($ p.s.f.) for each year.  It basically tracks the list price to sale price ratio for each building for all three years.  The blue bar is the list price (in $ p.s.f.) and the green bar represents the sold price (in $ p.s.f.).  Things to note from this graph:  ICON South Beach peaked in 2006 and Continuum South Beach continues to march onward and upward. 

I have to admit I was not surprised by the numbers.  Most of what I see here only re-inforces my recommendations from my South Beach Luxury Condo Outlook 2008 post.

Miami Beach real estate, Continuum South Beach, ICON South Beach, South Beach condos, South Beach real estate, Miami condo statistics, Miami luxury condos, 33139

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