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Best Cupcakes Ever!
The Coral Gables/South Miami area is so lucky to have two great cupcake places to choose from. Many of you have probably already heard of or tried Misha’s Cupcakes. The red velvet cupcakes are amazing and her cakes made out of individual mini-cupcakes are works of art as well as being convenient for parties…no plates or wasted cake.
A couple of blocks away on Sunset Drive is Buttercream Cupcakes and Coffee. Although they don’t make mini-cupcake cakes and their minis have to be special ordered, they have a larger variety of flavors. Their chocolate peanut butter cupcakes are amazing. Try both of these neighborhood places and let us know which one is your favorite.
Two Methods of Eating Cupcakes
Neat
Messy with wasted frosting
Miami Real Estate – Single Family Homes 4th Quarter Market Update
Below is a quick snap shot of what the real estate market for single family homes looked like for the fourth quarter of 2009. These numbers are derived from the Multiple Listing Service and though they do not include For Sale By Owners and anything not listed on the MLS, they are indicative of what is going on in our local markets. The closed sales may be slightly underestimated due to the lag time in posting the sale in the MLS.
Coconut Grove
- Closed Sales: 23. 5 short sales, 3 REO. None of the closings in December were Short Sales or REO. Highest Sales Price: $2.2 million. Highest Price/Square Foot: $437.98. Lowest Sales Price: $154,900. Lowest Price/Square Foot: $82.97
- Pending Sales: 22, 14 of which went pending in the fourth quarter.
- Active Listings: 165, down from 217 at end of Sept. Highest List Price: $18 million. Lowest List Price: $65,900.
Coral Gables
- Closed Sales: 101. 6 short sales, 10 REOs. Highest Sales Price: $5.15 million. Lowest Sales Price: $250,000.
- Pending Sales: 74
- Active Listings: 421, down from 450 at the end of the third quarter. Highest List Price: $49.5 million. Lowest List Price: $89,500
Key Biscayne
- Closed Sales: 13. 0 short sales, 1 REO. Highest Sales Price: $6.15 million. Lowest Sales Price: $820,000.
- Pending Sales: 3.
- Active Listings: 122. Highest List Price: $24.950 million. Lowest List Price: $985,000.
Miami Beach
- Closed Sales: 41. 5 short sales, 7 REOs. Highest Sales Price: $9.75 million. Lowest Sales Price: $240,000
- Pending Sales: 53
- Active Listings: 380. Highest List Price: $29.9 million. Lowest List Price: $181,000.
Palmetto Bay
- Closed Sales: 42. 8 short sale, 4 REO. Highest Sales Price: $1.45 million. Lowest Sales Price: $140,000.
- Pending Sales: 63
- Active Listings: 139. Highest List Price: $2.85 million. Lowest List Price: $165,000.
Pinecrest
- Closed Sales: 45. 4 short sale and 5 REOs. Highest Sales Price: $3.5 million. Lowest Sales Price: $236,000.
- Pending Sales: 29
- Active Listings: 199. Highest List Price: $5.9 million. Lowest List Price: $265,000.
South Miami
- Closed Sales: 24. 3 short sales, 9 REO. Highest Sales Price: $870,000. Lowest Sales Price: $87,500.
- Pending Sales: 21
- Active Listings: 71. Highest List Price: $1.899 million. Lowest List Price: $57,270.
Beaux Arts Festival Is This Weekend
The 59 Annual Beaux Arts Festival of Art is this Saturday on Sunday at the Lowe Art Museum on the University of Miami campus.
This event counts towards on of the New Year’s Resolutions For South Floridians.
Coral Gables Rental at Garden Style Building on Gables Waterway
Live close to everything: the Grove, Gables, UM, South Miami and Downtown while being in a quiet building on the Gables Waterway. Nicely updated 1 bedroom 1 bath with a garden view. Large master bedroom and plenty of closet space. 100 Edgewater Dr., #111.
Historic-Homes Tour
As part of November’s Miami’s Celebrate Architecture + Design 2009, the Historic Preservation Association of Coral Gables Home Tour is offering a self-guided tour today from noon to 4 with a lecture reception at 10:45 a.m. at Hava Head, a 1936 home built for Charles Baker. Tickets can be purchased at the start of the tour at 4320 Santa Maria Street for $30.
Miami Real Estate – Single Family Homes Market Summary
Below is a quick snap shot of what the real estate market for single family homes looked like in October. These numbers are derived from the Multiple Listing Service and though they do not include For Sale By Owners and anything not listed on the MLS, they are indicative of what is going on in our local markets. The closed sales may be slightly underestimated due to the lag time in posting the sale in the MLS.
Coconut Grove
- Closed Sales: 14. 3 short sales, 1 REO. Highest Sales Price: $1.7 million. Lowest Sales Price: $154,900.
- Pending Sales: 22
- Active Listings: 177 down from 217 at end of Sept. Highest List Price: $18 million. Lowest List Price: $65,900.
- Summary: Inventory is down from the end of the third quarter.
Coral Gables
- Closed Sales: 33. 1 short sales, 2 REOs. Highest Sales Price: $5.15 million. Lowest Sales Price: $358,000.
- Pending Sales: 89
- Active Listings: 432. Highest List Price: $49.5 million. Lowest List Price: $235,000
- Summary: Inventory decreased to 432 down from 450 at the end of the third quarter. The number of closed sales that were short sales or REOs are down significantly from the end of the third quarter, when there were 11 each closed short sales and REOs.
Key Biscayne
- Closed Sales: 3. 0 short sales, 1 REO. Highest Sales Price: $3.5 million. Lowest Sales Price: $820,000.
- Pending Sales: 4.
- Active Listings: 129. Highest List Price: $24.950 million. Lowest List Price: $789,000.
- Summary: Sales are down, inventory is the same as of the end of the third quarter.
Miami Beach
- Closed Sales: 13. No short sales, 4 REOs. Highest Sales Price: $9.7 million. Lowest Sales Price: $240,000
- Pending Sales: 53
- Active Listings: 380. Highest List Price: $29.9 million. Lowest List Price: $200,000.
- Summary: Inventory has decreased slightly. The number of closings that were short sales or REOs have decreased significantly since the end of last quarter.
Palmetto Bay
- Closed Sales: 6. 1 short sale, 1 REO. Highest Sales Price: $625,00. Lowest Sales Price: $142,600.
- Pending Sales: 52
- Active Listings: 154. Highest List Price: $2.85 million. Lowest List Price: $155,000.
- Summary: The number of closed sales due to short sales is down significantly from the end of September.
Pinecrest
- Closed Sales: 14. 1 short sale and 2 REOs. Highest Sales Price: $2.6 million. Lowest Sales Price: $419,000.
- Pending Sales: 35
- Active Listings: 211. Highest List Price: $5.9 million. Lowest List Price: $349,000.
- Summary: Although the inventory in Pinecrest decreased slightly from 227 at the end of September to 210 at the end of October, the current inventory level divided by the number of sales closed in October result in a 15 month supply of properties. The median price of current listings is $1.395 million and 30% of the listings are over $2 million.
South Miami
- Closed Sales: 3. 0 short sales, 1 REO. Highest Sales Price: $325,000. Lowest Sales Price: $266,000.
- Pending Sales: 30
- Active Listings: 68. Highest List Price: $1.880 million. Lowest List Price: $62,300.
- Summary: The number of closed sales is down slightly from the second quarter, which had 28 closed sales. Inventory is up from 28 at the end of June.
Miami Real Estate – Third Quarter Market Update – Single Family Homes
Below is a quick snap shot of what the real estate market looked like after the third quarter. These numbers are derived from the Multiple Listing Service and though they do not include For Sale By Owners and anything not listed on the MLS, they are indicative of what is going on in our local markets. The closed sales may be slightly underestimated due to the lag time in posting the sale in the MLS.
Coconut Grove
- Closed Sales: 36. 3 short sales, 7 REOs. Highest Sales Price: $1.55 million. Lowest Sales Price: $50,000.
- Pending Sales: 28
- Active Listings: 215. Highest List Price: $18 million. Lowest List Price: $79,900.
- Summary: The number of closed sales and inventory are up from the second quarter.
Coral Gables
- Closed Sales: 93. 11 short sales, 11 REOs. Highest Sales Price: $5.5 million. Lowest Sales Price: $124,000.
- Pending Sales: 88
- Active Listings: 450. Highest List Price: $49.5 million. Lowest List Price: $189,000
- Summary: Both the number of sales (93 up from 82) and the inventory (450 up from 278) are up in the third quarter as compared to the second quarter of 2009. In both quarters, over half of the sales were listed under $600,000.
Key Biscayne
- Closed Sales: 9. No short sales, 1 REO. Highest Sales Price: $3.75 million. Lowest Sales Price: $780,000.
- Pending Sales: None.
- Active Listings: 129. Highest List Price: $24.950 million. Lowest List Price: $945,000.
- Summary: Sales are down, inventory is up and there are currently no pending sales.
Miami Beach
- Closed Sales: 51. 6 short sales, 11 REOs. Highest Sales Price: $9.5 million. Lowest Sales Price: $141,750
- Pending Sales: 57
- Active Listings: 391. Highest List Price: $29.9 million. Lowest List Price: $200,000.
- Summary: Inventory has increased from 264 at the end of the second quarter, while sales have remained at about the same from the second quarter’s 53.
Palmetto Bay
- Closed Sales: 64. 4 short sales, 10 REOs. Highest Sales Price: $1.4 million. Lowest Sales Price: $125,000.
- Pending Sales: 46
- Active Listings: 159. Highest List Price: $2.85 million. Lowest List Price: $155,000.
- Summary: The number of sales between the second and third quarter have remained relatively the same. The inventory has increased from 92 in the second quarter up to 159 in the third.
Pinecrest
- Closed Sales: 53. 2 short sales and 2 REOs. Highest Sales Price: $3.3 million. Lowest Sales Price: $283,000.
- Pending Sales: 32
- Active Listings: 227. Highest List Price: $5.9 million. Lowest List Price: $369,000.
- Summary: Both the number of sales (53 up from 50) and the inventory (227 up from 143) are up in the third quarter as compared to the second quarter of 2009.
South Miami
- Closed Sales: 22. 8 short sales, 8 REOs. Highest Sales Price: $1.3million. Lowest Sales Price: $20,000.
- Pending Sales: 22
- Active Listings: 66. Highest List Price: $1.880 million. Lowest List Price: $72,300.
- Summary: The number of closed sales is down slightly from the second quarter, which had 28 closed sales. Inventory is up from 28 at the end of June.
Coral Gables Fire Fee Will Increase Taxes
On Wednesday, July 28, at 9:00 a.m. the City of Coral Gables Commission will hear the first reading of an ordinance that would create a new and separate Fire Rescue Assessment Fee, which is currently collected from ad valorum taxes. There does not appear to be a guarantee that the current millage would decrease by the same amount of the new fire fee, so property taxes would increase and property owners would be paying twice for the same level of fire service.
Contact your Commissioners and let them know what you think.
Luxury Real Estate – Coral Gables in the Top 5 of Fastest Moving Luxury Neighborhoods
A recent Forbes article rated Coral Gables, FL as one of the fastest moving luxury neighborhoods in terms of days on 
market. Forbes’ rating system, which is based on the 500 most expensive zip codes, is better than other housing indexes which cover too broad of an area to give an accurate picture of what is happening in a specific neighborhood, but their assessment also has some flaws. For example, for Coral Gables, which was rated number 5 by Forbes, the zip code they used was 33146. Don’t get me wrong, 33146 is an expensive zip code, but Coral Gables, which extends significantly further South from the better known business and restaurant district which is their formal downtown, has 7 zip codes! Based on an MLS search today, there were 69 Active listings ranging in price from $13.5 million down to $395,000 in the 33146 zip code. 14 of those listings were waterfront. However, there were a total of 261 Active MLS listings in the Gables, South of US 1. The most expensive listing was $49.5 million and was in the 33143 zip code, which also had higher closed sales prices. Having Forbes rate Coral Gables the 5th fastest moving luxury market, with an average of 66 days for the top 10 zips vs 115 days average for the whole 500 index, is great news for Coral Gables, but it doesn’t tell the story for luxury real estate in the Gables. There were several zips and luxury price ranges which had significantly longer days on market. When pricing your luxury home for sale or making an offer on your purchase of one, make sure you check with a local luxury expert.
3 Reasons To Rent At 100 Edgewater Dr., #333, Coral Gables, FL
- Location, Location, Location: I only counted this once even though this apartment is 5 minutes to downtown Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, University of Miami, and South Miami; 10 minutes to the University of Miami, Baptist and Mercy Hospitals, downtown Miami, 20 minutes to Key Biscayne and South Beach, Miami International Airport.
- Great layout. There is no wasted space in this condo. Good size living/dining area, large bedroom with walk-in closet and second closet.
- Relaxing. Whether sitting on the balcony overlooking the garden or lounging in the huge pool or deck overlooking the Coral Gables Waterway, you feel like you are miles away from the mainland (even though, as mentioned in #1 above, you are close to everything).
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