2 Bedroom Foreclosure at Latitude on the River – $266,000
Within the past three months, I’ve seen a handful of short-sale condos at Latitude on the River become available on the MLS. Earlier today, however, I came across the first bank-owned foreclosure condo in the building to appear.
The foreclosure condo is a 2 bedroom/2.5 bath with 1,212 square feet of interior and a 196 square foot balcony. The condo comes “decorator-ready” with concrete floors, as delivered by the developer, and is located on the southwest corner of the 20th floor. The list price is $266,000, or $219 per square foot. The most recent Brickell Condo Index published in November 2008 revealed that the average list price of condos available at Latitude on the River was $366 per square foot. There had not been any closed sales in the building at the time within the prior six months and there haven’t been any since. Lack of closed sales clearly means that prices of available condos at Latitude on the River haven’t yet fallen to a level that will attract buyers. It’ll be interesting to see if the 2 bedroom foreclosure condo at Latitude on the River will spark the interest of buyers.
View the pictures and listing information for the 2 bedroom condo foreclosure at Latitude on the River.
Marina Blue Bulk Sale – A Closer Look
As many of you have already heard, a 60-unit bulk sale recently occurred at Marina Blue. Two local newspapers published articles about the deal earlier this week.
An investment group, under the name Welcome Bay LLC, paid slightly over $13M for the 60 condos. The transaction was recorded on December 24, 2008.
The 60 condos included in the Marina Blue bulk sale sold for an average price of $200 per square foot. Below, you will find the bulk condo sale separated as per the 60 recorded deeds. As many of you have discussed in a previous post about the Marina Blue bulk condo sale, it is important for everyone to realize that these are not retail prices. An individual cannot and will not be able to purchase condos at Marina Blue at these prices. The 60 condos below were part of package deal with prices that were distributed accordingly to arrive at the $200 per square foot average.
Correction: I just found out that there was an error in recording the deeds with the county. Each unit was sold for exactly $200 per square foot.
Unit 411 – $169,000 – 845 SF – $200/SF
Unit 610 – $169,000 – 845 SF – $200/SF
Unit 703 – $196,400 – 982 SF – $200/SF
Unit 810 – $169,000 – 845 SF – $200/SF
Unit 911 – $169,000 – 845 SF – $200/SF
Unit 1111 – $169,000 – 845 SF – $200/SF
Unit 1511 – $169,000 – 845 SF – $200/SF
Unit 1703 – $188,600 – 943 SF – $200/SF
Unit 1801 – $263,000 – 1,315 SF – $200/SF
Unit 1802 – $168,600 – 843 SF – $200/SF
Unit 1812 – $263,600 – 1,318 SF – $200/SF
Unit 1901 – $263,000 – 1,315 SF – $200/SF
Unit 1906 – $189,600 – 948 SF – $200/SF
Unit 2007 – $166,600 – 833 SF – $200/SF
Unit 2009 – $264,600 – 1,323 SF – $200/SF
Unit 2012 – $263,600 – 1,318 SF – $200/SF
Unit 2104 – $241,600 – 1,208 SF – $200/SF
Unit 2106 – $189,600 – 948 SF – $200/SF
Unit 2202 – $168,600 – 843 SF – $200/SF
Unit 2204 – $241,600 – 1,208 SF – $200/SF
Unit 2312 – $263,600 – 1,318 SF – $200/SF
Unit 2404 – $241,600 – 1,208 SF – $200/SF
Unit 2503 – $188,600 – 943 SF – $200/SF
Unit 2512 – $263,600 – 1,318 SF – $200/SF
Unit 2709 – $264,600 – 1,323 SF – $200/SF
Unit 2805 – $239,600 – 1,198 SF – $200/SF
Unit 2903 – $188,600 – 943 SF – $200/SF
Unit 3002 – $168,600 – 843 SF – $200/SF
Unit 3201 – $263,000 – 1,315 SF – $200/SF
Unit 3202 – $168,600 – 843 SF – $200/SF
Unit 3304 – $241,600 – 1,208 SF – $200/SF
Unit 3306 – $189,600 – 948 SF – $200/SF
Unit 3401 – $263,000 – 1,315 SF – $200/SF
Unit 3404 – $241,600 – 1,208 SF – $200/SF
Unit 3405 – $239,600 – 1,198 SF – $200/SF
Unit 3407 – $166,600 – 833 SF – $200/SF
Unit 3412 – $263,600 – 1,318 SF – $200/SF
Unit 3509 – $264,600 – 1,323 SF – $200/SF
Unit 3704 – $241,600 – 1,208 SF – $200/SF
Unit 3804 – $241,600 – 1,208 SF – $200/SF
Unit 3901 – $263,000 – 1,315 SF – $200/SF
Unit 3905 – $264,400 – 1,322 SF – $200/SF
Unit 3909 – $264,600 – 1,323 SF – $200/SF
Unit 4002 – $168,600 – 843 SF – $200/SF
Unit 4105 – $239,600 – 1,198 SF – $200/SF
Unit 4107 – $166,600 – 833 SF – $200/SF
Unit 4204 – $241,600 – 1,208 SF – $200/SF
Unit 4212 – $263,600 – 1,318 SF – $200/SF
Unit 4303 – $188,600 – 943 SF – $200/SF
Unit 4305 – $239,600 – 1,198 SF – $200/SF
Unit 4307 – $166,600 – 833 SF – $200/SF
Unit 4407 – $166,600 – 833 SF – $200/SF
Unit 4409 – $264,600 – 1,323 SF – $200/SF
Unit 4504 – $241,600 – 1,208 SF – $200/SF
Unit 4506 – $189,600 – 948 SF – $200/SF
Unit 4601 – $263,000 – 1,315 SF – $200/SF
Unit 4705 – $239,600 – 1,198 SF – $200/SF
Unit 4807 – $166,600 – 833 SF – $200/SF
Unit 5006 – $189,600 – 948 SF – $200/SF
Unit 5106 – $189,600 – 948 SF – $200/SF
Brickell on the River South Closeout Sale
I received an email earlier this week about a developer closeout sale at Brickell on the River South. Prices of units include flooring and paint. The sale will open to the public January 14, 2009.
The ad states that they have “a limited amount of one bedrooms from $180,000 and two bedrooms from $213,000”.
New Miami Condos – Closing Rates for December 2008
It’s been almost three months since my last Miami condo closing rate update. The last one was published on September 22, 2008. Unfortunately, there has not been a lot of progress in closings for most of the condo developments below since that time.
Below, you will find the date that each condo development began closings followed by the number of closed units in each condo development:
Latitude on the River had three new closings since the last update, Onyx on the Bay had three new closed condos and 50 Biscayne had two. Ten Museum Park and Loft Downtown 2 were both unchanged since the last update.
Quantum on the Bay and Plaza on Brickell each had an impressive number of closings, since the last update, considering how long ago closings began. Quantum on the Bay had 28 new condo closings while Plaza on Brickell was able to close 46.
On Friday, the Miami Herald reported that the developer of 1060 Brickell is looking to sell around 60 percent of its condos in bulk. Closings at 1060 Brickell recently reached the 40 percent mark meaning that this represents the developer’s remaining inventory.
900 Biscayne Bay and Ivy have now each reached the 40 percent mark. I’m actually quite surprised that not one of the condo developments in this last group has been able to hit the 50 percent mark. Enough time has certainly gone by. To rev up sales, 500 Brickell recently held a 4-day promotion offering a free Mini Cooper with any condo purchase from the developer’s inventory.
The next update will include Icon Brickell, Everglades on the Bay (now known as Vizcayne) and Infinity at Brickell which recently began closings.
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.
Top 5 Miami Distressed Condo Sales Closed in November 2008
I found a total of 17 distressed condo sales that closed in the month of November in the MLS located in Brickell, Brickell Key, Downtown Miami and the Arts District. The following are, in my opinion, the five best deals that took place along with one worth mentioning.
Vue at Brickell – unit 1413 – 1 bedroom/1 bath (737 square feet) – This unit sold for $90,000, or $122 per square foot, on November 18, 2008. Foreclosure
Brickell on the River North – unit 2703 – 1 bedroom/1 bath (775 square feet) – This unit sold for $172,750, or $223 per square foot, on November 19, 2008. Foreclosure
Brickell on the River – unit 3714 – 2 bedroom/2 bath (1,058 square feet) – This unit sold for $255,000, or $241 per square foot, on November 10, 2008. Foreclosure
Skyline on Brickell – unit 1107 – 2 bedroom/2 bath (1,367 square feet) – This unit sold for $349,000, or $255 per square foot, on November 17, 2008. Foreclosure
The Club at Brickell Bay – unit 3524 – 3 bedroom/2 bath (1,232 square feet) – This unit sold for $249,000, or $202 per square foot, on November 4, 2008. Foreclosure
Runner-up: Blue Condo – unit 2504 – 2 bedroom/2.5 bath (1,158 square feet) – This unit sold for $305,000, or $263 per square foot, on November 25, 2008. Foreclosure
Another Look at Corus Bank
This has been a post that has been on my mind for over two weeks.
Before reading any further, please read the post I published on September 10, 2007 entitled, “Corus Bank – One of the Many Publicly Owned Real Estate-Related Companies to See Trouble Ahead“. There are two things that amaze me most about that post. One, the growth in the number of comments left by visitors astonishes me. That was one of the most informative posts that I’ve ever written yet it only received 6 comments. Now, I write about a CVS opening at the base of Everglades on the Bay and there’s over 130 comments. I guess, as they say “If you build it, they will come”. Two, I’m amazed by just how dead on target my words turned out to be.
As the post mentions, Corus Bank had, and still has, significant exposure in the Miami condo market. The day that the September 2007 post was published, Corus Bank’s stock price closed at $12.50. Currently, the stock price is hovering around the $1 mark and has dipped as low as 82 cents per share recently. A few weeks ago, Corus Bank announced that they would be deferring interest payments on their debt and had also applied for funds under the U.S. Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
Corus Bank was successful in having its construction loan for Quantum on the Bay and Marina Blue paid in full in 2008. I believe they also had equal success with Continuum North Tower. How will Corus Bank fare in future months, however, with the condo developments that either recently began closings or have yet to begin? The following are some of the condo developments in South Florida in which Corus Bank still has an outstanding construction loan along with the original loan amount:
Of the condo developments listed above, Onyx on the Bay is the only one in which Corus Bank has recovered most of its loan amount judging by the closing figures I published in September 2008. They may be very close to being paid in full on it, if they they haven’t been already.
Closings for condos at Jade Ocean, Paramount Bay and Mint at Riverfront have yet to begin. I’ve heard that closings for condos at Infinity at Brickell began a few weeks ago. These four condo developments alone represent slightly over $800M in outstanding loans. All four condo developments were priced relatively late in the game and could prove to be disastrous for an already troubled Corus Bank.
On top of this, it was announced a little over a week ago that the developer of Tao, a 396-unit condo development in Sunrise, Florida, handed the property over to Corus Bank with work unfinished and closings yet to begin. The construction loan extended by Corus Bank to the developer of Tao was in the amount of $126,250,000. Additionally, Corus Bank purchased the mezzanine loan on Tao in the amount of $32.3M, which included principal plus outstanding interest.
It appears that Corus Bank could be wobbling on its last leg. If it were to go bankrupt, the Miami condo market could see a number of bulk sales occur in 2009. Even if it were to be granted federal funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, how long could that money delay the inevitable?
Miami Condo Index – Brickell – November 2008
It’s been three months since I last released the Brickell Condo Index. The last update for Brickell condos was published in August 2008. The data used to create the statistics below was collected on November 18, 2008 from the MLS. You may want to also compare the statistics below to those published a year ago in November 2007. It really helps to put into perspective how inflated prices were a year ago in some of the condo developments in Brickell.
The Brickell Condo Index now stands at an average price of $429.52 per square foot. This represents a 2.28 percent drop in the average asking prices of the 18 condo developments that comprise the Brickell Condo Index over the past three months.
Average price per square foot of Brickell condos currently listed on the MLS:
The average price of Brickell condos sold over the past six months has dropped 7.13 percent to $291.59 per square foot from August’s average of $313.97. As with the last update, the average would normally be higher had a sale occurred in the MLS within the past six months at Four Seasons Residences, which sells at the highest price per square foot of the 18 condo developments comprising the Brickell Condo Index.
Average price per square foot of Brickell condos sold in the MLS within the past six months:
Atlantis – 2025 Brickell Ave | 33129 | $250.71
Brickell on the River – 31 SE 5 St | 33131 | $264.63
Solaris at Brickell – 186 SE 12 Ter | 33131 | $200.00
The Club at Brickell Bay – 1200 Brickell Bay Dr | 33131 | $201.44
The Mark on Brickell – 1155 Brickell Bay Dr | 33131 | $289.18
The Palace – 1541 Brickell Ave | 33129 | $260.14
Villa Regina – 1581 Brickell Ave | 33129 | $249.88
Vue at Brickell – 1250 S Miami Ave | 33131 | $158.55
Below you will find some additional statistics:
The first column to the right of each condo development’s name is the difference in the average sales price and list price for this month, expressed as a percentage. An “N/A” is found next to Four Seasons Residences and Latitude on the River since this percentage could not be computed as each building failed to have a closed sale within the past six months through the MLS. A high percentage indicates that there is a large discrepancy between the average asking price for condos currently on the market and what has actually sold within the past six months.
The second column is the number of active listings in each condo development currently in the MLS. The third column shows the percentage that these listings represent over the total number of condo units in each development. The cells highlighted in green reveal those condo developments that have active listings that represent less than 10 percent of the the overall units in the building. To me, this is one indication of a sound condo development. Atlantis, Bristol Tower, Four Seasons Residences, Imperial at Brickell, The Palace and Villa Regina are the condo buildings highlighted in green. The ones highlighted in red reveal those condo developments that have active listings that represent over 20 percent of the overall units in the building. There’s definitely underlying risk in buying in these condo developments and I’d only advise buying in one of these if the price justifies the risk. This month, Solaris at Brickell is the only condo developments highlighted in red. This is usually a good indication that prices will fall further in future months. The condo developments with active listings less than 10 percent are considered safe, in my opinion, and anything in the 10-15 percent range is considered normal, even in a healthy market.
The fourth column shows the number of pending sales while the fifth column displays the number of closed sales within the past six months. There are a total of 94 total pending sales in the 18 condo buildings represented in the Brickell Condo Index. In August, there were a total of 79 pending sales at the time. Once again, The Club at Brickell Bay, Vue at Brickell and Jade each have pending sales in the double digits. The same goes for closed sales within the past six months in each of these condo developments. Skyline on Brickell also hit the double digit mark with a totla of 13 closed sales in the MLS within the past six months. In August, there were a total of 123 closed sales within the past six months. This figure has gone up almost 32 percent since the August update. The 18 Brickell condo developments had a total of 164 closed sales within the past six months.The vast majority of these closings occurred in just a handful of the condo developments, however. 8 of the condo developments had three or less closings within the past six months.
The sixth column shows the difference in the average list prices from this month’s and August’s, expressed as a percentage. Those highlighted in red reveal those condo developments which had a drop in their average list price while those highlighted in green show those that had an increase. Emerald at Brickell saw asking prices drop a little over 10.5 percent while Solaris at Brickell shed about 9.8 percent from its average asking price in August. An increase in average asking prices occurred in 8 of the condo developments in the Brickell Condo Index.
The seventh column reveals the difference in average sales prices from this month’s and August’s, expressed as a percentage. Vue at Brickell saw the largest drop with a 15.94 percent decline. Jade, Neo Vertika, The Club at Brickell Bay and Villa Regina also had double digits drops. It should be noted that Villa Regina only had one closed sale within the past six months to calculate its new average. Atlantis, Santa Maria, Skyline on Brickell and The Palace each experienced an increase in their average sales prices for the previous six months.
Vue at Brickell is very, very close to hitting the $150 average per square foot mark for closed sales over the previous six months. In August, the condos available on the market at Vue at Brickell represented about 28 percent of the overall units in the building. This figure now resides at around 17 percent. It will be interesting to see how much lower the average price per square foot of condos sold at Vue at Brickell will go if inventory levels continue to improve. As I mentioned earlier, the 10-15 percent range is normal even in a healthy market. Perhaps some sort of stability is right around the corner for Vue at Brickell. The same can be said for Jade and The Club at Brickell which have also continued to show progress in reaching normal inventory levels.
Marina Blue Featured in New Akon Music Video
A little over a month ago, Akon shot a music video for his new hit single “Right Now (Na Na Na)” at Marina Blue. I came across the video and wanted to share it with everyone.
The opening scene is shot in the loading dock area of the parking garage at Marina Blue. It then appears that he is entering a nightclub but is actually entering the lobby of Marina Blue. 3 minutes and 3 seconds into the video, you will also see Akon singing on a couch in a living room. This was shot in a penthouse unit at Marina Blue. Notice the 20-foot floor-to-ceiling glass windows and the Miami Beach skyline in the background.
Top 5 Miami Distressed Condo Sales Closed in October 2008
I found a total of 30 distressed condo sales that closed in the month of October in the MLS located in Brickell, Brickell Key, Downtown Miami and the Arts District. The following are, in my opinion, the five best deals that took place along with one worth mentioning.
Skyline on Brickell – unit 2505 – 1 bedroom/1 bath (791 square feet) – This unit sold for $200,000, or $253 per square foot, on October 28, 2008. Foreclosure
Vue at Brickell – unit 1501 – 2 bedroom/2 bath (1,255 square feet) – This unit sold for $170,000, or $135 per square foot, on October 17, 2008. Foreclosure
Jade at Brickell – unit 504 – 1 bedroom/1 bath (895 square feet) – This unit sold for $220,000, or $246 per square foot, on October 24, 2008. Foreclosure
Solaris at Brickell Bay – unit 1607 – 1 bedroom/1 bath (730 square feet) – This unit sold for $146,000, or $200 per square foot, on October 24, 2008. Foreclosure
Courvoisier Courts – unit 704 – 2 bedroom/2.5 bath (1,230 square feet) – This unit sold for $290,000, or $236 per square foot, on October 22, 2008. Foreclosure
Runner-up: Jade – unit 3509 – 2 bedroom/3 bath (1,730 square feet) – This unit sold for $710,000, or $410 per square foot, on October 13, 2008. Foreclosure
