The data for the October South Beach Condo Index was collected last Thursday. I didn’t have time to actually post the statistics until now because it is quite time consuming and I kept procrastinating.
Actually, I had time, but I instead decided to enjoy my weekend by consuming much of what Miami and South Beach has to offer and sleeping in late each day. It was a much needed vacation time, especially after experiencing the frustration of my site being down for three days. The joy of not having a boss to which to answer!
The average price per square foot of condos currently listed in the following 19 condo developments in South Beach actually went up. It went from $887.60 per square foot, in September, to $889.83, for this month. The weighted-average, however, slid from $774.23 per square foot to $773.73.
The average price per square foot of condos sold over the previous six months has gone up from $783.25 per square foot to $787.01, but for a good reason. Meridian Lofts didn’t have any closed sales within the last six months which is why you will find the “N/A” below. Meridian Lofts is a sub-$500 per square foot condo building, so by excluding it from the average it actually made the overall average rise. Most of the other condo buildings included in the South Beach Condo Index are priced much higher than $500 per square foot. If Meridian Lofts were included in the average this month, at its previous average price per square foot, then the average price of condos sold in this index would have dropped from $783.25, last month, to $768.47, this month. That’s the real number to watch.
Murano at Portofino – 1000 S Pointe Dr | 33139 | $1,040.34
Murano Grande – 400 Alton Rd | 33139 | $752.03
Portofino Tower – 300 S Pointe Dr | 33139 | $998.35
Setai South Beach – 101 20 St | 33139 | $1,655.73
Waverly at South Beach – 1330 West Ave | 33139 | $478.47
Yacht Club at Portofino – 90 Alton Rd | 33139 | $640.19
The first number below directly to the right of each development name represents the total number of active listings. The second number, in parentheses, is the number of currently listed condos expressed as a percentage of the total number of condos in the development. The third number represents the number of pending sales while the fourth is the number of closed sales within the past month.
1500 Ocean Drive – 9 (8.04%) |0 | 0
Bentley Bay – 49 (28.82%) | 1 | 0
Bentley Beach – 14 (12.28%) | 0 | 1
Continuum South Tower – 44 (13.84%) | 1 | 3
Cosmopolitan – 30 (13.45%) | 0 | 0
Courts at South Beach – 5 (5.00%) | 0 | 0
The Decoplage – 62 (9.92%) | 2 | 1
The Floridian – 57 (17.07%) | 0 | 1
Grand Venetian – 17 (12.69%) | 0 | 0
Icon South Beach – 45 (15.57%) | 4 | 1
Il Villaggio – 6 (4.72%) | 0 | 1
Meridian Lofts – 17 (15.32%) | 1 | 0
Mirador 1000 & 1200 – 100 (10.80%) | 9 | 5
Murano at Portofino – 17 (8.99%) | 1 | 0
Murano Grande – 53 (19.63%) | 0 | 0
Portofino Tower – 38 (18.45%) | 1 | 1
Setai South Beach – 33 (20.25%) | 1 | 0
Waverly at South Beach – 47 (11.78%) | 3 | 1
Yacht Club at Portofino – 43 (11.91%) | 1 | 1
There were a total of 13 closed sales in the 19 condo developments represented in the South Beach Condo
Index this month. Five occurred in Mirador while 3 others occurred in Continuum. The 13 closings this month are two less than last month’s.
Overall pending sales have dropped from 35, last month, to 25, this month. That’s a 28% drop which is pretty considerable, in my opinion. Hopefully, the tides will turn after Thanksgiving, which is around the time that business picks up.
Sunday Afternoon Bicycle Ride Through Brickell and Downtown Miami
Last week, I purchased a new road bike. My hope was to not only get a good cardio workout while cycling but also to get some great pictures of Miami and South Beach condos while doing so. My goal today was to get some shots of the condo developments in Brickell and Downtown that were either recently completed or will be completed within the next year. Unfortunately, it was a very cloudy day as you will see below.
Closings at Plaza on Brickell will likely begin in January. This development will add 1,000 new units to the Brickell condo market.
Closings at 1060 Brickell should occur around the same time. 1060 Brickell will add 582 condo units.
Closings at Axis will likely begin around the middle of 2008. Axis will add 718 units.
Closings for 500 Brickell are scheduled for the beginning of 2008. This development will add 633 units.
Infinity at Brickell will likely be completed towards the middle of 2008. Infinity will bring 459 condo units to the market.
I forgot to get a shot of Brickell on the River South. That development will add 322 units. I also didn’t get one today for Latitude on the River but I’ve displayed pictures of that building in the past. Closings at Latitude started about two months ago. It has 455 condo units.
Asia is located on Brickell Key. It is the only development under construction there. It will add 123 condo units when it is completed in the first half of 2008.
Closings at 50 Biscayne began about a week and a half ago. I walked in the lobby last week and it is gorgeous. I didn’t have my camcorder with me at the time, however. I will try to get a video and picture tour of the building within the next week. 50 Biscayne has 529 condo units.
Closings at Loft Downtown 2 are scheduled to begin this month. In fact, they may have already begun. It will add 496 units.
Everglades on the Bay (now known as Vizcayne) likely won’t be completed until the end of 2008 or beginning of 2009. It will add 866 condo units to the Miami real estate market.
I’ve been told that closings at Marina Blue are scheduled to begin November 1, 2007. I don’t see that happening so soon but maybe I’m wrong. My guess would be sometime in December or January. Marina Blue will add 516 units.
900 Biscayne Bay will likely be completed in the first half of 2008. It will add 516 units as well.
Closings for units at Ten Museum Park began about three months ago. Closings are still underway. It has 200 units. Marquis probably won’t be completed until the end of 2008 to beginning of 2009. It will bring 306 units to the Miami condo market.
In conclusion, there might be a tiny bit of an inventory problem in Miami (that was me being sarcastic). I also didn’t include Icon Brickell and Epic Miami which will be completed in 2009. Icon Brickell will add 1,816 units while Epic will add 966 units. The condo developments in the Arts District will also add a little over 2,000 new units to the market within the next six months.
Neo Vertika Short-Sale Becomes a Closed Sale
The 2 bedroom + den/2 bath loft at Neo Vertika that I wrote about on September 4 closed Wednesday afternoon. The unit has 1,255 square feet of interior space, 20-foot ceilings, a large balcony that extends the length of the unit and comes with the upgraded stainless steel appliance package. Since it has never been lived in before it comes “decorator-ready”. This south-facing two-story loft is located on the 29th and 30th floors and overlooks the swimming pool and has obstructed views of Biscayne Bay. The unit was sold as a short-sale so my client was able to acquire it at a great price. The purchase price was $303,800 and the appraisal came in at $445,000.
My client’s plan was to rent and hold the unit for around 2-3 years before selling it. However, I have received some interest from people wanting to look at it and possibly acquire it once he closed. I will be showing the unit to all interested parties for the next week or two. After that, my client will install the floors and likely rent it as he had planned.
The best priced D floor plan at Neo Vertika is currently listed at $450,000. My client is willing to sell his unit for $385,000, which would make it priced even better than the smaller, and less desirable, 2 bedroom C floor plan units currently available in the building.
The picture slideshow below will show you unit 2919 at Neo Vertika which is the loft that my client purchased:
I also did a video walk-through of the unit:
The following video will show you the common areas at Neo Vertika. This video was shot about 12 months ago and the common areas were not 100 percent complete at the time.
If you have an interest in viewing this unit and the building in person then contact me to schedule a showing.
Foreclosure Mess Victimizes Renters as Well
A few months ago, I thought about writing this post but I never got around to it. The Wall Street Journal was sitting at my office this afternoon and an article caught my attention: “Mortgage Turmoil Hits Renters As Buildings Go Into Foreclosure”.
The reason why I thought about writing this post a few months ago is because I met someone who faced the very predicament that the Wall Street Journal article discusses. I met a guy who was looking to buy a condo. At the time, he was renting a condo at The Club at Brickell Bay and his lease was going to end within six months. A few weeks after he contacted me, he was notified that the condo was in the foreclosure process. He wasn’t notified, however, as to how much time he had until he needed to vacate. The thought that “today may be the day” entered his mind each day that he rode up the elevator to his apartment.
In the past, I’ve had some clients who offered to pay 12 month’s worth of rent upfront in order to negotiate a better price. I no longer advise this because of the possibility that the landlord will face financial difficulties and go into foreclosure. Renters are required to produce a credit report and background check when becoming a tenant in a condo building. Nowadays, it doesn’t seem so outlandish to me to ask for a credit check from the landlord. I’m not saying that you’ll actually get one but doesn’t it make sense to at least ask for one?
Closings at Latitude on the River Faring Better Than Most Miami Condo Developments
I have been tracking closings at Latitude on the River for the past couple of months. As of two days ago, Latitude on the River has been able to close 275 of their 455 total units. The closed units represent roughly 60 percent of the overall building. Closings are usually recorded within one week but can sometimes take 2-3 weeks before they are finally recorded.
The 60 percent may not seem like very much given that closings began July 27 of this year. However, Latitude on the River has had a higher closing percentage than other developments that began closings earlier than them such as Onyx on the Bay, Star Lofts on the Bay, Midtown 2 and Ten Museum Park.
The majority of closings at Latitude on the River occurred within the first four weeks. In fact, about 66 percent of their total closings occurred within those first 28 days. Closings have not completely tapered off, however. With the exception of the tenth week, they have been able to close over 10 units per week. The tenth week only had three recorded closings but additional closings likely occurred but just haven’t been recorded yet.
The fact that Latitude on the River has fared better than other developments that have begun closings as of late is the good news. The bad news is that there haven’t been any pending or closed sales since closings began. There are currently 70 listings available for sale and 77 available for rent. The 70 units available for sale represents about 25 percent of the closed units. There is likely much overlap in the units available for rent and sale. There have been 7 units that have successfully rented since closings began and 6 that are currently pending in the MLS.
Prices in the MLS for units at Latitude on the River have continued to slide over the past couple of months and are moving towards a point where a pending sale is likely to occur within the next 30 days. The best priced 1/1 is listed at $254,900 while the best priced 2 bedroom, which is actually the largest 2 bedroom in the building at 1,300 square feet of interior space, is listed at $399,999.
The problem is that foreclosures and short-sales in other developments throughout Brickell that are closer to the bay have increased within recent months. They are offering finished units at prices that are similar, or in some cases, better than those offered at Latitude on the River. It will be interesting to see where prices throughout Brickell end up once the dust settles.
Welcome to One Bal Harbour
Ever wonder what it would feel like to play James Bond for a day? Sneak into a highly secured building suspended by a cable moving along a pulley? How else could I get into One Bal Harbour on a Sunday afternoon? Well actually, I just walked in through the front door.
The lobby was simply amazing! The ceilings looked to be 25-30 feet high. WCI definitely delivered a remarkable product. There has been much speculation by the media, as of late, that One Bal Harbour will be riddled by a large percentage of defaults. That may or may not ultimately be true, but those who can hold for three-plus years will likely be pleased with their decision.
I took a ton of pictures while touring the common areas of One Bal Harbour. Unfortunately, my camcorder was having issues so I wasn’t able to shoot any video.
The picture slideshow below will reveal what I saw yesterday. The final 11 pictures were taken within the hotel aspect of the development. The restaurant looks like it will be amazing.
Developers Renting Their Inventory as a Last Resort
On Friday, the Daily Business Review published an article entitled, “Condominiums: Holding Pattern”. The article points out that several developers of recently completed condo developments have opted to rent their unsold or defaulted inventory to remain afloat.
The question that resounds throughout the article is whether or not this approach makes economic sense for these developers. Their hope is that the rental income earned will buy them time until the market rebounds.
The Midtown Miami development lies at the forefront of the article. Midtown 2 has had considerable problems with closings since they began in May of this year. As stated in the article, I have found only 179 closings for their 338 total units. The class-action lawsuit against the developer by contract holders certainly hasn’t helped matters. However, the root of the problem lies in the fact that the preconstruction prices offered by the developer were much too high for that neighborhood. Units were sold with a promise that the neighborhood would somehow be transformed within three short years. The reality is that the neighborhood is still at least another 3-5 years away from delivering on that promise. Initial prices at Midtown 2, and Midtown 4 for that matter, were higher than more desirable Brickell condo developments such as Plaza on Brickell, 500 Brickell and Axis.
Sandra de la Torre, a sales agent at Midtown Miami, stated in the article that 20 developer units were available for rent and 20-25 were available for sale. I highly doubt that this is the only inventory that the developer has in his possession, given that only 179 closings at Midtown 2 appear in public records. It is much more likely that at least 30 percent of the building will eventually be available for lease through the developer. I haven’t heard anything lately regarding the class-action lawsuit, so maybe it is still pending and a large portion of the unaccounted units can be tied to that.
Rental prices will need to be quite attractive at 2 Midtown in order for potential tenants to be enticed into signing a lease there. Many more options will become available for renters in the upcoming months in more desirable neighborhoods at attractive prices. In the Miami Arts District, The 1800 Club, in my opinion, will drive rental prices down throughout the neighborhood once closings begin and investors eventually opt to lease their units. The prices at The 1800 Club were quite attractive when sales were initially launched. This is one condo building where it might make economic sense for the developer to rent its remaining inventory. The neighborhood immediately surrounding The 1800 Club has a greater chance of rebounding within the next couple of years than that surrounding Midtown Miami. Vulture capital funds should keep a close eye on The 1800 Club because it could become the ideal development to invest in future months if prices dip below initial preconstruction prices.
Plaza on Brickell and Axis are two condo developments in Brickell that will drive down rental prices throughout the neighborhood once they are completed. Both were attractively priced and will ultimately provide Brickell renters with highly competitive rental prices. Both developments were backed by a high percentage of investors who will also likely lease their units to wait for the next upturn in the condo market.
The Sail on Brickell was also mentioned in the article as being another development that has sought to rent its remaining inventory. I was not aware that Renzi Development had failed to close on it 152 total units until I read this story. I wasn’t surprised, however, given that it is a second-tier condo development in Brickell that has been riddled by mortgage fraud. As a result, the Sail on Brickell will no longer be included in the Brickell Condo Index. It will eventually be replaced by Latitude on the River once it has closed on all of its units.
As for Midtown 2, I think they’ll be lucky to get rental rates of $1.75 per square foot. The “rent and wait” option doesn’t make economic sense for this development, in my opinion. The developers of the Sail on Brickell, which doesn’t reside on Brickell Avenue, will also have difficulties in making their rental numbers work. I think one bedrooms there will eventually rent for around $1,250 per month.
A contract holder of a condo unit at Trump Tower I, who got in at an excellent price via the “Friends and Family Discount,” contacted me last week to help him find a replacement buyer. He has a contract on a 2 bedroom + den/3 bath condo with 1,938 square feet of interior space and a 227 square foot balcony (C-Mod). The unit faces northeast and will have gorgeous direct views of the Atlantic Ocean from the living room, kitchen and both bedrooms. In order to remain partially anonymous to the developer, let’s just say that the unit is located on a high floor above the 25th floor.
Trump Tower I, II and III is a luxury beachfront development located in Sunny Isles Beach that was headed up by Dezer Development and The Related Group of Florida, with the world-renowned “Trump” name tagged to the development. Each tower rises 45 stories with 271 spacious residences which offer private elevator foyers. The residences also offer the following:
Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances
Italian cabinetry with granite or marble countertops in kitchens and bathrooms
Designer kitchen and bathroom fixtures
Expansive balconies with glass and aluminum railings
Elegant smooth ceilings rising to 10′ or 11′ clear
Floor-to-ceilings windows
Trump Tower I, II and III will also offer world-class amenities and common areas which include the following:
Exquisitely appointed three-story lobby
24-hour security and concierge services
Elegant porte-cochere entrance with 24-hour valet services
Elevated, lushly landscaped oceanfront terrace with heated swimming pool, spa and pool attendants
250 feet of sugar-sand Atlantic Ocean frontage
Beachfront cabanas
State-of-the-art fitness center and resident’s health spa
Multi-purpose clubroom
Mail and package receiving desk
Three levels of covered and secured garage parking
The contract holder who contacted me is looking to break-even on his purchase by offering this condo to an end-user for $1M, or $516 per square foot. That’s one helluva well-priced beachfront condo! Closings are scheduled to begin in December of this year but will likely be pushed back until the first quarter or first half of 2008.
Bayfront Brickell Condo Foreclosure to Sell Below $200 Per Squar Foot?
I’ve been keeping a close eye on a 4 bedroom/4 bath split-level bank-owned condo at Atlantis on Brickell for quite some time. It has 2,628 square feet of interior living space and is located on the third floor. The price has continually been reduced throughout the months that I’ve kept an eye on it, but it now looks appealing. The list price on this unit is $559,900, or $213 per square foot, at the present time.
Below you will see the price changes since it was listed on May 16, 2007:
05/16/2007 – $799,900
06/13/2007 – $759,900
07/16/2007 – $719,900
08/03/2007 – $679,900
08/28/2007 – $644,900
09/25/2007 – $559,900
Unfortunately, the pictures that accompanied the listing are no longer available. I haven’t personally viewed this property yet, but the pictures that were previously available made it apparent that the unit definitely needed some TLC. A few people in my office did visit the unit about six weeks ago and did confirm that the unit does need much work. On the high end, a $170,820, or $65 per square foot, build-out project should make this unit into an A+ residence. A $500,000, or $190 per square foot, offer should seal the deal on this condo given the continual decrease in price every month. I’m sure that Deutsche Bank is growing tired of keeping this property on their books month after month.
A 3/3 with 2,171 square feet of interior space on the same floor at Atlantis on Brickell, which needs some work of its own, is currently listed on the MLS for $750,000, or $345 per square foot. Invest $65 per square foot to fully renovate the unit, with an overall price per square foot of $255, and you should do well.
Saturday Afternoon View of the Arts District
It was a gorgeous afternoon here in South Florida yesterday. I was heading west on the Venetian Causeway and was compelled to pull over after paying the toll. The developments along Biscayne Bay looked so magnificent from this view that I wanted to share it with my readers. (Especially those who aren’t local to Miami.)
Above, you will see the following developments from left to right: Venetia Condo (completed in 1980), Marriott Hotel, The Grand (completed in 1986), Opera Tower (completion by the end of this year), Bay Parc Plaza (rental building), The 1800 Club (completion by the end of this year), Quantum on the Bay (completion by the first quarter of 2008), Cite on the Bay (completed in 2004) andParamount Bay (completion by the first half of 2009).
On the northern half of the Arts District we have the following new developments: New Wave (completed in 2006), Star Lofts on the Bay (completed within the last three months), Onyx on the Bay (completed within the last three months), Platinum Condominium (completed within the last five months) and Blue Condominium (completed at the end of 2005).
The following is a close-up of The 1800 Club, Quantum on the Bay, Cite on the Bay and Paramount Bay:
The pictures above make the Edgewater look like a million bucks. It’s amazing what perspective can do. The reality is that the Arts District is still an up-and-coming neighborhood. Three years ago you wouldn’t dream about walking the streets after dark. The neighborhood has cleaned up a lot within the past three years but it’ll be another three years until somebody actually wants to walk the streets at night. The long-term outlook for the Arts District, however, is bright. The views from these bayfront buildings are amazing. In time, the neighborhood will blossom and it will become an attractive place to live. In the meantime, however, newly constructed condos in high-quality buildings are available at prices that don’t make sense for the neighborhood. Prices will come down and opportunities will emerge as the new condo supply far outpaces demand in the Arts District.
