Miamism

Real Estate Market Reports for Miami Shores, Bay Harbor Islands, Surfside, Fisher Island, Aventura, Biscayne Park and El Portal

This is a Miami Real Estate Market Report for the first 8 months of 2008. We are seeing change! Renters are buying, investors are buying and everyone is taking advantage of Miami Real Estate Lower Prices. It's important for sellers to be realistic and respond to offers.....but I don think it's the end of the low balling period since more offers are being submitted. Keep an eye out for distress sales in your area thought, they will affect the price of your home and the perception from buyers. I do these market reports on a monthly basis and you can go back to compare sales and real estate movement in prior months. My duty is to tell you thata working with a Miami Real Estate Agent that knows the area is crucial to buying and selling real estate - but know a lot of people that are more than capable....and others that think they are and end up screwed clueless.

Miami Shores Real Estate Market Report

There are currently 207 listings in Miami Shores: (16 less than last month)

Highest priced listing is $3.5 million (bayfront home located at 1680 NE 104th Street)
Lowest priced listing is $164,000 (corporate-owned located at 189 NW 99th Street)
Pending Sales (Properties under contract):24 (10 more than last month)
Closed sales in 2008: 65 (8 sales in August)

42 of those 65 sales have been under $500,000 - which means more than 1/2 of 2008 sales in Miami Shores have been for homes $500,000 and under. The average price per square foot in all of Miami Shores right now has dropped to $220 compared to $275 one year ago.....this means the distress sales are affecting that average price. The average sale price so far this year in Miami Shores is $485,000.

There has been NO sale over $1 million this year in Miami Shores, which tells you that the Miami Shores Luxury Real Estate Market has definitely been affected.

Bay Harbor Islands Real Estate Market Report

There are currently 26 single-family home listings in Bay Harbor Islands: (3 more than last month)

Highest priced listing is $5,450,000 (10340 W. Broadview Drive - listed on and off since February 2006 - starting price of $6,850,000)
Lowest priced listing is $575,000 (9970 E. Bay Harbor Drive - Villa - listed since Feb. 07 - starting price of $659,000)
Pending Sales (properties under contract):0 (as compared to 1 last month)
Closed sales in 2008: 2

The 2 closed sales this year were at 10161 E. Broadview Drive which closed for $1,543,500 on May 30 and 1251 98th Street which closed for $642,000 on August 15th. The Bay Harbor Islands Real Estate Market remains at a stand still - let's see what happens in the remaining months of 2008)

Surfside Real Estate Market Report

There are currently 76 single-family home listings in Surfside:(6 less than last month)

Highest priced listing is $6,299,000 (bayfront home located at 1249 Biscaya Drive - has been on the market since Feb. 07 and started off at $8 million).
Lowest priced listing is $349,000 for a pre-foreclosure at 9156 Harding Avenue
Pending Sales (properties under contract): 7 (same as last month)
Closed sales in 2008: 23 (10 in the month of August)

16 out of the 23 sales were under $500,000 - that's more than 2/3 of the sales! The highest sale this year in Surfside was for $3.2 million for a bayfront home (1356 Biscaya Drive) purchased in 2002 for $2.2 million, and the lowest sale was a short sale for $262,000 (8819 Garland Avenue). Talk about a disparity in numbers! With a decreasing inventory and slowly increasing sales, Surfside is slowly coming out of the woodworks.

There are currently 215 condo listings in Surfside: (12 less than last month)

Highest priced listing: $2,500,000 a 3/3 at Azure

Lowest priced listing: $160,000 a 1/1 at Regent Place

Pending Sales (properties under contract):14 (4 more than last month)

Closed sales in 2008: 26 (4 more than last month)

The have been 2 Surfside Condo sales over $1 million in 2008. The highest sale was for a 3 bedroom / 2.5 bathroom at The Champlain Tower East which closed on March 31 for $1,250,000. 12 of the 26 sales were under $500,000 9 (almost half the sales). The lowest sale was for $145,000 for a 1/1 at Regent Place.

Fisher Island Real Estate Market Report

There are currently 144 listings in Fisher Island: (8 more than last month)

Highest priced listing: $30,000,000 for an exclusive Oceanside 5/5.5 home with artwork and all!
Lowest priced listing: $335,000 for a 1/1 at Marina Village
Pending Sales: 1 (2 less than last month)
Closed sales in 2008: 19 (3 in the month of August)

Fisher Island is Fisher Island...no explanation needed when it comes to Miami Beach Luxury Real Estate - but if you want to get an idea of Fisher Island's Real Estate, read Miami Luxury Real Estate. Here's the breakdown of sales at Fisher Island:

Villa del Mare - 1 sale and highest this year in Fisher Island $12,360,000
Seaside Villas - 4 sales
Pallazzo de Mare - 5 sales
Oceanside - 2 sale
Marina Village - 3 sales
Bayview - 3 sales
Bayside Village - 1 sale

Aventura Real Estate Market Report

There are currently 2131 condo listings in Aventura: (65 less than last month)

Highest priced listing: $6,000,000 for a 4/6 at Porto Vita
Lowest priced listing: $12,000 for a covered parking space at The Venture
Pending sales: 178 (11 less than last month)
Closed sales in 2008: 529 (89 Closings in August)

The highest closed sale this year in Aventura was at Porto Vita for $3,600,000 and the lowest was $12,000 at Hamptons West Condo for a poolside cabana where buyer had to be a Hamptons West Condo owner.

439 of the 529 sales were under $500,000 - that's over 3/4 of all the sales! There have been 17 sales over $1 million in Aventura, keeping The Aventura Luxury Real Estate Market strong.

Biscayne Park Real Estate Market Report

There are currently 52 single-family listings in Biscayne Park: (1 less than last month)

Highest priced listing $769,215 (I think these sellers are playing the "no-zero" strategy....and it has been listed since May 2008)
Lowest priced listing $180,000
Pending sales (properties under contract):2 (compared to 0 last month)
Closed sales in 2008: 15 ( 2 sales in August)

The highest sale in Biscayne Park was for $875,000 for the property located at 11080 Griffin Boulevard ( 4,384 sq. ft. canal-front home with 4 bedrooms / 2 bathrooms and 2 half baths on May 14, 2008). The lowest sale was for $140,000 on June 27, 2008, for the property at 1110 NE 119th Street which was sold for land value since it was a fire-sale in the true sense of the word - house had a fire in Jan. 08. 13 out of the 15 sales were priced under $500,000 and the average sale price was $360,000.

El Portal Real Estate Market Report

There are 45 listings in El Portal: (17 less than last month)

Highest priced listing is $549,000
Lowest priced listing $125,000
Pending sales (properties under contract):5 (compared to 0 last month)
Closed sales in 2008: 6 (2 in the month of August)

The 3 closed sales this year in El Portal were:

$259,000 for a 2 bedroom / 2 bathroom house located at 465 NE 89th Street on April 15, 2008
$185,000 for a 2 bedroom / 1 bathroom house located at 335 NE 87^th Street on May 27^th, 2008
$230,000 for a 2 bedroom / 2 bathroom house located at 134 NW 87th Street on June 11, 2008
$212,000 for a 3 bedroom / 1 bathroom house located at 164 NW 87th Street on July 31, 2008
$390,000 for a 3 bedroom / 3 bathroom house located at 8895 NE 4th Avenue on August 7, 2008
$196,000 for a 3 bedroom / 2 bathroom house located at 2 NW 89th Street on August 18, 2008

**all information obtained from the SouthEast Florida Multiple Listing Service**

Miami Beach Luxury Real Estate - August Million Dollar Sales

Miami Beach Luxury Real Estate Market Report - August Miami Beach Million Dollar Sales

There are currently 298 Active Single-family Listings in Miami Beach over $1,000,000

The highest listing is for $29,000,000 - A waterfront lot with over 570 feet of water frontage located on Sunset Island II (2500 Bay Avenue)
The lowest million dollar listing is for $1,050,000 - short sale of a dry-lot home located at 111 4 Terrace on DiLido Island
Properties over $1,000,000 Currently under contract (Pending Sales) - 6
10 closed sales over $1,000,000 in August

1. 44 Star Island Drive - Listed for $9,750,000 - sold for $8,100,000

2. 5396 N. Bay Road - Listed for $7,695,000 - sold for $6,800,000

3. 2012 N. Bay Road - Listed for $6,000,000 - sold for $5,400,000

4. 239 E. Rivo Alto Drive - Listed for $2,395,000 - sold for $2,115,000

5. 1200 S Biscayne Point Road - Listed for $2,150,000 - sold for $2,050,000

6. 3370 Chase Avenue - Listed for $1,997,000 - sold for $1,820,000

7. 6300 Allison Road - Listed for $1,750,000 - sold for $1,500,000

8. 114 2 Terrace - Listed for $1,699,000 - sold for $1,600,000

9. 510 W 31 Street - Listed for $1,450,000 - sold for $1,300,000

10. 7 Century Lane - Listed for $1,150,000 - sold for $1,000,000

There are currently 538 Active Condo Listings in Miami Beach over $1,000,000Read more »

Miamism Fridays

A Manta Ray off of South Beach....now THIS is a rare site. All I can say is that I'm glad I bought Rick that waterproof camera for his birthday.

...another MIAMISM!!

** Here in Miamism we love to post your Miami Photos. If you have a shot you want to share please join the Miamism Group at Flickr.com - or you can e-mail the photos directly to us at info@miamism.com **

Miami Real Estate Bottom or Creativity at its best?

Signs of the Miami Real Estate Bottom? Good news from the media about Miami Real Estate? Pinch me please, this can't be true!

Check out this article by none other than Bloomberg: Florida Real Estate Bottom Signaled by Sale of Distressed Condo

What I find fascinating is the creativity behind these bulk purchases. Jorge Perez from The Related Group has been very heavily criticized, but you be the judge:

Perez made the bulk purchase, the largest in condo-glutted downtown Miami, in the 50 Biscayne Blvd. tower with Lubert-Adler Partners LP, a private equity firm headed by Dean Adler. The two firms raised $1 billion to buy condos, mortgages and land in Florida, according to a Feb. 13 news release. The price was $30.3 million, about half the cost of individually sold units.

Bulk Purchase

Perez's partnership bought the condos from his own development company and a partner, Atlanta-based Cousins Properties Inc., which built the 54-story tower.

In an earlier bulk purchase at 50 Biscayne, Perez and Cousins sold 26 units in May to 50 Biscayne Suites LLC for $6.1 million. Perez and Cousins paid off their construction loan with LaSalle Bank with the proceeds, according to Zalewski of Condo Vultures.

Paying off the loan allowed Perez to do the recent 120-unit bulk transaction at below-market prices, said Bruce B. Baldwin, a partner with the Miami-based Mase & Lara PA law firm who was not involved in the deal.
Construction lenders require developers to sell condos at a minimum price, he said. Once the developer's debt to the bank is paid, the developer can discount the units, he said.

Perez may follow a similar strategy at the Plaza on Brickell development, two downtown towers with a total of 1,000 units, and other developers may too, Zalewski said.

Rumors in The Miami Luxury Condo Market don't stop there though, just last week I heard that the Royal Family of Dubai had purchased Midtown Miami. Although it is only a rumor and I have not been able to confirm it, it leaves you thinking that if big dogs are investing in Miami Real Estate.....there may be an end to the madness after all.

Mojito - Miamism Style

Mojitos! Mojitos!! It's not always about Miami Beach Real Estate. Time to revive an old post that has gotten awesome feedback!

There is nothing like celebrating a special occasion than with a good Mojito. Whether it's a birthday, an anniversary or New Year's Party. (or Labor Day)!

Did you know that The Mojito is the official drink of Miami?

Rick and I decided that it would be a good idea to show you how to make a Mojito from scratch.....not store bought....and you could even show off with your friends when they come visit.

Before we start, please remember to drink responsibly and we do not condone underage drinking. Please Don't drink and drive.

Mojito Ingredients

12 fresh mint leaves
1/2 a line (ooops) lime
1/2 part sugar
1 part Rum
3 parts club soda

Mojito Instructions

Place mint leaves, sugar and lime in a mixer or glass. Muddle well with a pestle or "muddler". Add rum and top off with club soda. Stir well and garnish with sprigs of mint and lime wheel.

Drink up!

In this video, you will find hands-on instructions from Rick himself - showing you how to make a Mojito - if you cannot see the video, please click HERE.

Here's the fun part. Jeff Turner of Real Estate Shows gave me the idea to bring this Mojito post back to life but with a twist (no pun intended) - he said:

You should give Mojito alternatives for those of us that are not as "adventurous" and a bit "lazy" and don't feel like making mojitos from scratch

Rick and I did some research and this is what we came up with:

Please know that we don't endorse any of these products and will have to do a follow-up video giving you our opinion of each one of them- they are in no particular order:

Mojito Alternative Number 1 - Smirnoff Mojito Cocktail - here's a Vodka Mojito (don't know how happy that makes me) - it's made with Smirnoff No. 21, Kaffir Lime Liqueur and mint - all you do is serve in tall glass over ice and garnish with fresh mint or lime wedge. (can see more at www.smirnoff.com)

Mojito Alternative Number 2 - Bacardi Silver Mojitos - these are pre-made bottled malt beverages that come in original, mango and pomegranate flavors - I personally can only drink one of these....the whole malt taste doesn't do much for me. (can get more info at bacardisilver.com)

Mojito Alternative Number 3 - Roses Traditional Mojito Mix - all you have to do here is add rum and ginger ale (I have not tried these either) - the mix also comes in traditional, mango and passion fruit.(more info at www.rosesmojito.com)

Mojito Alternative Number 4 - Bacardi Mojito Mixers found in the frozen section of your grocery store - all you do is add rum and club soda. Not only have we tried this option, but we use it as a quick alternative when we are boating and cannot make mojitos from scratch - if you doc them up a bit with mint and more lime....they are delish! (more info at www.instantparty.com - and it has a really cool interactive virtual dance party)

Thanks Jeff for the awesome idea - go give these a taste and let us know if you like them or not (and look forward to the third part of Miamism Mojitos when Rick and I actually taste the alternatives on live video) - but for now, remember that there's nothing like the real thing!

Enjoy your mojitos!