Tis the season for pool repair! One Miami has followed suit with IconBrickell, Infinity at Brickell, Villa Regina and EPIC Residences and has announced a pool makeover (Infinity’s renovation is already complete). Luckily, the One Miami repair will not take as long as the IconBrickell renovation. The work started this Monday, March 20, and is slated to last three months, opening just in time for Summer, according to a notice from the condominium association.
During the construction, all three pools will be closed and work will go on from 9am-4:30pm. Residences will still have access to the viewing deck as well and the association also made a walkway in between the One Miami East Tower and One Miami West Tower to make for easy access to the InterContinental elevator. The work is in conjunction with the face lift that One Miami began late last year. It is not immediately known whether additional upgrades will be made to the gym or other common areas.
Despite being 12 years old (older than many of the alternative choices), One Miami has fared very well in recent months. There are currently 53 available units, 4 units are in contract and waiting to close, and 2017 has brought 5 closings with an average sale price of $370/square foot.
One Miami Is Getting a Face Lift
After 10 years at the point of the Biscayne Bay and Miami River, One Miami is starting to show its age. In a letter to the owners of the two towers, the condominium association announced a planned repainting as well as a complete exterior renovation.
“It has been more than a decade since the first residents of One Miami moved in. It has also been that long since our buildings have been painted – and it shows. Towards that end, your Boards of Directors feel that it is time not only for a fresh paint job, but also for an update to enhance the look of our buildings at the same time.”
The letter goes on to say that the Board of Directors has spent months reviewing renderings from different companies before ultimately returning to Arquitectonica, the architecture firm that designed the building in the first place. Since the renovation is planned, no special assessment is going to be required. They are requesting all of the owners to vote on the proposed change. If the owners do not approve the upgrade with their votes, the building will be repainted as it s now.
What do you think of the proposal? Do you like the new design, or do you think they should leave it as it is? See below for the proposed renderings.
Downtown Miami Rental Market
Below, is a spreadsheet I compiled earlier this afternoon that shows various statistics regarding the Downtown Miami condos rental market. Click on the link below the spreadsheet to view it in its entirety. I calculated the months of inventory figure by dividing total units available by the average units rented over a three month period from December 1, 2010 to February 28, 2011. You will see that Downtown Miami currently has 2.55 months of rental inventory.
Downtown Miami Rental Market as of March 15, 2011
Three Bank Owned Condo Foreclosures Worth Pursuing
The foreclosure forefront has been quite slow ever since several U.S. banks initiated a voluntary freeze in October. The freeze on foreclosures was implemented after banks had acknowledged using “robo-signers” to approve hundreds of foreclosure documents a day without first verifying the information in them. Bank of America, the largest U.S. financial institution, announced the week of December 6, 2010 that it would lift its national foreclosure freeze and resume taking possession of properties. Despite the announcement, I had not seen any foreclosure condos in Miami or Miami Beach hit the market that I felt would be of any interest to my readers for quite some time. That is, until yesterday. The following are three Miami or Miami Beach condo foreclosures along with my commentary detailing why I feel they are deals worth pursuing.
One Miami #3103 – This 31st floor, 1 bedroom/1 bath bank owned foreclosure has 868 square feet and is asking $182,000 or $210 per square foot. The unit faces south overlooking the Miami River with views of Biscayne Bay from the balcony. Taking a look at recent sales at One Miami, one can see that unit 803 which is in the same line but located 23 floors lower sold for $188,000 on November 9, 2010. This is the only 03 line that has sold within the past six months. Unit 3103 at One Miami is currently the second best priced condo in the building, second only to a short sale by $2,000. If you’re looking for a quick purchase without the hassle of a short sale then this is a great condo to look into right away.
Vue at Brickell #2115 – With an asking price of $159,900, or $143 per square foot, this 2 bedroom/2 bath corner unit is an exceptional deal but I expect it to sell well above asking price. Of the recent sales at Vue at Brickell, units 1415 and 815 are by far the best comparables because, once again, they are in the same line as the subject property. Unit 815, residing 13 floors lower sold for $180,000 on October 28, 2010 while unit 1415, just seven floors lower sold for $185,000 on August 5, 2010. You also have to take into account that unit 2115 appears to be an upgraded unit from the pictures. It has hard wood floors throughout the living areas while units 815 and 1415 both had carpeting.
The Cosmopolitan #2213 – If you’ve been waiting for a well priced condo foreclosure in South Beach, then look no further. The Cosmopolitan is located at 110 Washington Avenue in the South of Fifth neighborhood of South Beach which is one of the most sought after neighborhoods in Miami Beach. This 1 bedroom/1 bath condo has 861 square feet and comes with 2 parking spaces, a rarity in the Miami Beach condo market. The asking price is $241,433, or $280 per square foot, which is an unbelievable deal for a 1 bedroom condo at The Cosmopolitan. Notice that next best priced 1 bedroom condo currently available at The Cosmopolitan is asking over $75,000 more than unit 2213. For some reason, our website isn’t showing any of the seven condos that have closed at The Cosmopolitan over the past six months. Three of the seven closed sales were one bedroom units which ranged from $270,000 to $349, 500.
Shrinking Rental Inventory in Brickell and Downtown
In this episode, we discuss the shrinking rental inventory of condos in Brickell and Downtown Miami. In recent months, it has become increasingly more difficult to find a rental in these neighborhoods than it has since the peak of the market. For example, at this time The Plaza on Brickell, which has 1,000 total units, only has two unfurnished one bedrooms available while 1060 Brickell has zero. We highlight eight other well known condo buildings in these areas and provide an overview of the rental availability within them.
Fannie Mae Special Approval Designation – Updated
The following are six well known condo buildings in Miami that were given the Fannie Mae Special Approval Designation since my last update on January 18, 2010. The special designation makes it now possible to obtain financing for condos in these buildings using a conventional loan.
The Arts District & Downtown Miami Closed Condo Sales – November 2009
Edgewater Miami Closed Condo Sales – November 2009 – There were 12 closed condo sales in the Edgewater Miami last month in the MLS. The average sales price of these condos was $177 per square foot.
Downtown Miami Closed Condo Sales – November 2009 – 18 condos in Downtown Miami closed in the MLS in November 2009. These sold at an average sales price per square foot of $318. It’s interesting to note that of the four neighborhoods in Miami, the condos in Downtown Miami sold at the highest price per square foot last month.
Top 5 Distressed Condo Sales Closed in May 2009
Below, you will find what I believe to be the five best condo deals of the 46 distressed sales that closed in the month of May in the MLS located in Brickell, Brickell Key, Downtown Miami and the Arts District. I think the distressed condos that closed in the month of May were better deals than what we have seen in previous months.
Jade Brickell – unit 1002 – 2 bedroom/2 bath (1,529 square feet) – This unit sold for $375,000, or $245 per square foot, on May 15, 2009. Short Sale
Courts Brickell Key – unit 1909 – 3 bedroom/3 bath (1,488 square feet) – This unit sold for $350,000, or $235 per square foot, on May 20, 2009. Short Sale
Skyline on Brickell – unit 306 – 2 bedroom/2 bath (1,367 square feet) – This unit sold for $349,000, or $255 per square foot, on May 8, 2009. Foreclosure
Skyline on Brickell – unit 1512 – 2 bedroom/2 bath (1,367 square feet) – This unit sold for $305,000, or $223 per square foot, on May 18, 2009. Short Sale
One Miami – unit 3916 – 1 bedroom/1 bath (846 square feet) – This unit sold for $150,000 or $177 per square foot, on May 27, 2009. Foreclosure
Runner-ups:
The Mark on Brickell – unit 1001 – 2 bedroom/2 bath (1,200 square feet) – This unit sold for $205,000, or $171 per square foot, on May 22, 2009. Foreclosure
1800 Biscayne Plaza – unit 203 – 2 bedroom/2 bath (1,057 square feet) – This unit sold for $120,000, or $114 per square foot, on May 01, 2009. Short Sale
Cite on the Bay – unit 2213 – 1 bedroom/1 bath (795 square feet) – This unit sold for $100,000, or $126 per square foot, on May 13, 2009. Foreclosure
Drive Down Brickell Avenue and Biscayne Boulevard – Video
I must say that I’m very impressed with how far video technology has come along over the past year. Gone are the days of YouTube’s grainy video quality. YouTube now allows people to upload and view HD videos. Don’t expect the HD quality that you see on your HD TV but it’s still a big leap for Internet video.
Here are a couple of videos that I shot Friday night while driving down Brickell Avenue and Biscayne Boulevard. (It may take a while to load if you’re using a slow Internet connection). You’ll notice Icon Brickell, Epic and One Miami in the video below:
A lot has changed since I last published the Brickell Condo Index three months ago. Condo foreclosures have continued to hit the market, financing has become extremely difficult to obtain and a few bulk condo deals have closed in that time. As a result, it should come as to no surprise that overall condo prices have continued to drop throughout Brickell within the past 3 months. The data used to compile the statistics below was collected on February 18, 2008 from the MLS. You may want to compare the following figures to those published three months ago in November 2008. Also, be sure to view the charts towards the bottom of this post to see how much Brickell condo prices have changed within the past 15 months.
The average asking prices of the 18 condo developments that comprise the Brickell Condo Index is currently $401.30 per square foot. This represents a 6.57 percent drop in average list prices 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 gone up 1.51 percent to $296.00 per square foot from November’s average of $291.59. However, this is due to the fact that Four Seasons Residences had been excluded from the average in November due to no closings occurring within the previous six months. Four Seasons Residences has been reincluded in this month’s index as a result of a condo closing in December 2008. The average for Brickell condos sold over the past six months would have dropped 3.58 percent had it not been re-included. With the exception of Bristol Tower, average sales prices for each of the other Brickell condo developments dropped since the November update.
Average price per square foot of Brickell condos sold in the MLS within the past six months:
Atlantis – 2025 Brickell Ave | 33129 | $228.95
Brickell on the River – 31 SE 5 St | 33131 | $234.18
Solaris at Brickell – 186 SE 12 Ter | 33131 | $201.59
The Club at Brickell Bay – 1200 Brickell Bay Dr | 33131 | $188.28
The Mark on Brickell – 1155 Brickell Bay Dr | 33131 | $228.61
The Palace – 1541 Brickell Ave | 33129 | N/A
Villa Regina – 1581 Brickell Ave | 33129 | $256.71
Vue at Brickell – 1250 S Miami Ave | 33131 | $147.18
Below you will find some additional statistics. Click on the image to enlarge it.
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 Latitude on the River and The Palace 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. This is typically one indication of a sound condo building. Bristol Tower, Four Seasons Residences, Imperial at Brickell, Latitude on the River, The Palace and Villa Regina are the condo buildings highlighted in green. However, I think it’s too soon to use this rule of thumb for Latitude on the River. It’s too new of a development. Short-sales and foreclosures have just started to hit the market there. The ones highlighted in red reveal those condo developments that have active listings that represent over 20 percent of the overall units. 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. As in the November update, 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 fourth column shows the number of condos currently pending sale. There are currently a total of 81 pending sales in the 18 condo buildings represented in the Brickell Condo Index. I did not include pending sales that went pending before November 1, 2008. The fifth column displays the number of closed condo sales within the past six months. The 18 Brickell condo developments have had a total of 198 condos close within that time frame. The vast majority of these closings occurred in just a handful of the condo developments. Latitude on the River and The Palace were the only two condo buildings that haven’t had a condo close within the past six months.
The sixth column shows the difference in the average list prices from this month’s and November’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 showed an increase. Bristol Tower was the only condo development that had an increase in asking prices since November. In just three month’s time, average asking prices fell about 15 percent at Imperial at Brickell and Solaris at Brickell, 14 percent at Vue at Brickell and 10 percent at Brickell on the River.
The seventh column reveals the difference in average sales prices from this month’s and November’s, expressed as a percentage. The Mark on Brickell saw the largest drop with a 20.95 percent decline. Brickell on the River, Emerald at Brickell, Imperial at Brickell and One Miami also had double digits drops. Average sales prices at Santa Maria increased about 14 percent but it should be noted that only one closed sale occurred within the past six months.
I thought it would be interesting to see how prices compare now to those we saw a year ago. Unfortunately, I didn’t publish a Brickell Condo Index 12 months ago. However, I used data from the November 2007 Brickell Condo Index to create the charts below to compare current prices to those we saw 15 months ago. Click on the images below to enlarge them.
(Below) Percentage Change in Average $/SqFt of List Prices Within 15 Months:
(Below) Percentage Change in Average $/SqFt of Sales Prices Within the Last 15 Months:
Keep in mind that condo prices in Miami peaked around the beginning of 2006. The graphs above would be all the more shocking if we were to cross compare current prices to those we saw at that time. By November 2007, Miami condo prices had already fallen significantly.
One positive thing to note is that the number of condos on the market in the condo buildings comprised in the Brickell Condo Index is down about 26 percent since November 2007. (This excludes Latitude on the River which had not been included in the Brickell Condo Index at that time.) Emerald at Brickell and Santa Maria are the only condo developments in the Brickell Condo Index that now have more condos listed than in November 2007. To put this into perspective, the number of listed condos at Vue at Brickell 15 months ago represented a little over 24 percent of the total condos in the building. Current inventory at Vue at Brickell represents slightly more than 13 percent.
