Categories
Buying Selling

Miami Only City On Case Schiller To Post Double Digit Year-Over-Year Gain

downtown toward Omni closeup

The idea of real estate being local is so important to keep in mind, especially when reading news headlines.  Headlines reporting on the national real estate market read “Home prices post broad-based slowdown in September”  or something similar.  While there is nothing untrue about the statement, if you are a buyer interested in Miami and don’t read further, you could wrongly assume that Miami’s real estate appreciation has also slowed.  However, that same article states  Miami “continues to impress with another double-digit annual gain of 10.3%. It is the only city that currently has a year-over-year double-digit gain.”

Although there is more inventory on the market and the appreciation has slowed somewhat, appreciation is still strong in Miami due to continued interest from investors and second home buyers.

Categories
Buying Market Summary Selling

Condos Accounted For Almost 45% of September Sales In Miami

Spurred by downsizing baby boomers and other age groups wanting to be close to dynamic urban cores, the market share of condo sales has increased nationwide from 8% to 11-12%, according to Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors .  In Miami, that number is closer to 45% of home sales in September.  Although the level of inventory increased from September to October, so did the number of units that went pending and we are getting into our busy winter selling season.  Based on our current level of condos listed on the MLS, we are still in a stable market with 6-8 months of inventory.  What would help move the market would be an easing of financing restrictions so that Millennials and first time buyers could get into the market.

 

Miami's Condo Market
Miami’s Condo Market

Categories
Buying Luxury Real Estate Selling

Miami’s Busy Winter Real Estate Season Is Off To a Roaring Start At EWM Realty

Faena HouseAs we start to get into the busy winter buying season, EWM Realty International has gotten off to a strong start.  The company had a $70 million week between our offices in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. The breakdown for our Miami-Dade offices are:

  • Brickell $1.3 million
  • Coconut Grove $1.5 million
  • Coral Gables/ South Miami $24 million
  • Key Biscayne $1.2 million
  • Miami Beach $30 million
  • Pinecrest $1.4 million

The highest sale in our Coral Gables office was for a unit at the Faena House, pictured above, for $5.5 million .

Categories
Buying Selling

Latest Real Estate Scam Hits E-Mail Accounts – Buyers Beware

As if the real estate market in South Florida doesn’t have enough going on with all of the new construction and tight inventory in high demand locations, there is now a new scam to watch out for. Hackers are using the hot real estate markets throughout the country and are targeting Realtors® and their client’s. They hack into a Realtor’s e-mail account, learn about transactions they are working on and then e-mail the client requesting a deposit be wired to an account. It all looks legitimate to the client, who wires the money to a fraudulent account.
To protect yourself:
• Always verify any request to transfer funds with your REALTOR® and closing agent, either a title company or attorney.
• Call using a number you have used before, NOT the number on the e-mail directing you to wire the deposit.
• Be on the lookout for responses to e-mails that you have not sent. This may be a sign that your e-mail account has been hacked.
• Be especially careful of e-mails from gmail and Hotmail accounts.
• Please share this information with any one you know who is currently buying or selling real estate

 

 

Categories
Buying

Miami’s Affordable New Construction Condos

Although it may seem like Miami is only building condos for the wealthy, not all of Miami’s new construction is aimed at millionaires.  Here are a few of the latest projects announced.

 

INTOWN conceptual floorplanINTOWN, located in the Little Havana neighborhood,  is in the reservation stage with prices starting at $200,000.  This 14-story, 320-unit condominium will feature 1, 2 & 3-bedroom condos and townhomes with six different floor plans to chose from.  These units will be move-in ready with an option of fully furnished units from Interiors by Steven G.

 

Artist's Conceptual Rendering of Living Area
Artist’s Conceptual Rendering of Living Area.

Head a little further North and East to the Arts & Entertainment District, to visit the location of CANVAS, a proposed 27 story  with 513-units comprised of studios, 1 and 2 bedrooms.  Prices start at $230,000.

aria on the bayAlso located in the Arts & Entertainment District and directly across from Margaret Pace Park,  is Aria on the Bay, with 647 units on 50 floors. Prices start in low $300,000’s and there are 1, 2, 3 and 4 bedroom units.

Categories
Buying Selling

Is Miami's Real Estate Market Starting To Shift?

168 Paloma - Listed by EWM's DiCarlo Group
168 Paloma – Listed by EWM’s DiCarlo Group

Based on EWM’s activity this week, it appears we may be starting to get into a more neutral market. EWM’s Coral Gables’/South Miami office did over $22.5 million worth of transactions this week, with an almost even split between sales (26), and leases (24). Seven of the sales were over $1,000,000.

Eight out of the 15 sales listed under $500,000 went for at (4) or above (4) asking price. Although that is pretty indicative of the seller’s market we have been in, we also added 27 new listings and had 17 price reductions. With the increase in inventory, if your home has been on the market for over 30 days it is time to decrease your list price. We are expecting inventory to increase every month as we move closer to the Spring listing season.

Categories
Buying Investment Real Estate Selling

Multifamily Properties Are Still The Commercial Properties In Highest Demand

Lofts at Mayfair Bulk Sale - Listed by Levine Realty
Lofts at Mayfair Bulk Sale – Listed by Levine Realty

With South Florida rentals in high demand, increasing rents, and available rentals low, investors are searching for multifamily properties. According to LoopNet, 9 out of the Top 10 Most Popular South Florida Properties were multifamily.

Here are some multifamily properties for sale in Miami areas with high rent demand.

Categories
Buying Foreclosures Selling

More Changes To Affect The Florida Real Estate Market In 2014

On December 20 I wrote a post about some changes to federal laws that may affect Miami’s real estate market in 2014.  I neglected to include two more (well one is a Florida State Law, but I will include it here anyway).  The first one I thought would be extended by now, but since we are coming up on New Year’s eve I thought I should mention it in case Congress lets it lapse.  It may not be that big of an issue since, due to the rising real estate prices, many real estate owners are no longer under water but the tax deduction on forgiven mortgage debt will end on January 1, 2014.  Although there are many benefits to short sell, even without the tax benefit, instead of foreclose the sun-setting of this deduction could decrease the number of short sales sellers participate in.  Should seller’s stop participating in short sales, this will put pressure on already short inventory since the foreclosure process usually takes longer.  Which leads me to the second change.

HB 87, the Fair Foreclosure Act, went into effect on June 7, 2013, but we will really start to see its affects in 2014.  Known as the “Speedy Foreclosure Law”, this law will help speed up the foreclosure process.  Prior to passage of this bill, foreclosing on a mortgage took approximately 853 days, which was more than twice the average.  This should help ease some of the shortages in inventory by getting at least a portion of the 350,000 plus foreclosure cases currently tied up in Florida courts through the process much faster.

 

Categories
Buying Commercial Real Estate Florida Life

Florida Is Expected To Outperform The U.S In 2014 and 2015

IMG_0961
PortMiami

The economic outlook for the Sunshine State is extremely positive. TD Economics, an affiliate of TD Bank, estimates that Florida’s economic growth will grow from 2.4% this year to 3.5% in 2014 & 4.0% in 2015.  This growth is largely due to the increase in domestic in-migration, which has led us to knock New York out of the spot for third most populous state.  The growth in population is fueling demand for construction and construction workers for residential, commercial, and infrastructure projects, such as the one at PortMiami.

Categories
Buying Luxury Real Estate Selling

Another Great Week At EWM’s Coral Gables Office – $29 Million In Real Estate Transactions

Total sales (24) still outnumbered total new listings (11), which is to be expected in the middle of the holiday season.  Buyers are still out in full force and are purchasing in all price ranges.  The highest sale in our office was the home pictured below.  It sold for $7,030,000 and was listed by EWM.

9540 Journey's End Rd
9540 Journey’s End Rd