Miami Beach is an island off the Miami Mainland that stretches north to south from 1st street up to approximately 87th street and east to west from the Atlantic Ocean to Biscayne Bay.

The real estate that is on Miami Beach is vast.  There are high rise condominiums, low rise condominiums, single family homes, town-homes and mansions.

Generally speaking Miami Beach real estate is not inexpensive, even in a bad market.

When the media and other real estate statistics group all of Miami real estate into one big lump, unfortunately the numbers don’t really tell the entire truth.  Miami and Miami Beach are two different areas.  South Beach, Brickell, Downtown Miami & Midtown Miami are three different areas within the general “Miami” area and from there each individual building has it’s very own market data.  Miami Beach also has many different neighborhoods and within each of these neighborhoods are even more sub markets.

What’s most important to understand is that Miami Beach, although a local residence for many, is also a second home for others.  It is a very desirable place for people to buy second homes as well as invest their money.  Our real estate market although local, is not always driven by “locals”, many of our buyers are from wealthy countries and they have no problem paying cash for a multimillion dollar property on the ocean.

Miami Beach has many different neighborhoods.  Some neighborhoods are “designated” while others are “made up nicknames” by locals over the years.

From south to north some of the most popular Miami Beach neighborhoods are:

• South Beach or SOBE
  -South Beach from 5th street to 1st street and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Biscayne Bay is South of Fifth (SOFI)
  This neighborhood is one of the high end luxury neighborhoods of Miami Beach featuring buildings like Continuum I, Continuum II, Portofino Towers, Apogee, Murano at Portofino, Murano Grande, ICON, South of Fifth,  Bentley Beach, The Courts & Cosmopolitan.
• Star, Palm and Hibiscus Islands
  -These are the three islands with large mansions that you can view from the MacArthur Causeway.  They are artificial islands and were created by Carl Fisher.  These islands are homes to many wealthy residents and celebrities.
• Venetian Islands
  -Also artificial islands and encompass:  Biscayne Island, San Marco, San Marino, Di Lido, Rivo Alto and Belle Island.
  -Belle Island is the most eastern Island of the Venetian Islands and has condominium high rises and also features The Standard hotel and Spa.
  -Rivo Alto, Di Lido and San Marino feature single family homes.
  -Biscayne Island has a mixture of single family homes and condominiums.
• West Avenue/Bay Road
• Flamingo/Lummus
• Sunset Islands
• Mid Beach/Millionaire’s Row
• Nautilus
• Alllison Island
• Biscayne Point
• Normandy Shores

Although all of Miami Beach is fairly “pedestrian friendly”, the most “urban/pedestrian” area of Miami Beach is South Beach.  South Beach is the “main attraction” of Miami Beach and features the most famous spaces, restaurants and clubs like:   Lincoln Road, Washington Avenue, Ocean Drive, Prime 112, The Meat Market, Mansion,  Sushi Samba &  Joe’s Stone Crabs.  South Beach is truly a little mini city in Miami Beach.  It’s a lifestyle like no other which is what draws so many people to live in this area specifically.

Mid Beach and the islands are a little more residential and low key.  Although these areas are still within minutes to South Beach and are still very urban compared to other beach towns, these areas feature more single family homes and large high rises.  Many of the high rises have full service amenities featuring restaurants, spas and amenities that allow the residents to “live inside” the building.

One thing that about Miami Beach that most people do not know is that it really has something to offer everyone from local year round residents, tourists, investors, vacation home buyers and more.  We have beaches, nightclubs, restaurants, shopping, local parks that Miami Beach residents can access for free (hockey, pool, after school activities and more), boating, retiree friendly activities and so much more.  Miami Beach is often referred to as a “party town” and although we definitely have our fair share of parties, we are so much more than a big party.  It’s a huge diverse community of people and a great one at that!

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• Miami Beach Luxury Homes & Condos
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