From Miami Beach to Fort Lauderdale to Palm Beach, these high-end apartments are new as can be.

Article at Mansion Global by Bill Cary

After a rocky 2017 that was filled with uncertainty, the Miami real estate market seems poised for a stronger 2018. “The market is definitely rebounding,” said Daniel de la Vega, president of One Sotheby’s International Realty. “Consumer confidence is extremely high and the stock market continues to rally. Hedge funds have recovered after a couple of bad years.” Two very high-end Sotheby’s offerings—the 62-story One Thousand Museum by Zaha Hadid Architects and the 54-story Turnberry Ocean Club in Sunny Isles Beach—have performed particularly well, he said.

Miami luxury condo sales have risen in three out of the last four months (January, December and October), according to the report. Single-family luxury home sales in January rose 7.1%, from 56 to 60 year-over-year, and they, too, have risen for the same three out of the last four months.

From an inquiry perspective, “we’re seeing a little more time between inquiry and closing,” Mr. Parker said.
He attributes that to more buyers looking at Miami as a primary residence rather than as a second home market. “Buying a primary residence involves a longer thought process—you want to look longer, think longer,” he said.
“We’ve had a huge domestic surge from the Northeast, from Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York of course, and Connecticut,”

Mr. Parker said, which may have something to do with the fact that there’s no state income tax in Florida, unlike the high-tax states in the Northeast. He has also seen greater interest from Canadians, he said.
In the international market, “Brazil and Argentina are both coming back,” Mr. De la Vega added. “They have always been a strong market for us. Whenever we see Latin America coming back, we’re excited.”

There is also a lot of activity in the rest of the South Florida market, Mr. Parker said. He described the Fort Lauderdale market as “explosive.” “All of our developments there are seeing tremendous activity,” he said.

In Miami, “downtown has experienced a surge of completion of new development product, and a lot of people are concerned about that,” Mr. Parker said. But he remains generally optimistic about downtown and its ability to absorb the inventory. “There is a lot of capital in that market, and the rental market has been strong,” he said.

In general, developers can be somewhat more patient now than they were in 2017, Mr. De La Vega said. “Developers who are under construction or topping off don’t have to give away the house. There’s not this rush to sell.” Developers who have launched sales without breaking ground, however, are having a tougher time, he said. “If you haven’t broken ground right now, I think it will be tough to get off the ground.”

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