Written by Araceli Villanueva – Douglas Elliman Realtor Associate

Here I present the notes I got from the panelist who are the leaders of the Miami Real Estate Brokers and Developers. Exciting things happening in Miami from now on!

Brokers Panel: A Growing Buyer Pool 

International Buyers:
  • Mexicans are the ones taking over the Miami market nowadays specially buyers from Mexico City
  • Venezuelans have been buying in miami for the last 10 yrs
  • Brazilians and Argentines are also buying
  • Colombia has been silent since 2007 buying in Miami
  • Sunny Isles has been taken over by Russians
  • Chinese people are coming to South Florida slowly but shortly
  • Latin American countries in particular are still buying here because in their countries they still have the issues of their governments.
  • $220 million dollar land price tag for the Bal Harbor site of the new project Oceana from an Argentine developer company
  • The dollar is going up which in a way is good, except for the international buyers acquiring real estate in Miami
  • Miami is becoming the Monaco of the US since we have everything from lifestyle, restaurants, location, culture, etc
National Buyers: New Yorkers, Chicagoans and Californians have started to migrate already due to the high taxes in their states; which Fl doesn’t have those high taxes and we don’t have state tax but we also have homestead tax exemption which they also don’t have in their states.
 
Jay Parker; CEO of Douglas Elliman mentioned that over $167 billion dollars are coming from the world to Miami as they are considering our city worthy of coming here to established their businesses, move their banks and corporations.

Developers Panel: Sizing Up the Latest Boom

New Developments Areas:
Brickell and Downtown are some very exciting markets in SoFlo specially with the condo market since there are so many new developments there and they are focusing in lifestyle, larger balconies, much more focus on the size of the buildings, luxury.
These ares are catering to the higher end market people, the richest people in the world are buying n these areas, they are looking to get the sophisticated buyer the entertainment and amenities that these neighborhoods are offering to appeal to the buyers relocating from the areas of the world where culture, lifestyle and luxury are important to them.
 
Developers input per new neighborhood in Miami:
  • Developers started to buy land back in 2012 to start developing, the market has changed since then and they are buying all the land available to re-beautify the areas.
  • The properties in these areas from 1942 and before which were considered historic are getting turn down to rebuild the new properties with the new lifestyle that Miami is offering. Developers are trying to incorporate the old wit the new, some of these properties are combining the old structures.
  • Wynwood is getting residential developments where it was mainly for artistic lifestyle, but the residential projects they don’t want to have high-rise condo style buildings, more like short and artistic and urban living, mixed use, high design and affordable.
  • All the areas from downtown, Brickell, airport can go to any of these places for free with the transportation that is getting built around these areas.
  • The Miami World Center is getting built in the downtown area and that is going to change the face of the entire area forever.
  • South Beach and Miami Beach have amazing products.
  • Edgewater neighborhood. This is a neighborhood that will be evolving but its a lil less expensive than the Brickell and downtown areas, this is going to be the extension of those  areas but with a view.
  • Developers said we are not anywhere near the pick of land price tag , the new condos are selling from $3,000 to $5,000 per sq ft and that is still not done yet.
  • Affordable housing should still be available for building in Miami for the working population who will fill all the jobs in all these new developments.
IMPORTANT: The second highest concentration of banks are now in Miami right behind NYC. Chicago and San Francisco are not the second and third cities with the banking concentration anymore, we are getting recognition as one of the bigger and better city from around the world.
 
Stats about the last 10 years Real Estate up and downs in Miami:
  • Last boom was in 2003 til 2010 (condo liability waiver for buyers)
  • 2007 crash began
  • 2011 we were building again
  • 289 condo towers
  • 38,000 units
  • As of June 30 there are only 10,000 units left
  • 39% of the projects are not yet approved
  • 18 buildings have been delivered

Developers Panel Interesting Lines:

  • Edgardo De Fortuna -he started to sell back in 2001 at $500 per sq ft
  • New Yorkers love to pay high prices as they are used to expensive properties and they are not bargain shoppers
  • Stephen Owens – Brickell Key started to be developed in the 80’s and they got the 3 quarters of the island for $17 million dollars. West Brickell is the future according to him
  • 90’s and early 2000’s New Yorkers had a different vision of Miami, they used to see it as a retirement place not a global city.
  • Richard LeFrak – They have built Manhattan to what it is. He bought Bank United which was a failed bank here and in 2009 they recapitalized the bank to what it is, then is is when they started to look in to buying at a discount since they saw how many foreign nationals were moving here and buying properties.
  • Ron Krongold– he bought $100m for 500 brand new units in Midtown, he got a great product and great location
  • Construction cost are rising, construction contractors are hard to find as well with quality job and delivery
  • 30% increase in construction cost this year alone. The cost to built has to be analyzed before the sales go out in the new development projects. For developers Is very hard to find land sites in the water anywhere from miami to west palm beach.
  • Millennial generation have different taste, right now they are building rental properties for them so they can check out the areas.
  • Florida is hard to say that will have another crash because of the last waived of buyers who were buying here in cash basis, no credit was used for most of the buying in the last 7 yrs.
  • The commodity buyer investor don’t care where to buy, but the ones that are looking for this kind of projects with lifestyle integration, etc are those planning on moving to Miami.