South Beach Condos Blog

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

If you’d like to forward this post to someone you think might be interested, simply click on the “Share This” link and click “E-mail.”

Canyon Ranch Living is a three-phase project that is located on the ocean at 6801 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach. This perfect address encompasses more than 1,000 linear feet of oceanfront and is just minutes north of world-famous South Beach and minutes south of the Bal Harbour Shops.

Phase one is the South Tower (condo residences) and the Center Tower, also called the Carillon Tower (condo-hotel units and condo residences). The second phase will be the North Tower, and the third phase will be the historic Golden Sands Hotel property at 6901 Collins Avenue (no details yet on how the Golden Sands will fit into the project). The first two phases of the project will have 581 units total:

• 143 in the South Tower (phase one)
• 151 condo-hotel units in the center Carillon building (phase one) on floors 2–10; floors 10–16 in Carillon Tower are condominiums
• 80 condo units in the center Carillon building on floors 11–16
• 207 condos in the North Tower (phase two), including seven direct oceanfront beach houses

The developer is expecting the T.C.O. (temporary certificate of occupancy) for the South Tower any day. Closings will begin ten days after a T.C.O. is obtained. Closings for the Center Tower (Carillon) should begin 30 to 60 days after the South Tower, and the Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach Resort should open in the first part of 2008.

Restaurants at Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach

Cabana Grill – Offers healthy meals served in the pool area exclusively for Canyon Ranch guests and residents.

Café Vida – Casual dining and tasting room offering creative cuisine, fine wines, and to-go items.

Juice Bar – Here you can sample locally-fresh and seasonal juices and smoothies in the ocean-view Juice Bar located on the 4th floor Spa Lobby.

The Restaurant at Canyon Ranch – A fine-dining oceanfront restaurant with indoor & outdoor seating will offer award-winning and nutritionally-balanced gourmet cuisine and will be open to the public. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily, the restaurant sits adjacent to the hotel lobby and borders the beach. The terrace features dining with superb ocean views. Sensual and experiential dining venues include an exhibition kitchen, tapas area and private dining for up to 40 guests – all serving signature, nutritious Canyon Ranch gourmet cuisine. Lobby level.

The food at the Canyon Ranch Restaurants will be organic, seasonal, delicious, and healthy!

Amenities for Hotel Guests & Residents of Canyon Ranch Living

• 73,000 sq. ft. spa for residents and hotel guests only
• 22 treatment rooms with nine different “experiences”
• The Health & Healing Center will have full-time physicians and health practitioners offering integrative medical consultations and will focus on a preventative approach to health
• Complimentary fitness classes
• Four pools within the Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach resort, including an adults-only pool above the spa
• Additional 7,000 sq. ft. fitness area in the North Tower
• Two-story indoor rock climbing wall with ocean view

Condos for Sale in the Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach North Tower

It is no secret that I am a huge fan of this project. Here’s why: Canyon Ranch Living will NOT be just another condominium; it will be a destination. Guests will come specifically for the Canyon Ranch experience. They want to de-stress, unwind, get healthy, meet new people, and eat beautifully prepared, organic healthy meals.

Even in today’s real estate market, Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach is doing exceedingly well. The first phase of the project, the South and Center Towers, has been sold-out for two years or more. With the introduction of the North Tower, sales continue to be brisk because Canyon Ranch is selling more than real estate-they are selling lifestyle, wellness, and well-being.

North Tower Beach House Availability

• Direct oceanfront southeast corner, two-story beach house, 3 bedroom/3.5 + den, 3,555 sq. ft., $4,950,000
• Direct oceanfront 2 bedroom/2.5 + den, two-story beach house, 2,450 sq. ft., $3,500,000

North Tower Condo Residences Availability

• Direct oceanfront, 18^th floor 2/2, 1,290 sq. ft., from $1,548,000
• Flow-through 2/2.5, 2,050 sq. ft., direct ocean and bay views, from $2,300,000
• North Tower condo units facing west, 22^nd floor 2/2, 1,280 sq. ft., from $1,400,000
• Flow-through, wraparound corner unit, 3/2.5, 2,150 sq. ft. with east, north and western exposures, from $2,750,000

The North Tower is scheduled for completion in early 2008.

These are the beach houses for the South Tower at Canyon Ranch Living.

Click here for condo residences and condo-hotel re-sales in the South and Center Towers.

Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach condos and condo-hotels and real estate

If you’d like to forward this post to someone you think might be interested, simply click on the “Share This” link and click “E-mail.”

With the real estate market in a state of flux, absorption rates are increasingly used as an indicator to assess how long it would take to sell ALL the existing condos in each condominium, assuming the rate of sales stays constant and no new listings are added to the inventory. Additionally, absorption rates are the best way of tracking market performance. They are usually used to indicate “overall real estate market performance,” or how an entire market is doing.

To calculate monthly absorption rate, I have taken all the condos that are currently on the market in each building in the South of Fifth Street (SoFi) neighborhood of South Beach, and divided them by the number of listings that have sold in their respective condo in the past six months and divided that number by six. Many people compute absorption rates by using the number of sales in a one month period, but I use a six month sales average so it “smoothes” the seasonal “peaks and valleys” to gauge the true overall activity.

The data was 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 9/3/2007.

Here’s the math:

Number of listings: 40

Number of sales in the last six months: 8

8 divided by 6= 1.33 sales per month

Number of listings: 40 divided by number of sales per month: 1.33= 30 months of supply

Key for South Beach Condos-Absorption Rates

The chart below illustrates the absorption rates for the Continuum, Murano at Portofino, Murano Grande, ICON South Beach, Portofino Tower, Yacht Club at Portofino, and South Pointe Tower, and shows how each building is performing relative to the amount of inventory and the amount of sales.

Red Hot Condo Buyers Market in South Beach

From the graph it is clear the Portofino Tower is a “red hot” buyers market with 34 months of inventory. Also, ICON and Yacht Club at Portofino are good condominiums to focus on as well. A balanced market is generally anywhere between six to nine months of inventory, anything above nine months is considered a buyers market.

What Does This Mean for Miami Beach Condo Sellers?

If you are looking to sell your Miami Beach real estate, make sure your prospective real estate broker keeps you informed about the market conditions in your specific area and building. Knowing the absorption rate for your South Beach condo will help you determine how aggressive you need to be with pricing, staging, and marketing your condo to maximize the likelihood of a prompt sale!

South Beach Luxury Condos in 33139: Continuum, Murano at Portofino, Murano Grande, ICON South Beach, Portofino Tower, Yacht Club at Portofino, South Pointe Tower

If you’d like to forward this post to someone you think might be interested, simply click on the “Share This” link and click “E-mail.”

According to the Miami Herald, the Regent Hotel has left as operator of the new hotel at 1458 Ocean Drive in South Beach.  The new hotel operator is Vincci, a Spain-based hotel chain.  The 80–unit property opened nine months ago were sold as condominium hotels.

If I were a owner of a unit, I would be pretty annoyed.  That is one of the risks of buying a condo-hotel unit.  It would be like the equivalent of buying a unit at The Ritz Carlton and ending up with a Super 8 operator, or worse yet, a Nicky O!

Speaking of Nicky O’Hilton

The Bentley Beach, a 109–room condo-hotel located at 101 Ocean Drive in South Beach, will become a Hilton next week.  The Hilton was famous for operating The Fontainebleau Hotel on Collins Avenue up until 2005.  Since 2005 Hilton has not operated a hotel on Miami Beach.

What’s Up With Paradiso Condos/Gansevoort Hotel?

It seems that the Chetrit Group, L.L.C., has sold the project to the owners of the Gansevoort Hotel in NYC.  Gansevoort Hotel owners, William and Michael Achenbaum, were originally tapped to be the hotel operator for the South Beach project.

A source has informed me that a mortgage was recorded on the property, by CSFB, earlier this summer for $370M.  Calls to the sales office have confirmed that Chetrit Group, L.L.C. is no longer the developer. Closings of Paradiso condominiums are scheduled to begin in October while the Gansevoort Hotel is slated for opening in November. 

Michael Achenbaum tried unsuccessfully to take over the Royal Palm Crowne Plaza Resort in 2004.

Gansevoort Hotel, Paradiso South Beach, Miami Beach condo-hotels