by Jamey on February 15, 2010
Miami Beach Real Estate is often misunderstood by out of town and International buyers. Meaning many buyers who want to buy in our market don’t really fully understand what you get for your money. Well, today I am going to shed some light on this often confusing situation.
Are there good deals in Miami Beach Real Estate?
Absolutely but you have to remember that people from all of the world want to live here. It’s a very International city, so although typical local US residents in Miami Beach (& around the US) may be in a slump with buying power, we have many other buyers around the world who are able to buy into our market and often they buy with cash. Now I am seeing many more Americans & Canadians coming back into our market place to buy.
The best way to gauge what you can get for your money is look at closed sales.
Although Miami Beach may be a very small area, there are quite a few different markets going on inside of it. There are many different ways you could break down the Miami Beach Real Estate market so I am going to give a few different variations here…
Let’s use for instance the zipcode of 33139 from about 23rd street down to 1st and east over to the Star Islands and Venetian Islands. I am only going to go back 90 days.
Over the last 90 days in this area there were 209 condo/townhomes that sold. Below is a snap shot of a map of a few of those properties that sold.
I am going to use one of the most common request that buyers call and request.
Scenario
1 bedroom, 1 parking space & a water view
There were approximately 24 properties that sold with this criteria over the last 90 days. 4 were short sales, 1 was a foreclosure and 19 were regular sales. The final sales prices were from $135, 000 to $855,000.
See the variation?
The property that sold at $135,000 was a 650 square foot 1964 property located on West Avenue.
The property that sold for $855,000 is located in The Continuum, located at 100 South Pointe Drive in the South of Fifth area in South beach. It is also in a building that was built in 2002 and has 1365 square feet.
Price variations in Miami Beach can be based on many factors, a few of the most important are:
1. Location
2. Year built
3. View (literally some buildings have two different markets inside of them based only on the views).
4. Amenities: Parking, conceirge, security, pool (& you can go from just a pool to extra pool services like towel service), beach service (chairs & umbrellas for owners), security and more.
5. Built in furniture quality and appliances
6. Floor of unit (higher floor typically = more $$$)
7. Reputation
8. Privacy
9. Size
10. and more….
The main thing that I think that is important for buyers to do prior to previewing property in Miami Beach is to first get a firm grasp on what you can get for your money. If not buying with cash, first speak to a lender and find out how much you can afford and then have an agent start sending you listings based on that price point. If buying cash, obviously the budget of the cash purchase will determine your buying power and from there have an agent start sending you listings based on this budget.
There are many options for buyers in Miami Beach but it’s important to remember that although the market is down, we are still a highly sought after place to live (or have second homes) both in the US and Internationally.
by Jamey on November 3, 2009
When potential buyers (or renters) initially contact me they are a little surprised to find out that many of the most desirable buildings in Miami Beach, specifically South Beach in the luxury area South of Fifth, are not located directly on the ocean. In fact some of Miami Beach’s most desirable condos are located on the Biscayne Bay side of Miami Beach.
On the map that I made above, the pink line is 5th street and down from there you will find surrounding the Biscayne Bay from north to south: ICON, Murano Grande, Yacht Club at Portofino, Murano at Portofino, Apogee, Portofino Towers, Continuum I & II buildings.
Over the last 30 days there were seven sold properties within these buildings. The lowest price sold unit was an 840 square foot one bedroom in Continuum II and it sold for $520,000. The most expensive was a unit at Continuum II, a three bedroom and it sold for $3.25 million. All seven deals are listed as closing with cash. Over the last six months there were 63 closed sales, 41 were listed as closed with cash.
In terms of renting, over the last 30 days there were 22 rentals posted as rented within these buildings. The lease expensive was a furnished one bedroom in the Yacht Club and it rented for $2400 per month. One of the most expensive was a three bedroom unit at Continuum and it rented for $12,000 per month.
by Jamey on October 19, 2009
Each week I get numerous inquiries from buyers interested in purchasing real estate in Miami Beach. Unfortunately a lot of them are pretty unrealistic in terms of what you get for your money in this area. I don’t really know who is the phantom reporter going from city to city and country to country spreading the “you can buy Miami Beach real estate for pennies on the dollar”, but whomever he/she is, needs to be stopped.
So what do you get for your money?
For me, the only true data is recent closed sales, I like to back about 90 days. Over the last 90 days in the 33139 area of Miami Beach 207 condominiums sold. This data is not all of Miami Beach only from about 23rd street down to 1st street, the 33139 area.
27 Studios sold from $62,000 up to $210,000 (18 of these were cash deals)
69 One bedrooms sold from $90,000 up to $1.15 million (46 of these were cash deals)
70 Two bedrooms sold from $125,000 up to $2.15 million (49 closed with cash)
23 Three bedrooms sold from $425,000 up to $4.3 million (13 closed with cash)
there were others with more bedrooms…
The most common request I get from buyers is:
A South Beach condominium, two bedrooms, parking, washer & dryer in unit, nice view & swimming pool. So I did a general search in the MLS of properties with these criteria that have sold over the last 90 days and the closed sales prices were from least expensive $240,000 up to $2.15 million.
A few notable sales:
Absolute Lofts at 245 Michigan listed for $559,000 and sold for $539,000.
2 bedroom/ 2 bath 1469 square foot property.
The Courts located at 125 Jefferson listed for $549,000 sold for $470,000.
2 bedroom/ 2 bath 1155 square foot property.
The Yacht Club at Portofino located at 90 Alton Road listed for $380,000 and sold for $350,000.
2 bedroom/ 2 bath 1090 square foot property.
In reality there is just no way to “generalize” the Miami Beach real estate market. There are still multimillion dollar properties that are selling as well as properties that are more affordable for many buyers than before. The most important thing to remember is that it’s a very unique and special place to live, on an island, in one of the most popular places on the planet.
The compilation of listing and market data information is provided by the REALTORS Association of Greater Miami and the Beaches. All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. Properties are subject to prior sale or rental.
I do my best to double check for accuracy, however I am human and errors can occur. Please contact me if you find something that doesn’t look correct and I will be happy to look into it and correct if necessary.
