Published on 9/6/2011, By Peter Zalewski – CondoVultures.com

Tenants rented an average of more than 700 condos per month in the seven largest coastal South Florida markets between January and June of 2011, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.

At the current pace, the seven largest coastal markets have about four months of available inventory for rent as of Sept. 6, 2011.

In the year 2010, tenants leased an average of 700 residences per month. A year earlier in 2009, renters leased an average pace of 600 residences per month, according to the report based on Florida Realtors association data.

CondoVultures.com has profiled the latest residential real estate trends in the second quarter of 2011 in the seven largest coastal markets in the tricounty South Florida region of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.

As of the week of July 21, the Condo Vultures® Market Intelligence Report™ has been publishing a seven-part weekly series analyzing new condo sales trends in Greater Downtown Miami, South Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, Hollywood / Hallandale Beach, Downtown Fort Lauderdale and the Beach, Boca Raton / Deerfield Beach, and the Downtown West Palm Beach market.

In the first half of 2011 in the seven largest coastal South Florida markets, tenants rented an average of: 360 condo units in the Greater Downtown Miami market; 120 condos per month in the South Beach neighborhood of Miami Beach; 60 condos per month in Sunny Isles Beach; 95 condos per month Southeast Broward County’s Hollywood / Hallandale Beach market; 70 condos per month in Downtown Fort Lauderdale and the Beach; 35 condos, townhouses, apartments, and single-family houses in the coastal Boca Raton / Deerfield Beach market; and 60 condos, townhouses, apartments, and single-family houses in the Downtown West Palm Beach market.

As of Sept. 6, 2011, nearly 2,700 residences are currently available for rent in the coastal South Florida market at an average median asking price of $2.05 per square foot per month, according to the report.

An additional 1,500 residences are under contract and waiting to be leased. The average median asking price of these pending deals is $1.66 per square foot per month.

The completed leases do not reflect any deals that that may have been transacted without being marketed on the Multiple Listing Service.

At the end of the first quarter of 2011, more than 42,000 condominium units – some 86 percent of the total new inventory – created near the coast in the tricounty South Florida region during the real estate boom had been sold as of March 31, 2011, according to a recent CondoVultures.com.

The total number of new condos sold includes the more than 8,000 units that were purchased or transferred in bulk transactions to investment groups that plan to one day resell the units at a premium, according to the Condo Vultures® Bulk Deals Database™.

Developers created nearly 250 projects with 49,000 units since 2003 in the seven largest condo markets east of Interstate 95 in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties during the boom.

In the four decades prior to the boom, developers created nearly 700 condominium projects with more than 76,500 units in the same seven coastal markets of Greater Downtown Miami, South Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, Downtown Fort Lauderdale and the Beach, Hollywood / Hallandale Beach, Downtown West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Island, and Boca Raton / Deerfield Beach, according to a comprehensive study undertaken for the Condo Vultures® Official Condo Buyers Guide™ eBook series.

Condo Vultures® relied on public records and private research to complete this study over the course of the last three years.

The results of this exhaustive researching of deeds, condominium documents, and government files is the basis for a series of seven ebooks titled the Official Condo Buyers Guide™. The guides for Greater Downtown Miami, South Beach, and Sunny Isles Beach are already on available for purchase on Amazon.com.

This information is also the foundation for a new Condo Ratings Agency™ service designed to provide guidance on the financial stability of nearly 1,000 condo projects – old and new – east of Interstate 95 in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.

It is important to note there are various stages to a residential real estate transaction in South Florida.

A transaction begins when a property is made available for sale and ends when a title is conveyed from one party to another party as a result of the recording of a deed with the local government.

As part of the process, a property typically goes under contract and into a due diligence phase by which a deal can be canceled.

The CondoVultures.com new condo sales report is based on completed transactions where a deed is recorded and taxes paid as a result of the sale.

Las ventas de los condominios en Miami aumenta un 50% mientras sectores de la Florida tratan de recuperarse

(Overseas Property Professional Magazine – “OPP”)  Las ventas de los condominios de Miami aumentaron casi un 50% en Mayo comparado al mismo mes en 2010; las nuevas figuras demuestran un aumento en la demanda de la ciudad Floridana.

La investigación de la Asociación de Investigacion de Miami demostró que los condominios en el Area Estadística Metropolitana de Miami (MSA) aumentaron un 46% en Mayo desde 972 a 1.420.

En otras áreas las ventas de hogares unifamiliares incrementaron el 20%. En toda la Florida, las ventas aumentaron el 17% – 8.388 para los condominios 3% para los hogares unifamiliares unas 17.228, según la Asociación Nacional de Agentes Inmobiliarios.

“El funcionamiento actual del mercado de Miami está excediendo las expectativas a medida que continuamos viendo el crecimiento de demanda en las propiedades locales y los niveles más altos de ventas desde los años del auge,” dijo a Gato H. Levine, el actual presidente de la junta de la Asociación de Miami de Agentes Inmobiliarios.

Él comento al OPP: “Actualmente, hay solamente inventario inmobiliario para 7.4 meses en el condado de Miami-Dade. Los E.E.U.U. y los compradores internacionales continúan aprovechándo la asequibilidad del mercado, el estilo de vida atractivo, el tiempo de Miami, y otras cualidades locales.”

Los precios también continúan estabilizándose en el área mientras el valor de los condominios y de los hogares unifamiliares incrementaba en un 7% comparado a Abril.

“Las figuras de mayo son muy alentadoras, pues reflejan la consolidación y la estabilización continua del mercado,” dijo el presidente residencial  de la Asociación  de Miami de Agentes Inmobiliarios Rafael E. De Martín. “El número de ventas de bancarrota y short sales decayó en un cuatro por ciento, lo cual se traduce a más transacciones regulares.”

Miami condo market up 50% as Florida sector fights back

In a recent article published by the Overseas Property Professional Magazine (“OPP”) it was reported that sales of Miami condominiums increased by nearly 50% in May compared to the same month in 2010 as new figures show higher demand in the Floridian city’s market.

Research from the Miami Association of Research showed that condominiums in the Miami Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) increased by 46% in May year-on-year, from 972 in 1,420.

In other property areas the sales of single-family homes rose 20% also. Florida-wide, sales increased 17% to 8,388 for condominiums and 3% for single family homes to 17,228, according to the National Association of Realtors.

“The current performance of the Miami market is exceeding expectations, as we continue to see increased demand for local properties and higher sales levels than we have seen since the boom years,” said Jack H. Levine, 2011 Chairman of the Board of the Miami Association of Realtors.

He told OPP: “Presently, there is only a 7.4 month supply of housing inventory in Miami-Dade County. Both U.S. and international buyers continue to take advantage of record affordability, Miami’s attractive lifestyle and weather, and other enviable local attributes.”

Prices also continue to stabilize in the area as the value of condominiums and single family homes increased by 7% compared to April.

“May figures are very encouraging, as they reflect continued market strengthening and stabilization,” said 2011 Miami Association of Realtors’ Residential President Ralph E. De Martino. “The number of distressed sales dropped by four percent, which means more non-distressed transactions are taking place.”

Posted on Sun, Jun. 19, 2011

South Florida’s global impact expands

By Jane By Wooldridge

Since the days of Ponce de Leon, South Florida’s economy has largely hinged on geography.

Beaches, warm winter temps, proximity to the Caribbean and Latin America continue to be critical factors. But the past few weeks have underscored Miami’s position as a global player.

Earlier this month, Lufthansa upgraded its Frankfurt-Miami route with a 526-seat A380 – the mega-jet that goes only to three other U.S. airports.  TAP, the Portuguese airline, added service between Miami and Lisbon.

And last week, Sir Richard Branson staged one of his typically PR stunts to celebrate the announcement of Virgin Atlantic’s new service between London and Cancun – a move that could be written off as an excuse to party, save for the fact that Branson is also thinking about building a Virgin hotel here.

What’s more, international trade between South Florida and the rest of the world is on track to hit $100 billion for the first time ever, says Ken Roberts, founder and president of World City, a business publication that focuses on South Florida’s international markets. And that figure doesn’t account for consulting, legal and banking services, points out FIU professor Jerry Haar.

And look at who we’re trading with. While our neighbors Brazil and Colombia rank as our top trading partners, Switzerland and China are right behind.

During the last Asian boom, when Japanese buyers gobbled up land in Hawaii and California, South Florida was out of the mix. But the world is more closely connected than it was in the 1980s. And Miami’s international brand now represents far more than sun, sand and sin.

So, perhaps its no wonder that Hong Kong’s Swire Group — long-time Miami investors — have upped their stake beyond the Mandarin Oriental and Brickell Key with the recently announced Brickell CitiCentre in downtown Miami, valued at $700 million.

And now comes the planned $3 billion mixed-use Resorts World Miami announced by the Genting Group, which paid $236 million for the nearly 14 acres on which the Miami Herald sits.

Questions remain about how quickly – or whether – Genting will build if the state legislature declines to change the law to allow casinos on non-Indian lands. But at a community reception last week, Genting chairman KT Lim – one of Malaysia’s richest men – seemed well on the way as he talked about Miami as a nexus between the continents, and suggested he’d like to convince an air carrier like Cathay Pacific to initiate non-stop service between Miami and the East.

Direct flights to Asia sure would make it easier to get to Art Basel Hong Kong, the new art fair slotted between Switzerland’s Art Basel fair and Art Basel Miami Beach.

Maybe South Florida has finally become the center of the universe – and not just for South Floridians.

http://www.miamiherald.com

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/19/v-print/2272758/south-floridas-global-impact-expands.html#ixzz1PpYvtXMF

Housing Shortage Likely Coming, Report Says

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – June 13, 2011 – Within the next decade, 16 million new housing units will be needed to meet population growth and shifting demands, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies in its latest annual “State of the Nation’s Housing” report.

That means household growth, which has dropped drastically in recent years, will need to greatly reverse its trend to meet the forecasted spike in demand. From 2007-2010, household growth averaged about 500,000 per year – less than half the 1.2 million annual pace averaged prior from 2000-2007.

To absorb the current rate of foreclosed and distressed homes plaguing most markets, a more normal rate of household formation is critical, according to the report. However, household growth partially has stalled as young adults have delayed homeownership and immigration has slowed.

As such, in recent years, builders have drastically cut production of new homes.

“With inventories of new homes at historic lows, a turnaround in demand could quickly result in tighter markets,” the report notes. “Over the longer term, the number of younger households is set to rise sharply, supporting growth in the population that fuels growth in both new renters and first-time buyers. The path of the economy and evolution of the mortgage market will determine when and if this increased demand materializes.”

The report predicts a need for greater housing units for several reasons. For example, the report projects demand for 1 million new homes a year is needed to meet population growth in the coming decade. The report also predicts a surge in smaller homes, estimating that 3.8 million baby boomers will be looking to downsize their homes within the next decade. Also immigration growth, the need to replace existing homes, and demand for second homes will contribute to rising demand for housing units, the report notes. Therefore, researchers conclude at least 16 million new housing units will be needed over the next decade.

To download the report, visit Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies website.

Source: “Harvard: Real Estate Recovery Hinges on Return of Demand,” Inman News (June 6, 2011)
© Copyright 2011 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688

Mega Mall Coming to Downtown Miami

NBC MIAMI

By Willard Shepard

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

A massive new mega mall planned for downtown Miami has local shoppers ready to spend and local politicians seeing dollar signs.

The massive Brickell CitiCentre consisting of more than five towers will rise from the land bordered by Brickell on the East, Southwest 1st Ave. to the west and between Southwest 8th and Southwest 6th St.

The complex will be bigger than the Dolphin Mall’s 1.4 million square feet of retail space, bigger that Sawgrass Mills Mall — in fact about double the size of Sawgrass — at 4 million square feet.

“This is the biggest private works project in the U.S. this year, this is the biggest private works project in America,” said Miami City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff. “It’s going to bring Miami into the epicenter of retail shopping and that includes Coral Gables and even Aventura.”

The project will create 1,700 construction jobs every year for the four years it will take to complete construction. When it’s finished there will be 3,800 permanent full time jobs here.And taxes will bring some $15 million to the city and county.

The City Centre will house not only retail shopping but office space, apartments or condos, and a hotel.”I think that would be great. I don’t thank we have enough along Brickell,” said shopper Caline Assilan.Restaurant operator Alex Pilat is hiring now, and sees a need for more workers and dollars signs.   He just opened his sandwich shop right across from the site of the planned mega mall.  “It’s going to be excellent,” said Pilat. “It’s going to bring more people to Brickell and give people here more choices.”

“This is the biggest thing to happen in Miami in about 12 years,” Sarnoff said.

MiamiToday

Thursday, May 12, 2011

www.miamitodaynews.com

Home Sales Up

Miami-Dade home sales, including single-family homes and condos, rose 71% in the first quarter, from 3,450 to 5,910 closings.  Sales rose 26% from the fourth quarter of 2010, according to the Miami Association of Realtors and the Southeast Florida Multiple Listing Service.  This first-quarter upward trend marks 11 consecutive quarters since the third quarter of 2008 that sales have climbed.  With international and local buyers continuing to acquire condos, many as investments, condo sales jumped 91% and homes sales 47% compared to the first quarter of 2010.  Statewide, sales of single-family homes rose 13% and condos 29% in the first quarter, the report shows.

Brickell Condo, Apartment rents soar, rising 13% in a year

By Marilyn Bowden

Both apartment and condo rental rates in Brickell are skyrocketing, and brokers say high-quality units are much in demand.  “A lot of people who are moving for the first time to Miami are still under the impression that they can get steals here,” said Douglas Elliman Realtor Associate Dean Bloch.  “That’s really not the case.  But Brickell is still less expensive than rending on South Beach, and you get more for your money.  So students and young professionals love the area.”  The overall average rent in a Brickell apartment project leaped from $1,943 a month in February 2010 to $2,197 this February, said L. Keith White, president of Reinhold P. Wolff Economic Research.  “That is really substantial – a 13.1% hike,” he said.  “That would not be sustainable for a longer period of time.  The market is catching up from the depressed rents of the past few years.”  He quoted current average rents at $1,686 for a one-bedroom apartment, $2,551 for a two-bedroom and $3,038 for a three-bedroom.  “Overall vacancy is quite low – 2.5%,” Mr. White said, a sharp decline from 9.6% a year ago.

The majority of rental opportunities in Brickell these days are condo units, either investor- or developer-owned.  That market, too, said Chris Basick, managing broker of Esslinger Wooten Maxwell’s Brickell office, in “nothing but good.”  Right now, he said, 606 available units with asking rents ranging from $950 – $20,000 are shown in the multiple listing service.  About 53% are two-bedroom units, 33% are one-bedrooms and 10% are three-bedrooms.  “The inventory is not as much as we would expect,” Mr. Basick said, “because many units are being used as second or third homes, so they’re not being rented out.”  The average actual monthly rate comes to $2.18 per square foot, getting closer to the average asking rate, he said, which is currently $2.23 a square foot.  For a long time, actual rents were stuck at around $1.90 a foot.

That’s good news for investors, Mr. Basick said.  “Their expected revenue is higher than it was, and we are able to rent them out faster.”  “The rental market has picked up tremendously over the past year,”  said Ty Forkner, a Realtor Associate at Douglas Elliman Florida.  “One-bedroom units that used to rent for $1,000 are now renting for $1,300 – $1,500.  Good quality inventory has really shrunk.”  Mr. Bloch, who has sold quite a few downtown and Brickell condos to investors, said most plan on renting them out for five to seven years.  “The Icon is renting like crazy,” he said.  “A unit I just sold at The View at Brickell for $215,000 is rented at $2,200 a month, which is a good return.”  Young professionals are big in the rental market, Mr. Forkner said.  So are people who have lost their homes to foreclosures or short sales and who “have to live somewhere.  They can’t buy another house.”  “What is really moving off the shelf is the luxury rental inventory.  People who are downsizing from estates are looking for three to five bedrooms.”

WASHINGTON (AP) – April 20, 2011 – The unemployment rate fell in two-thirds of the nation’s states last month, the latest evidence that the strengthening economy is encouraging many employers to boost hiring.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that the unemployment rate dropped in 34 states in March. That’s the largest number of states to record a decline since June. The rate rose in seven states and was unchanged in nine and Washington, D.C.

Employers hired more workers in 38 states. A government survey of employer payrolls found only 12 states plus Washington, D.C. lost jobs last month, the fewest since October.

Nationally, the unemployment rate fell in March to a two-year low of 8.8 percent, and private employers added more than 200,000 jobs for the second consecutive month. That’s the largest two-month hiring total in four years.

Texas added 37,200 net jobs in March, the most of any state. It was followed by Missouri and Florida, both of which reported strong gains. California lost 11,600 net jobs — the most of any state. Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland and Maine all had large job losses, too.

New Mexico reported the biggest monthly drop in unemployment among all state, falling from 8.7 percent in February to 8.1 percent in March. Florida, Oklahoma, Indiana, Missouri and Ohio posted the next biggest monthly declines.

The Midwest is faring particularly well, said Steve Cochrane, a regional economist at Moody’s Analytics. The region has generated more jobs in the past three months than any of the other three regions. A rebound in manufacturing has spurred hiring in professional services such as accounting, advertising and legal services. New weekly applications for unemployment benefits have fallen to pre-recession levels, Cochrane said, the first region where that has happened.

As a result, the unemployment rate in the Midwest dropped from 8.4 percent to 8.3 percent last month. That’s just above the Northeast’s 8.2 percent unemployment rate — the best among the four regions. The West had the highest unemployment for any region in March, at 10.7 percent, followed by the South at 9.0 percent.

Nevada again had the highest unemployment rate of any state, although it fell from 13.6 percent to 13.2 percent in March. California, at 12 percent, was second, followed by Florida (11.1 percent) and Rhode Island (11 percent).

Florida’s unemployment rate has come down slightly from the 11.3 percent rate recorded a year ago. That’s the state’s first year-over-year decline since November 2006. Some of the drop is because many people who are unemployed have given up looking for work. People without jobs who aren’t looking aren’t counted as unemployed.

“We’re still on the cusp of recovery in the job market,” said Sean Snaith, an economics professor at the University of Central Florida.

The Sunshine State has added jobs in health care and in its signature industry — tourism. Snaith said restaurants, hotels and theme parks are adding workers. A new Harry Potter theme park at Universal Studios’ Orlando resort has been popular, he said.

North Dakota had the nation’s lowest unemployment rate at 3.6 percent. It was followed by Nebraska at 4.2 percent and South Dakota at 4.9 percent.
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press, Christopher S. Rugaber, AP economics writer.

300 Leases Signed Monthly In Greater Downtown Miami In 2011

Published 4/3/2011 by CondoVultures.com

Nearly 750 condos are available for rent in the Greater Downtown Miami area at an average asking price of more than $2,750 per month, according to a new report from CondoVultures, a real estate consultancy and marketing company based Bal Harbour, Florida.

As of April 4, nearly 600 units are under contract and waiting to be leased. The average asking price of these pending deals is $1,900 per month.

In the first three months of 2011, tenants have leased nearly 915 condos in Greater Downtown Miami at an average price of about $2,190 per month, according to the analysis based on Florida Realtors association data.

Compare this to the same three-month period in previous years.

In 2010, tenants leased 850 condos in Greater Downtown Miami at an average price of nearly $1,820 per month. In 2009, tenants rented nearly 770 condos at an average monthly rent of $1,750 per month. A year earlier in 2008, tenants rented about 600 units at an average monthly rent of nearly $1,850, according to the report.

Of the Greater Downtown Miami condos available for rent, nearly 260 of the units have one bedroom with an average asking price of $1,855 per month. An additional 380 units have two bedrooms at an average asking price of $2,800 per month.

There are about 75 units with three bedrooms that are available at an average asking price of $4,100 per month.   Some 15 units have four bedrooms, or more, with an average asking price of $11,900 per month.  Another 15 studios are for rent at an average asking price of $1,500 per month, according to the data.

Foreign buyers and institutional investors have focused their attention on acquiring more than 80 percent of the nearly 22,250 units that were constructed in the area during the real estate boom.

At the end of 2010, some 3,600 new condos were still unsold, according to the Condo Vultures® Official Condo Buyers Guide To Miami™.

Greater Downtown Miami is a 60-block stretch from the Julia Tuttle Causeway south to the Rickenbacker Causeway, and Interstate 95 east to Biscayne Bay. The market is comprised of the neighborhoods of the Brickell Avenue Area, Downtown Miami, and the Biscayne Boulevard Corridor.

http://www.condovultures.com/News/ViewArticle/tabid/77/ArticleId/23912/300-Leases-Signed-Monthly-In-Greater-Downtown-Miami-In-2011.aspx