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Buying Coconut Grove Coral Gables Market Summary Miami Beach Pinecrest

Miami Real Estate: New Single Family Home Listings

New single family homes listed since July 1.

  • 8 in Coral Gables.  Priced from $349,900 to $13,475,000
  • 7 in Pinecrest.  Priced from $585,000 to $2,099,999
  • 5 in Coconut Grove.  Priced from $450,000 to $1,300,000
  • 3 in Miami Beach.  Priced from $399,900 – $8,650,000

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Buying

Majority Of Renters Still Aim To Purchase A Home

The National Association of Realtors released their 2011 National Housing Pulse Survey, which concluded that 72% of renters still want to own a home in the future.

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Buying Foreclosures Market Summary Neighborhood News Pinecrest Selling

Pinecrest Real Estate – Market Summary for Single Family Homes

How does the housing market look in Pinecrest half way through 2011?  Below are the numbers for single family homes.  Note that all of these are going to change a little due to status changes that happen at the end of the month, but are not updated in the MLS until the following month.  As of 6/30/2011:

  • Closed sales: 90.  Low of $270,000, high of $4,000,000. 7 were bankowned (REO), 10 are short sales or approximately 19% distressed sales.  57 closed in the second quarter.
  • Pending sales: 48.  Low of  $265,000, high of $2,150,000. 3 are REO, 17 are short sales.  Almost 42% are distressed sales.
  • Active sales:  160.  Low of $269,900, high of $5,000,000 ($4,999,999 to be exact!).  3 are REOs. 14 are short sales.  Only 11% distressed listings.  64 were listed in the second quarter.

What does this mean if you are a seller?  If you want to sell your home during the end of the summer buying season, drop your price now.  Homes are selling and people are still looking to buy in Pinecrest because of the quality of the public and private schools, parks, and good size lots.  If your home needs a lot of work, you are going to have to drop the price even further.  Buyers are looking for homes that need minimal updates.  If you don’t drop your price now, you are going to have to drop it even further come the beginning of the school year.

If you are a buyer, the numbers mean there aren’t as many “deals” in terms of short sales and foreclosures.  Those that are on the market, are priced well, and in reasonably good shape are going to have multiple offers, because there are fewer of them.  If you are financing your purchase, you are better off using the numbers to make an offer on a well priced, non-distressed listing.

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Buying Foreclosures Luxury Real Estate Market Summary Miami Beach Neighborhood News Selling

Miami Beach Real Estate: Market Summary for Single Family Homes

We are half way through the year and the market has been moving.  Sales are up, mostly due to lower prices.    As of June 30, the single family home market in Miami Beach for the year so far is as follows:

Closed sales:  94. Low of $190,000 to a high of $25,500,000.  9 of the closed sales were foreclosures, 6 were short sales.   Only 16% were distressed sales. 49 closed in the second quarter.

  • Pending sales: 57.  Low $200,000 to a high of $14,900,00. 2 of the pending sales are foreclosures, 23 are short sales.  Almost 44% distressed.  21 went pending in the second quarter.
  • Active sales: 282.  Low of $205,900,high of $49,995,000.  16 are short sales, 1 is a foreclosure. Only 6% distressed.  76 of the active sales were listed in the second quarter.

What does this mean if you are a seller?  The good news is that the majority of the closed sales are not distressed sales.  If you are priced right for a buyer’s market, you have a closing window of opportunity to sell at a higher price than you will get later this year.  I think prices of active listings are going to come down as we come closer to the end of the summer buying season.

What does this mean if you are a buyer?  Many buyers are still looking for a “deal” without realizing that they are already looking at one.  Just because a property is not a foreclosure or a short sale, does not mean it is not a good deal.  A lot of sellers have come down significantly in their pricing, in large part due to the pressure of distressed properties on the market.  As the distressed properties listed for sale decrease, they become less of a factor on the overall market.  If you are financing your property and only looking at distressed sales, you are going to have even more frustration as you are competing with cash buyers.

Note:  These numbers are going to change a bit due to fluctuations at the end of the month when a lot of properties status changes, but those changes don’t get recorded in the MLS until the following month.

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Buying

Will Association Fees and Hurricane Insurance Derail Housing Recovery in Florida?

Two recent articles in the Miami Herald have me wondering if our fragile South Florida housing recovery is going to hit the skids.  The one in Monday’s business section talks about condo association fees and the one in today’s paper discusses the increase in windstorm insurance.  if you are getting ready to buy, make sure you keep both of these articles in mind and allow an extra cushion for increases.  If you already own, have either of these costs gone up for you yet?

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Buying Foreclosures Investment Real Estate

5 Steps To Take If You Are Buying In Today's Miami Real Estate Market

If you are trying to purchase your first home or investment property and take advantage of the low interest rates and prices, congratulations! A couple of things you may want to do to avoid frustration:

1)If you are financing, prequalify for a mortgage. It will make your offer that much stronger.
2)Do your homework-find out what properties are listing & selling for in the area you are looking in. If they are selling for more than you qualify for, you are looking in the wrong area.
3)Be realistic with your expectations-if you are only looking at foreclosures and short sales, realize that with the former you will be competing with cash buyers, be in a multiple bid situation where the property will probably go for more than asking, and you will most likely need to do some work. With a short sale you are looking at a long closing process.
4) If you are planning on working with a Realtor, work exclusively with one and have him/her set up all appointments, even if you are searching on-line on your own. If you go to open houses let the person holding it open know you are working with a Realtor.
5) If you submit offers and consistently lose them for any reason other than you were competing with a cash buyer, find out what the reason is and address it so you won’t make the same mistake next time. If it is consistently due to price, stop lowballing if you really want to get in the market or, go back to #2 above

Categories
Buying Foreclosures Investment Real Estate

5 Steps To Take If You Are Buying In Today’s Miami Real Estate Market

If you are trying to purchase your first home or investment property and take advantage of the low interest rates and prices, congratulations! A couple of things you may want to do to avoid frustration:

1)If you are financing, prequalify for a mortgage. It will make your offer that much stronger.
2)Do your homework-find out what properties are listing & selling for in the area you are looking in. If they are selling for more than you qualify for, you are looking in the wrong area.
3)Be realistic with your expectations-if you are only looking at foreclosures and short sales, realize that with the former you will be competing with cash buyers, be in a multiple bid situation where the property will probably go for more than asking, and you will most likely need to do some work. With a short sale you are looking at a long closing process.
4) If you are planning on working with a Realtor, work exclusively with one and have him/her set up all appointments, even if you are searching on-line on your own. If you go to open houses let the person holding it open know you are working with a Realtor.
5) If you submit offers and consistently lose them for any reason other than you were competing with a cash buyer, find out what the reason is and address it so you won’t make the same mistake next time. If it is consistently due to price, stop lowballing if you really want to get in the market or, go back to #2 above

Categories
Buying

Miami Real Estate: Inventory At Lowest Level Since 2008

Have you been frustrated in your search for a home?  That may be because, despite what you read about the housing market being in the slumps and high inventories, a lot of those stories are talking about the national housing market.  The local Miami real estate market is different.  Because prices have dropped so low, buyers have been snapping up properties, mostly in cash transactions.  If you are looking in a specific neighborhood and price range, the inventory will probably be even tighter.

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Buying Commercial Real Estate Investment Real Estate

Office Building For Sale Coral Gables, FL

This free-standing building with 14 parking space at 3860 SW 8 Street, Coral Gables is a great buy.  Located in the popular medical district of 8th Street and Ponce de Leon, it is a great buy: 6535 square feet for $1,300,000 is less than $200 per square foot.  You can’t build a new building for that price!  Hurricane shutters, elevator, open air spaces, offices, conference rooms

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Buying Commercial Real Estate Investment Real Estate

3860 SW 8 St., Coral Gables – Free Standing Office Building For Sale

Free Standing Office Building with Parking

This updaated and well maintained office building is in the bustling medical and office district of 8th street, between Galiano and Ponce De Leon in Coral Gables.  Hurricane shutters, 14 parking spaces, an automatic gate and great location, make this an ideal building for an owner-user.  6,535 square feet at $229 per square foot.