Inside Miami Real Estate Blog

A few years ago the topic of conversation in the Miami real estate circles was all the new condo buildings in downtown Miami. What would happen to these developments? How would these condo projects remain financially solvent? Who was going to move to the area when there are no jobs and median incomes do not support the costs of ownership? With occupancy rates hovering below 30 percent, who would want to live in an empty building with no neighbors?

In a matter of three to four years, we are now experiencing occupancy rates over 80 percent in the downtown Miami market. According to the Miami Downtown Development Authority, we have …

High unemployment and housing woes are forcing Miamians to stay put. Homeownership rates continue to fall in Miami and South Florida, which is adding significant demand to the rental market and rapidly pushing up rental prices in certain sub-markets.

Since the onset of the housing crises in early 2008, we have witnessed over 47,000 distressed property sales in Miami. These financially burned home owners are now choosing to rent instead of purchasing another home.

The numbers speak for themselves. In 2008, there were 21,751 residential properties rented as compared to 21,140 already rented through the first ten months of 2011. What makes this number even more pronounced is that this does not …

It was not that long ago when buyers could have their pick of the condo litter. There were a healthy number of foreclosed properties on the market as well as motivated owners fearing a downward spiral in prices.

Not today.

We have practically reversed position from just two years ago. In spite of the constant fear and threat of the banks “shadow inventory”, there is no longer a decent supply of foreclosures on the market. Additionally, in less than 3 years the overall supply of properties available for sale has drastically shrunk from over 100,000 to just over 40,000 units in South Florida.

Banks are raising prices and REO (or foreclosure) properties are …

Ever since the Genting Group from Malaysia purchased the Miami Herald site for $236 million in May this year, the lobbyists, business elite, and local and state politicians have been discussing bringing a full scale destination casino to Miami.

Let’s face it, the state, county and city of Miami have major budget issues. They need to increase the coffers before heads begin to roll.

Genting’s Resorts World Miami is a big deal. Miami has risen from being a second home and resort destination for wealthy Americans in the 1920′s and 1930′s, to a diversified global city that is the U.S. hub to the Americas. We no longer sell real …

Over the past year, many South Florida municipalities have adopted ordinances that govern short-term or vacation rentals, including Miami Beach, Surfside, Bal Harbour and Key Biscayne. Unfortunately, these new ordinances may have a financial impact on either your decision to invest, or on your existing property investment in South Florida.

In June 2010, the city of Miami Beach passed a new ordinance limiting short-term rentals within the historic districts of Flamingo Park and Espanola Way in South Beach. Highlights of Sec. 142-1111 of the City Code of Miami Beach include:

• Residential properties within the RM-1 or TH zoning districts of

…

Following a horrific third quarter, many investors are now focusing on income producing investments and the Miami housing market is at bargain levels. It is time to consider buying an investment property in Miami?

Miami attracts a wide variety of investors and the majority over the past few years have been an international bunch with cash that have been taking advantage of a weak dollar. Some investors aim for properties that produce rents at 1% or less of the purchase price. For example, $1,500 a month in rent for a $150,000 condo or home, or an annual gross return of 12 percent. Today, some of our investors are actually realizing as …

The following are several recent and notable residential and commercial real estate transactions that took place in the Miami Beach area:

Rapper Lil Wayne pays $11.6 million for mansion on La Gorce Island

According to public records, Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., better known as Lil Wayne, purchased a waterfront home on exclusive La Gorce Island for $11.6 million on August 15, 2011.

The seller, Turkish native Mehmet Bayraktar and CEO of the Flagstone Property Group in Miami, purchased the home in February 2006 for $8.6 million. The waterfront home consists of 15,101 square feet with 8 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms on a 20,857 square foot lot.

Boulevard Hotel & Café in South …

In this business, we are required to work with property managers and condo associations on a daily basis. Unless you have served on a board of directors, you may never recognize how challenging it can be to manage the affairs of hundreds of fellow condo owners.

However, in spite of the legal and managerial challenges of managing a condominium, it is not uncommon for us to come across a set of rules and regulations that are simply over the top. Case in point -  these are the requirements that all tenants must meet to reside at this oceanfront condo in Miami Beach:

• Minimum credit score of 600
• One bank reference letter
• One utility bill
• One

…

Today, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled “The Folly of Economic Short-Termism” authored by Allan H. Meltzer, a professor of public policy at Carnegie Mellon University.  The gist of the piece is that the author thinks that the Federal Reserve needs to focus more on implementing policies to increase long-term confidence in the U.S. economy, and less on pursuing another round of short-term economic stimulus. He also mentions that the M2 money supply in the U.S. has been over 10 percent for the past six months, a sign of more inflation in the future.

So what does “economic short-termism”, inflation, and the consumer confidence have to do with Miami’s …