Top 5 Miami Distressed Condo Sales Closed in March 2009
Below, you will find what I believe to be the five best condo deals of the 47 distressed sales that closed in the month of March in the MLS located in Brickell, Brickell Key, Downtown Miami, and the Arts District.
The Mark on Brickell – unit 2702 – 3 bedroom/2 bath (1,470 square feet) – This unit sold for $251,000, or $171 per square foot, on March 20, 2009. Short Sale
Brickell on the River – unit 3305 – 1 bedroom/1 bath (757 square feet) – This unit sold for $125,000, or $165 per square foot, on March 17, 2009. Foreclosure
Vue at Brickell – unit 812 – 1 bedroom/1.5 bath (860 square feet) – This unit sold for $90,000, or $105 per square foot, on March 9, 2009. Foreclosure
Neo Vertika – unit 1525 – 0 bedroom/1 bath (638 square feet) – This unit sold for $98,500 or $154 per square foot, on March 19, 2009. Foreclosure
Uptown Lofts – unit 1003 – 1 bedroom/2 bath (1,065 square feet) – This unit sold for $100,000, or $94 per square foot, on March 19, 2009. Foreclosure
Runner-up – 1800 Biscayne Plaza – unit 1107 – 3 bedroom/2 bath (1,318 square feet) – This unit sold for $200,000, or $152 per square foot, on March 11, 2009. Short Sale
1800 Club – 2 Bedroom/2 Bath with Direct Bay Views – $385,000
1800 Club offers some of the best water views in Miami from its 2 bedroom condos facing direct east. Unit 3505 is currently available for $385,000. It has 1,222 square feet of interior space plus a 252 square foot balcony. Maintenance fees for this condo are $518.98 per month.
Below, you’ll find a video of the view from the balcony of unit 3505 that I shot a few weekends ago. You’ll also find various photos that I shot of the interior of the condo as well as the view.
1800 Club Amenities & Common Areas
Since there was a good response regarding my previous post about the deals to be had at 1800 Club, I’ve decided to include some pictures of the amenities and common areas before diving into a new post about the units themselves. I received a few emails from nonlocal buyers who are unfamiliar with the building so I thought a brief summary along with pictures of 1800 Club might help.
1800 Club has 469 total units across 42 floors. It was developed by BCOM, Inc. and completed in November 2007. The current monthly maintenance fee is 42.47 cents per square foot. Included in those fees are: basic cable TV, high-speed Internet, water, sewer, garbage and insurance on the exterior of the building. The amenities at 1800 Club include: 24-hour concierge and security, valet parking, swimming pool, hot tub, sauna, steam room, state-of-the-art fitness center and club room. 1800 Club is located across the street from Margaret Pace Park which has tennis courts, volleyball courts, a basketball court and children’s playground.
Here are some pictures of the amenities and common areas at 1800 Club:
Miami Condo Developers Slash Prices on Existing Inventory
It’s no secret that most condo developers in Miami are still left with a large supply of unclosed condos. These developers pretty much have three options: (1) Do nothing and continue to bleed money by paying interest on the outstanding debt, (2) Sell condos in bulk to a vulture fund at a very big discount, or (3) Slash prices to end users and pay the principal and interest on the outstanding debt over time. Option number 3 was something that should have been done a long time ago. Over the past year, sales agents working for various condo developers have made it known to real estate agents that “developer prices are negotiable” or that the developer is “willing to listen to any reasonable offer”. However, with the exception of Groupe Pacific with Brickell of the River South, none of the Miami condo developers would go so far as to publicly reduce their prices. It didn’t make sense to me. The only logical explanation that I could come up with is that developers were afraid of the backlash from current condo owners. The days of name calling and finger pointing are over. That was so 2008. It’s in everyone’s best interest, current condo owners included, that each condo development close as many condos as possible. This has been especially true since Fannie Mae revised their guidelines for Florida condos. Reaching the all-important 70 percent mark for closings is so critical in this market.
It seems that Miami condo developers are finally turning to option 3. Over the weekend, two major condo developments announced large price reductions.
500 Brickell – On Sunday, I received an email from a 500 Brickell sales agent announcing “much lower pricing” on all remaining developer condos and that “prices have dropped up to $100,000”. The email revealed that one bedroom condos now start at $180,000 while two bedroom condos now start at $295,0000. I think a good old-fashioned price reduction is a MUCH better idea than including a Mini Cooper with the purchase of a condo at 500 Brickell. I think we’ll finally start to see a dramatic improvement in the closing rate of condos at 500 Brickell. I’d love to see a price sheet of all of the remaining condos to see if the reductions were made across the board.
1800 Club – I found out about this one on Saturday and actually visited several of the developer units on Sunday. I can honestly say that 1800 Club now offers the best deals in Miami. Where else can you find a condo with a water view for $173 per square foot in a recently constructed condo building in Miami? Unit 1715 is a very large 2 bedroom/2 bath condo with 1,810 square feet of interior that is now priced at $314,000. It doesn’t have a direct water view but it’s actually not bad, given the price. Below, I’ve included a picture of the water view from within the condo. As I was writing this, I received a text message saying that an offer was submitted to the developer today for unit 1715. As of the February condo closing rate update, 1800 Club was able to close 68.59 percent of its overall units. I think by the next update, we’ll see its closing rate push well past the 70 percent mark.
Within the next couple of days, I’m going to publish a more in-depth post about 1800 Club and the deals that are now available, along with pictures of the units that I saw on Sunday. It should be duly noted that the 2 bedroom condos facing direct east towards Biscayne Bay have not been reduced much from preconstruction prices, if at all. For example, unit 3505 which is a 2 bedroom/2 bath with 1,222 square feet of interior is priced at $385,000.
Below is a list of the other condos that I viewed on Sunday. As I said earlier, I will do a follow-up post within the next couple of days that will include pictures of these units as well as of the amenities and common areas.
Unit 1411 – $235,000 – 1 bedroom/1.5 bath with 1,095 square feet of interior facing South
Unit 1504 – $167,500 – 1 bedroom/1 bath with 822 square feet of interior facing West
Unit 1002 – $425,000 – 2 bedroom/2 bath two-story townhouse facing South (I need to find out the square footage of this one but it’s big and has two large terraces.
I guess time will tell if other Miami condo developers will follow suit by repricing their existing inventory and disclose those new prices to the public. I think it’s a good step in the right direction.
Top 5 Miami Distressed Condo Sales Closed in February 2009
Below, you will find what I believe to be the five best condo deals of the 26 distressed sales that closed in the month of February in the MLS located in Brickell, Brickell Key, Downtown Miami and the Arts District.
The Club at Brickell Bay – unit 2214 – 1 bedroom/1 bath (818 square feet) – This unit sold for $100,000, or $122 per square foot, on February 20, 2009. Short Sale
Skyline on Brickell – unit 1911 – 1 bedroom/1 bath (791 square feet) – This unit sold for $155,000, or $196 per square foot, on February 20, 2009. Foreclosure
Emerald at Brickell – unit 1205 – 2 bedroom/2.5 bath (1,264 square feet) – This unit sold for $267,000, or $211 per square foot, on February 5, 2009. Foreclosure
Jade at Brickell Bay – unit 4507 – 3 bedroom/3 bath (2,130 square feet) – This unit sold for $869,900, or $408 per square foot, on February 6, 2009. Foreclosure
Parc Lofts – unit 207 – 1 bedroom/1 bath (1,267 square feet) – This unit sold for $210,000, or $166 per square foot, on February 24, 2009. Short Sale
Unit 2214 at The Club at Brickell Bay sold for $100,000. It’s worth mentioning that this is the lowest that a 1 bedroom (and even studio) has ever sold for in the building through the MLS. It also works out to be the lowest price per square foot. At the time of contract, the condo was listed for $149,222.
South Beach Vacation + Bargain Condos = Miami Condo Investments Tour
I’ve been kicking around this idea in the back of my mind for quite some time. I guess the timing just never felt right. Prices have now fallen to a more realistic level, however, and it may be time to at least discuss the idea to see if there would be any interest.
I’m proposing to hold a two-day tour of Miami and South Beach condos in June of this year. The tour would focus on the best condo deals in Brickell, Brickell Key, Downtown Miami, the Arts District of Miami and South Beach. The objective would be to educate nonlocal buyers, who may not be familiar with the various neighborhoods and condo developments, but may have an interest in buying here at some point in the future. It’s also an opportunity for local buyers to take a first-hand glimpse into the best condo investment deals in Miami. Weather-wise, June may not be the best time of the year to visit South Florida, but I expect the deals at that time to be even better than they are now.
The condo tour would be held on a Friday and Saturday, in which time we would visit 10 buildings and about 30 condo units. The tour package would include a 3-night stay at the Loews Hotel, a 4-star/4-diamond oceanfront hotel in South Beach; 3 breakfasts; 2 lunches; and the 2-day chartered bus tour. The cost would be $900 for one person or $1,500 for 2 people staying in one room. The 2-day chartered bus tour would also be open to local buyers who do not require hotel accommodations at a rate of $300 per person. To those who close on a condo that was placed under contract within 3 months of the tour, I would credit half the cost of the condo tour package at closing for those requiring hotel accommodations and the full cost to those paying the $300 rate.
I’d love to get your feedback about this idea, and I’m open to suggestions regarding the buildings that will be included in the tour. Please add your thoughts in the comments section and use the second poll below to vote on the buildings that you’d like to see on the tour (you may select multiple buildings when voting). I’m hoping to get around 20-25 interested parties in order to set this plan into motion.
[poll id=”7″] [poll id=”5″]
A Look at Margaret Pace Park in the Arts District of Miami
I had some time to kill in between showing appointments Sunday afternoon so I decided to take a walk around Margaret Pace Park. It was a warm afternoon and the park was bustling with activity. For those of you who don’t know, Margaret Pace Park is located in Edgewater Miami along North Bayshore Drive from NE 17 Street to NE 20 Street.
A few volleyball games, tennis matches and a pick-up game of basketball took place while I was there. People were also out walking their dogs or jogging around the path that surrounds the park. I noticed several parents having fun with their young children at the playground as well.
Here’s an aerial view of Margaret Pace Park that I took a few years ago from one of the condo buildings nearby:
New Miami Condos – Closing Rates for February 2009
It’s been a few months since my last Miami condo closing rate update. The percentage of closed units for 25 major condo developments are provided below, starting with the first development to begin closings. Four condo developments have been added: Icon Brickell, Everglades on the Bay, Infinity at Brickell and Epic. You’ll find these towards the bottom of this post.
Below, you will find the date that each condo development began closings followed by the number of closed units in each condo development:
With the exception of Onyx on the Bay and 50 Biscayne, the first group above has remained unchanged. Onyx on the Bay was able to close one additional condo while 50 Biscayne was able to close two.
Quantum on the Bay and Plaza on Brickell once again were able to show a decent improvement in their closing rate. Quantum on the Bay closed an additional 14 condos while Plaza on Brickell was able to close 21. 1800 Club did not have any new closings but I did find another deed that had been recorded twice. This is the reason why the total number of closed condos in this update is one less than the total stated in the December 2008 post for 1800 Club. It needs just 7 more closed condos to hit the all-important 70 percent mark.
As a result of the 60-unit bulk sale, Marina Blue showed the most improvement of the above five condo developments since the last update. I did, however, find re-recorded deeds for Marina Blue that I had previously missed. The developer of Marina Blue has now closed around 82% of the total number of units.
In my opinion, the five condo developments above are all likely candidates for some sort of bulk deal taking place in the future. Met 1 was able to close 7 additional units, Asia 2, 900 Biscayne Bay 13, 500 Brickell 17 and Axis 8. As a result of the new Fannie Mae guidelines, it is not likely that we’ll see significant improvement in any of the condo developments that haven’t thus far reached the 70 percent mark.
Above, you’ll find the four newly added condo developments which began closings within the past 3 months. Timing could not have been worse for these four. They’re going to need to find a plethora of cash buyers who are willing to pay dated prices. Ivy at Riverfront, which began closings back in June 2008, was able to close 14 additional condos since the December 2008 update.
The bright side is that the condo construction cranes of Miami are gone. The cranes that remain are for commercial developments. Marquis and Paramount Bay, which should begin closings within the next 3 months, will be the last of the newly constructed condos to hit the market in Miami. It does appear, however, that Met 3 has begun to lay its foundation. Hopefully, the condo market will reach some sort of equilibrium by the time that development has been completed.
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. The information above is not deemed 100 percent accurate as a result of delays in the recording of deeds and deeds being re-recorded.
100 Condos Under Contract at Quantum on the Bay to Israeli Investment Group
Yesterday, a rumor was circulating that 100 condos recently went under contract at Quantum on the Bay to an investment group from Israel in a bulk sale transaction. I was able to confirm today, from multiple sources, that the rumor is true. However, everyone is keeping quiet in regards to the details involved in the bulk sale transaction. It will be interesting to learn the price per square foot that the 100 condos sell for at Quantum on the Bay once the details are revealed.
(hat tip to Kevin at South Beach Real Estate Blog for the lead on the story)
