“Long term Miami will outperform the rest of the country. In 10,20, 30 years, prices will be rising faster in Miami than in the rest of the country,” states Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist of the National Association of Realtors. The important item in this quote is the time frame. 
In a state where water is in short supply and there is a year-round growing season, Florida friendly landscaping is 
important and can result in:
For a guide of Florida friendly plants and other tips visit Floridayards.org
Looking for some from free things to do before school starts? A lot of our local museums have free days each month. Since today is the first of the month, you will be able to get a lot of these in. Or spread them out over the next couple of months.
Bass Museum of Art free family day on Sundays 2-5 p.m.
Miami Art Museum free admission on the second Saturday of each month
Miami Museum of Science free planetarium shows and star gazing beginning at 7:30 p.m. on the first Friday of each month
Museum of Contemporary Art free to North Miami residents and free jazz for all at 8:00 p.m. on the last Friday of each month.
Wolfsonian Museum free gallery admission Fridays from 6-9
Although today’s S&P/Case Schiller Price Home Index showed a slight 0.5% increase in home prices between April and May, Miami had a 0.8% decrease. Nationally, this was the first month to month increase in three years and has many people claiming that the real estate market appears to be stabilizing as price decreases level off.
Overall, this is great news as any stabilization in the housing market will help ease a lot of the economic problems that resulted in the market’s severe free fall. This does not mean that prices will be going up any time soon, especially in hard hit areas like Miami, but rather that the decreases should not be as significant as they have been. Home prices in Miami are down 25.2% over last year’s prices and the market in Florida still has a long way to go before we can say we have recovered. Some facts that will keep our market trudging along slowly:
This is not doom and gloom news. Just a reality check. There are great deals out there if you are a buyer or investor. If you are a seller, be realistic with your sales price and your property will sell.
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.
Last year, Forbes’ 500 most expensive zip codes list included 11 in Florida, including the number 1 most expensive zip, 33109 in Miami Beach, with a median sales price of $3,850,000! Miami Beach also ranked #369 with zip code 33154 which had a median home price of $745,900. The list was based on sales between July of 2007 and June 2008, so it will be interesting to see what changes this year’s list holds for Florida cities. Stay tuned, the list should be out in the next couple of months and I will post the results with a more detailed analysis.
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.
7255 SW130 Street is a tastefully updated, sophisticated home located in the beautiful Village of Pinecrest. This tropically landscaped home is a private get away right in the middle of the best public and private schools in Miami-Dade County. $899,000
Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so take a tour for yourself.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU7mY9lN11Y[/youtube]
I am not talking about the University of Miami’s football team here, which is a much anticipated season, but rather the real hurricane season, which is right around the corner officially beginning June 1. Whether you recently moved here or have lived here for ever, now is the time to prepare your property. There are a million hurricane guides, issued by everyone from the Miami Herald, the State of Florida, Miami-Dade County, and the University of Miami, to help students away from home prepare for a storm.
The links above are great for the specifics of how to address the main items you need to consider:
1) Have a plan. Where will you go if you have to evacuate? Will you be able to take your pets? If you don’t need to evacuate, make sure you have all the supplies you will need to take care of yourself, family and pets for at least 5 days after a storm. This includes cash, gas, food, water, flashlights/batteries and prescriptions.
2) Record and secure your belongings. Take pictures or, better yet, video of your entire property: outside and inside, room by room. Make sure you have all of your insurance and bank information in a safe place that you can take with you if you need to evacuate. Make sure you have shutters or plywood before the season starts. You don’t want to be running around at the last minute with all of the other procrastinators looking for supplies.
Related Reads:
Preparing for a Hurricane – A Way of Life in South Florida
The Miami Herald posted an article that Broward’s housing market is close to bottoming out, even though prices in both Broward and Miami-Dade counties continue to slide. The article was correct in predicting that Broward will rebound faster mainly because:
1) Miami’s inventory was higher than Broward’s to begin with. Last year at this time, Broward’s single family home inventory was 28 months and is currently 13. Miami-Dade had a 42 month supply last year and a 17 month supply now. Condos in Broward were at 31 months and are now at 17 month. Dade condos were at a 53 month supply and there is currently a 27 month supply. These supplies are only based on MLS numbers. There are many more units being held by developers that aren’t listed on the MLS
2) Miami still has a lot of projects that are just now coming on line, especially in the condo market, which is already saturated.
3) Miami built more in outlying areas, especially in the southern part of the county and along the Biscayne corridor.