South Florida Real Estate Trends: Which Areas Have The Most Foreclosures

The Miami-Dade region has been regarded by many to be the epicenter of Florida's mortgage foreclosure crisis.

In a survey done in 2007 by Money Magazine, it listed 33,160 foreclosures, including those in all of Sunny Isles and Golden Beach, and in some small areas of Aventura and North Miami Beach, and ranked it as the area with the most number of foreclosures in Florida, placing second only to Atlanta in the southeastern United States. The Money Magazine durvey also states that North Miami-Dade zip code even entered the national top 20, with having 480 foreclosures filed in the first half of this year.

Foreclosure Levels In Other Areas Of Miami-Dade

The Money Magazine analysis also stated that other local zip codes which made the nation's top 500 in terms of foreclosure activity, included parts of Brickell, a patch of unincorporated area south of Metrozoo, South Beach, and Homestead. The state of Florida has 72 zip codes included on the list, and most of them are located in South Florida. In June the region had 2175 foreclosure filings.

That was up 167 percent from the same month last year. Sunny Isles Beach was once anything but. The area was founded in 1920 by Harvey B. Graves, and notable places like the Marco Polo, the Aztec, the Waikiki, the Dunes, the Driftwood and a dozen other places, have long been razed down and replaced with high-rise condos and towers.

Peter Zalewski, the man who founded the research firm Condo Vultures in March 2006 to help investors capitalize on the condo glut, notes that Sunny Isles Beach and neighboring communities are "filled with speculators who went in with no intention of staying, and now they're desperate to get out." More than 30 of the most expensive 100 foreclosures in Northeast Miami-Dade are in Sunny Isles, according to Condo Vultures statistics.

How Politicians And Analysts In The Area View The Mortgage Crisis

Most of the region's politicians are pointing the accusing finger elsewhere. According to the mayor of Sunny Isles, he sees little evidence of a high foreclosure rate, and adds that "If it's not oceanside, it's taking longer to sell, but I don't really know where it's occurring," He also adds that "perhaps the foreclosures are taking place in the Eastern Shores area, which is in North Miami Beach, or other parts of the zip code. The mayor of North Miami Beach, Raymond Marin, also added that “that's not the case, as most foreclosures would be occurring in Sunny Isles Beach and Aventura," But that was a different time.

The situation in Sunny Isles Beach, according to local real estate analyst Jack McCabe, "is a great metaphor for the correcting market and for the kind of speculation that's been going on. It hasn't even started yet. He adds that “these foreclosures are going to multiply as the new buildings are being finished, as we all know that Miami is the most overbuilt condo market in the country."