New Miami Condos – Closing Rates for May 2008
It’s been almost 2 months since my last post regarding the closing rates of various Miami condo developments. That post was published on April 4, 2008. Referring back to that post and comparing it to the figures in the graph below, you may quickly realize that I must have made a mistake last month when pulling the data for Loft Downtown 2. I’m not sure how that happened. I double and tripled checked the figures this month, however, for all of the condo developments.
Below you will find the date that each condo development began closings:
Even with the overstatement of closed units corrected, Loft Downtown 2 still has the best closing rate of any condo development located in Miami included in this post, and the second best overall. Loft Downtown 2 isn’t as close to hitting the 100 percent mark as I had previously thought, but it’s doing comparatively quite well. The overall closing rate at 50 Biscayne increased slightly over 6 points while the rest, in the group above, increased 2.52 points or less, since the last update.
As over half of this group approaches the one year mark since their closings began, a few interesting questions come to mind. What is happening to the defaulted condos? Are developer’s leasing them and holding until the market gets better or are they hoping for onesy and twosy buyers to come along to slowly deplete their inventory? Are any of these developers feeling the pain yet? I’ve heard that at least one of these condo developers has been for a few months. If that’s true, then when, if ever, are we going to see some bulk sales?
I’m sure glad he’s proving me wrong. Those were my first thoughts when looking at the chart above. My second thoughts are that Apogee South Beach has continued to make great strides in closing its condos. Apogee has improved almost 15 points since my last update. Quantum on the Bay and 1800 Club, the only other two condo developments in the group above the 50 percent mark, each continued to show nice progress as well.
Below you will find the date that each condo development began closings:
Marina Blue is off to a very good start. Pretty impressive from a condo development that started closings so late in the game. Asia is doing relatively well given that it had its first closing less than two months ago. However, Asia has only 123 total units. I’m expecting that we’ll some good progress in Asia’s closing rate next month. I guess we’ll have to wait for the next update, however, to find out.
Disclaimer: The above closing rate information was derived from public County records. There can be a 2-3 week delay from the time that a closing occurs and the time that the closing is recorded.
Marina Blue Through the Eyes of a Professional Photographer
About a month ago, I shared a bunch of pictures that I shot while touring Marina Blue. Someone left a comment remarking that my amateur eye didn’t fully encompass Marina Blue in all its glory. I think you will all agree, after viewing this post. Fortunately, the people at Posh Condos were nice enough to share with me some professionally shot photos that they had someone shoot for them. They agreed that I could share these amazing pictures of Marina Blue with my readers, so enjoy!
The lobby seating area at Marina Blue.
The hallway to elevator core 3 and the beautiful orange round-chair at the end.
A shot of elevator core 1 at Marina Blue.
The entrance to the Sky Beach Fitness Center on the 14th floor at Marina Blue.
This amazing view should inspire quite a few to get their cardio workout in each day.
The two hot tubs at Marina Blue.
The sunrise pool at Marina Blue and the Downtown Miami view.
The poolside eating area off the club room. The barbecue grills aren’t installed yet but they will be.
The poolside lounge area at Marina Blue.
The rock garden at Marina Blue. I never knew rocks could look so beautiful.
The putting green. I think there’s about 5 holes in all.
A shot of the circular beds off the sunset pool at Marina Blue.
The sunset pool. You can work on your tan all day until the sun fades into the horizon. The sand volleyball court was being set up the last time I was on the pool deck at Marina Blue.
Most people hate to see an unfinished unit with concrete floors. Above, you’ll find a finished condo at Marina Blue with painted walls, flooring, baseboards and window treatments. The view is killer even from this condo on a relatively low floor. Last week, I got a rental listing on the 5th floor and received an offer that was accepted after just one showing. All Marina Blue condos have a direct water view.
This is the kitchen at Marina Blue from a 12 line unit with tiled floors. The 12 line is a 2 bedroom/2 bath corner unit with direct views of Biscayne Bay and Miami Beach from the living room and master bedroom and views to the north and west from the kitchen and second bedroom.
A sick view to the east at Marina Blue.
A view down Biscayne Boulevard. Yes, the traffic may be congested at times, although you don’t see it in this shot, but isn’t that what urban life is all about? I honestly can’t wait for there to be more traffic in Park West, Brickell and the Arts District. The infrastructure will follow.
I’m originally from Chicago. A few years before I left Chicago, nobody wanted to live south of Congress. The infrastructure wasn’t in place at the time because there wasn’t much interest to live there from young professionals. Now, it’s a totally different situation. Development has pushed more south with each passing year and what was formally known as the “hood” has become a place that young professionals actually enjoy living.
There’s no doubt that the same will happen with Miami. Six months ago, I used to show condos at Loft 2 and 50 Biscayne and hardly anybody lived there. Now, the foot traffic that goes through the lobby of each building each hour is incredible. I showed a condo for sale at Loft 2 this evening and I couldn’t believe how many people actually live there now. It was a sight to see! It’ll definitely take some time for the market to digest the new inventory but, when it does, Miami will be hot again!!!
Marina Blue Condos For Sale
Marina Blue Rentals
A Preview of 500 Brickell
Last Thursday night, I attended the brokers preview party for 500 Brickell. It was great to be in the company of the one or two Realtors left in Miami. Okay, I’m exaggerating a bit. The place was actually pretty packed. The wine was flowing and the hors d’oeuvres were everywhere. The picture above was taken from the rooftop pool on the 42nd floor.
Jorge Perez attended the party. Jorge gave free copies of his newly published book “Powerhouse Principles” and stayed around to sign books. Above, Jorge is doing his rendition of “Love Me Tender” by Elvis Presley. I’m joking. Actually, he was thanking his staff and everyone involved in the 500 Brickell project.
I was actually very impressed with the amenities at 500 Brickell. It’s definitely a very “hip” building. That’s the word that kept coming to mind for me at least. Here you see the lobby of the east tower at 500 Brickell.
This is a shot of the Sports Bar room at 500 Brickell. The room also has a billiards table and a bar with flat-screen TVs which you’ll see below.
Another shot of the Sports Bar.
The spa was very nice, complete with a steam room and sauna.
A shot of the hot tub in the men’s spa room.
I’m kicking back in one of the reclining seats at the back of theater room watching “Bourne Ultimatum”.
Above is a shot of the fitness center. This is one amenity area that didn’t quite impress me. I found it to be rather small to accommodate the residents of the east and west towers at 500 Brickell.
The all-famous halo at 500 Brickell. I was laying back in a lounge chair as I took this shot. It was kind of trippy. I felt like I would be beamed up to the Related Group mother-ship at any moment. I spoke with an architect who worked on 500 Brickell who mentioned that the scattered windows running down the sides of each tower were to resemble water running down. I thought that was pretty interesting.
The kitchens were nice but they’re identical to the kitchens that you’ll find in the “Sky Residences” at Plaza on Brickell, so they were nothing new to me. Each of the condos at 500 Brickell comes with a Jacuzzi tub in the master bath that are the same, or at least resemble, the ones found in the “Sky Residences” at Plaza on Brickell as well.
The floor plans were pretty spacious and the bathrooms in most of the lines were rather large. However, the group I was with did find a major flaw in the 00 line of the east tower. The shot above is of the shower. Take note of how narrow it is. A slender lady in our group entered the shower and pretended to wash her hair. She couldn’t lift her elbows without hitting the glass. The 00 line does have the best views of all the 1 bedrooms at 500 Brickell but anyone looking to buy a condo in the 00 line should take note of the shower. You’ll definitely need to open up the space somehow. The showers in the other lines didn’t seem to have this problem.
The view to the south of Brickell at dusk was pretty killer. However, there is an office building currently under construction that will block much of this view. If you look closely, you can see the construction cranes in the foreground of the picture above.
A view to the northeast. The view of the Bank of America building directly to the north was also a nice sight, although you can’t see it in this picture. Personally, I much prefer the northern view at 500 Brickell over the southern view.
Here’s a shot of the east view. I thought Icon Brickell would block most of the views to the east at 500 Brickell but, as you can see, you still get nice views of Biscayne Bay and Brickell Key. Obviously, you do see Icon Brickell to the side but the visual distraction isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
By the way, a few of you mentioned that the illuminating halo in the middle of the two towers might shed unwanted light into the condos residing on the interior of the condo development at 500 Brickell. I made sure to take a look at one of those condos to see if that was true. The halo didn’t shine a bit into the unit that I was in that night. There might be a few units where this might be a problem but I’m sure it’s nothing that some blackout shades can’t resolve.
Brickell on the River South Tower Developer Closeout Sale
Some of you may have noticed the bus stop ad above for Brickell on the River South Tower throughout various locations in Brickell. I must have driven past it a dozen times without noticing it. However, a friend of mine mentioned the ad to me over lunch this past weekend, so I had to take a look for myself.
It looks like the developer of Brickell on the River South Tower, Groupe Pacific, has decided to discount the condos it recently got back. This is the first major condo development that I know of in Brickell that has decided to discount prices below initial preconstruction prices.
This is great news for young professionals looking to live in Brickell in a new building at bargain prices. The marketing material on their website promoting the developer closeout mentions that one bedrooms start from $199,000. It also mentions that flooring and paint are included in the price. On the flip-side, this is awful news for those who recently closed on a condo in Brickell on the River South Tower. Ouch!
Miami & Miami Beach Condo Trends – May 2008
Earlier this afternoon, someone left a link in the comments area of a previous post to a Florida Association of Realtors article that reveals an improvement in real estate inventory levels for the state of Florida in the first quarter of 2008. I wanted to see how the Miami and Miami Beach condo markets fared in comparison, so I decided to provide new supply figures for May 2008. My last Miami & Miami Beach Condo Trends report was published in February 2008.
Below, you will find the Miami-Dade County condo inventory and months of supply figures for May 2008. The first box to the left reveals the total number of condos that are currently available for sale on the MLS throughout Miami-Dade County. The second box discloses the total number of closed sales that occurred in the month of April 2008. The third and fourth boxes show the months and years of condo supply in Miami-Dade County. As you can see, the figures are also subdivided into various price ranges to reveal which part of the condo market has been most affected.
(Note: If you’re over the age of 40, you may want to have someone younger read the numbers below aloud to you. Either that, or bust out a magnifying glass.)
I was shocked to see that the months and years of supply figure had gone down significantly since my February update. The number of available condos has fallen slightly since February but the number of sold condos in the previous month has gone up about 41 percent. That’s a huge increase in sales activity. I was puzzled that the number of condos on the market actually fell. We’ve seen a lot of new condo buildings begin closings since the beginning of the year. I would have expected the number of available condos on the market to be much higher than in February.
The following statistics encompass only those condos located throughout Miami (not other areas of Dade County such as Miami Beach, Aventura, Sunny Isles Beach, etc.):
The number of available condos on the market went up slightly since February but again the number of closed sales within the previous month showed a proportionately much larger increase. Miami condos experienced around a 44 percent increase in closed sales when compared to the figures presented in February. Miami now has a 5.32 year supply of condos. The $250,000-$499,000 price range has the highest supply at 8.16 years while the $1,000,000-$2,499,9999 is sitting on only 2 years worth of supply.
The following statistics encompass only those condos located throughout Miami Beach:
There’s been a decrease in the number of available condos in Miami Beach since February and about a 57 percent increase in closed condo sales. Miami Beach is now sitting on 3.03 years worth of condos. The $500,000-$999,999 price range has the highest supply of condos at 3.57 years while the $1,000,000-$2,499,999 price range is the healthiest at 2.32 years worth of condos.
What does everyone make of these figures? There’s definitely been an increase in the number of closed condo sales since February. I don’t think anyone can dispute that. However, what is happening to all the new condos that have hit the market since February? I expected sales activity to have picked up because of declining values and better opportunities than were available in February but I also expected to see a much higher number of available condos on the market. Are most of these condos being rented or is it too early to see an impact from the newly constructed condos because developers, for the most part, don’t list there unclosed condos on the MLS?
Atlantis on Brickell
People from all over the world, even those who may have never visited Miami, may recognize the building pictured above. It caught the eyes of many in the opening credits of a wildly popular 1980s TV show called “Miami Vice”.
It amazes me by how many times nonlocal clients say something like, “Hey, there’s the building with the square cut into it” or “There’s that building with the palm tree, hot tub and spiral staircase in the middle,” as we drive down Brickell Avenue.
Atlantis on Brickell, was built in 1982 and still resonates in the minds of many. This Arquitectonica classic has stood the test of time and helped define the Miami skyline. Over 25 years later, and people still remember this iconic Miami condo building.
The question for my readers is, which condo development, built within the past two years, will be most associated with Miami two decades from now? Cast your vote on the poll found along the right-hand side of this blog or share your thoughts and comments below.
View current condos for sale at Atlantis on Brickell
View current condos for rent at Atlantis on Brickell
Photo Tour of 900 Biscayne Bay
This past week, I had the opportunity to take a very extensive tour of 900 Biscayne Bay. I couldn’t wait to see if 900 Biscayne Bay held up to its high expectations. I took a ton of pictures that day and wanted to share them with everyone. Above, you see the nice water feature that greets you as you drive into the valet area at 900 Biscayne Bay.
The lobby at 900 Biscayne Bay is two stories. The first story is for guests entering off the street while the second story welcomes those entering through the valet area. The grand spiral staircase at 900 Biscayne Bay, in the photo above, takes you to the second level.
The Infinity-edge, resort-style pool at 900 Biscayne Bay was beautiful. I’m sure residents will make full use of the large bar behind the pool while sunning themselves as well. There’s also a fire pit and hot tub available on the same level.
The lap pool was closed, so unfortunately I wasn’t able to get some laps in while my clients were talking about the great amenities that 900 Biscayne Bay has to offer.
Another great water feature pictured above. This is the entry-way to the amenities found at 900 Biscayne Bay shown in the pictures below.
Here we have the theater room at 900 Biscayne Bay. It’s the best theater room that I’ve ever seen in a condo building in Miami. It has a 153 inch screen and seating for 35 people. I doubt many people will actually make use of this room but it’s still quite impressive to have in your building.
Many of the rooms found on this level at 900 Biscayne Bay come equipped with the above technology. Mount your iPod and enjoy the sounds of your own tunes throughout the room.
The club room at 900 Biscayne Bay with a grand piano and kitchen.
The conference room at 900 Biscayne Bay.
The entry-way into the men’s and women’s spa at 900 Biscayne Bay which is each equipped with a steam room, sauna and hot tub.
Tell me that it doesn’t look inviting. This is the hot tub in the women’s spa at 900 Biscayne Bay. I’m hoping that this isn’t the last time that I get invited into the women’s spa at 900 Biscayne Bay. In my mind, I already had my shoes and socks off, but unfortunately the tour wasn’t over.
Another shot of the women’s spa.
The fitness center at 900 Biscayne Bay was a nice size. It wasn’t overly impressive but it had plenty of free weights, machines and cardio equipment. I would have preferred a view of the bay to the east, however.
I took a look at about 3 condos at 900 Biscayne Bay that day. Here’s a shot of one of the kitchens with dark cabinetry. Another kitchen I saw that day had beige colored cabinets.
Here’s an east view from one of the condos I saw at 900 Biscayne Bay. I think this was a shot from the 34th floor.
Overall, I felt that 900 Biscayne Bay exceeded my expectations. I think Pedro Martin and Terra Group delivered an outstanding condo development. Of all the new condo buildings that I’ve been in that have been completed within the past three years in Miami, 900 Biscayne Bay is on an entirely different level. The quality of the building is unsurpassed of the new condo buildings that I’ve seen. I haven’t been in Asia yet but I think that will be the only other recently finished condo building in Miami that may be able to measure up to 900 Biscayne Bay. The quality does come at a price, however. Expect to pay more than you’ll find at Marina Blue or Ten Museum Park, but like I said, the quality is unsurpassed.
900 Biscayne Bay condos for sale
900 Biscayne Bay condos for rent
Beautiful 5 Bedroom Condo at Villa Regina with 4,100 Square Feet – $1,499,900
Five-bedroom condos in Brickell are very rare. In fact, at this time, there are only two other condos in Brickell that are listed on the MLS with that many bedrooms. Just last week, I listed the best priced 5 bedroom condo in Brickell in a building called Villa Regina. The new listing is attractively priced at $1,499,900. The next best priced 5 bedroom residence is listed for over $1M more.
If size, quality, and location are what you need, then look no further. The 5 bedroom listing at Villa Regina spans 4,100 square feet (380.9 square meters), has a total of 15 rooms, 5 full bathrooms, comes with 3 parking spaces, has 4 terraces with gorgeous bay and city views and has been tastefully remodeled. The kitchen has new granite countertops and stainless steel appliances with custom cabinetry. The air conditioning system was also replaced 3 months ago and the condo has impact resistance windows and shutters.
The amenities at Villa Regina include: 24-hour full-service concierge and security, swimming pool, fitness center, his and her spas, barbecue area and 4 grand party rooms. Villa Regina is located directly on Biscayne Bay and is one of the few condo buildings in Brickell with its own private marina.
Contact me today if you’d like to take a look at this 5 bedroom condo at Villa Regina.
Premium Views from Plaza on Brickell
I had the opportunity last week to also show a few condo units at Plaza on Brickell offering their best views. The pictures that I took were shot from the 10 and 11 lines in the 851 Tower located at 950 Brickell Bay Drive from the 45th floor.
As you can see, the views at Plaza on Brickell differ from those that you’ll find in many of the new condo buildings in the Arts District or Park West in that the city views are much pronounced. It goes nicely with the gorgeous view of Biscayne Bay. The best of both worlds!
It was pretty amazing to overlook Brickell Key and see Miami Beach and the Atlantic Ocean in the distance. I don’t think I’ve ever captured Brickell Key quite like this. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to fit Asia into the picture.
The condos that I showed are called “sky residences”. They are premium units with 10-foot ceilings, upgraded appliances and a Jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom.
