downtown: Sellers still reducing their asking price for homes - 04/15/11 03:45 AM
With the homebuying market still struggling, real estate agencies are trying to lure potential homeowners into moving to their area by slashing home prices.In a soon to be released report from the real estate website Trulia.com, home sellers have cut more than $24 billion in potential home equity over the past year and trimmed the cost of properties approximately 79 days after posting the initial asking price. What's more, according to the website, 35 percent of sellers will cut their prices again.Trulia.com reports that the average home seller dropped their asking price by an average of 8 percent, but that rate … (2 comments)

downtown: Miami New-Condo Sales Revive As Biggest Markets Fall - 03/08/11 05:01 AM
The new-condo boom struck louder in Miami than it did in other markets and fell hardest there when the thunder stopped.Now the area stands out again. Its new-condo market is coming back stronger in sales and pricing, though it's a fraction of its old self.Thank all-cash buyers from Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Europe and other locales. They see Miami's luxury condos at discounted prices as safe havens for investment money.Positive sales trends continue."These people are parking their cash," said Peter Zalewski, principal of real estate consultancy Condo Vultures. "In Venezuela, they're fearful they're going to lose it (under President Hugo Chavez's … (0 comments)

downtown: Cash is King as New Wave of Home Buyers Shuns Loans and Pays Small Bucks for Bargains - 02/22/11 02:58 AM
It's a new beginning in America's home-buying market. More and more buyers are saying no to expensive and convoluted bank loans and paying cash instead for bargain properties.The Wall Street Journal reports scores of bargain-basement deals being closed by cash-bidding buyers who feel the bottom has been reached in the market.Where are they getting the cash from? They are selling other investments like paintings, cars and jewelry.For example, In Atlanta, 62-year-old piano teacher Virginia Hall-Busch paid cash for a 93-year-old three-bedroom, one-bath bungalow in scenic Stone Mountain, GA. The property initially listed for $159,000, then dropped to $129,000 and then to … (0 comments)

downtown: Brazilians making an economic mark - 02/15/11 03:09 AM
President Barack Obama will visit Brazil during his first South American trip in March and Brazil is Florida's top trading partner. But Brazilians are also snapping up beachfront luxury properties and downtown Miami condos, investing in everything from real estate to Burger King, and shopping voraciously.It's as if a "swarm of grasshoppers" has descended on South Florida, chomping through bargains from Dadeland to Sawgrass Mills, one tour operator says. "The trend now is everybody comes to shop, shop, shop,'' said Claudia Menezes, of Pegasus Transportation, which operates a fleet of buses for conventional tours as well as the shopping excursions that … (1 comments)

downtown: Cash Buyers Lift Housing - 02/08/11 02:39 AM
Buyers in markets around the U.S. are snapping up homes in all-cash deals, betting that prices are at or near bottom and breathing life into some of the nation's most battered housing markets. Cash buyers represented more than half of all transactions in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area last year, according to an analysis from real-estate portal Zillow.com. In the fourth quarter of 2006, they represented just 13% of deals. Meanwhile, downtown Miami prices rose 15% in 2010 from a year earlier, according to the Miami Downtown Development Authority. The percentage of buyers in Phoenix paying cash hit 42% in 2010-more than … (0 comments)

downtown: Metro-Miami's Pending Home Sales Rise 28% Year-over-year - 02/01/11 02:41 AM
(MIAMI, FL ) -- According to the Miami Association of Realtors and the Southeast Florida Multiple Listing Service (SEFMLS), total cumulative pending home sales - including single-family homes and condominiums - in Miami-Dade County increased 28 percent in January compared to a year earlier, from 8,388 to 10,698, and 2.5 percent, from 10,437, compared to the previous month."Over the last few months, we have seen pending and closed sales gain momentum while inventory levels continue to drop, said Jack H. Levine, 2010 chairman of the board of the Miami Association of Realtors. "This trend in rising sales, particularly for condominiums, coupled … (1 comments)

downtown: It’s cheaper to buy than rent in Miami - 01/25/11 03:00 AM
Miami tops the list of places in the country where it's cheaper to own than rent a home, according to Trulia.com's latest Rent vs. Buy Index.The San Francisco-based real estate website noted that the foreclosure crisis has pushed many homeowners to become renters, thus jacking up the cost of rentals."Following the principles of supply and demand, renting has become relatively more expensive than buying in most markets," Trulia CEO and co-founder Pete Flint said in a news release.In fact, Trulia found that it is more affordable to buy than rent a two-bedroom home in 72 percent of America's 50 largest cities.Trulia … (0 comments)

downtown: Miami Pending Home Sales Up 26% in November - 12/03/10 04:49 AM
Miami, FL - Total cumulative pending home sales - including single-family homes and condominiums - in Miami-Dade County increased 26 percent in November compared to a year earlier, from 8,288 to 10,495, and increased 2.3 percent, up from 10,264, compared to the previous month according to the MIAMI Association of REALTORS and the Southeast Florida Multiple Listing Service (SEFMLS). November marks the fourth consecutive month of increased pending home sales in Miami-Dade County. A sale is listed as pending when a contract is signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months … (0 comments)

downtown: Art of the deal - 12/02/10 02:53 AM
New Yorkers who regularly visit Miami often talk about how hard it is to get any work done there - how the city's lazy, beautiful people just bounce around to beaches, restaurants, hotel lounges, nightclubs, house parties and boat parties.But the reality is more complicated. There's no other American city that works this hard at partying and is full of so many people hustling for business while they're partying. And this is especially true when it comes to selling real estate during the Miami social season, which kicks off with a big splash this week as Art Basel and dozens of … (0 comments)

downtown: Visa deal funding realty, investors get homeland - 12/01/10 03:54 AM
At a time international investors are drawn to Miami's real estate bargains, the government's EB-5 visa program is an attractive vehicle for them to invest here in exchange for US residency.Exclusive Visas, an EB-5 consulting firm based in Weston, is advising developers of several projects that would boost the local economy and create jobs while offering participating investors permanent residency for them and their families.These projects include the University of Miami's Life Science and Technology Park, rising in Miami's health district, and the planned construction of 50 Sonic fast-food restaurants throughout Miami-Dade and Broward counties.Fred Burgess, president of Exclusive Visas, has … (0 comments)

downtown: NAR predicts commercial vacancies to fall in 2011 as market stabilizes - 11/29/10 06:28 AM
Commercial real estate markets are stabilizing nationwide and will modestly improve in 2011, according to the latest National Association of Realtors economic outlook released Monday.The outlook cited a recent commercial real estate index by The Society of Industrial and Office Realtors, which reported a 1.6% increase in the third quarter, to 42.6 on the index. This is the fourth consecutive quarter of improvement in the index, however, it still remains well below normal.The index is measured on a scale to 100. An index of 100 represents equilibrium in the commercial marketplace.NAR's chief economist, Lawrence Yun, said that signs of stabilization in … (1 comments)

downtown: Slide in South Florida home prices continues - 11/10/10 04:06 AM
South Florida homes continued to shed value, sellers were still slashing prices and distressed sales were still dominating the market in the third quarter of the year-- all signs that the real estate recovery has a long way to go.A report released Wednesday by real estate firm Zillow found that 45.2 percent of South Florida homes sold between June and September were sold for a loss, up slightly from the previous quarter, but down 2 percent for the month.``Distressed sales have contributed to that 50 percent decline,'' said David Dabby, president of Coral Gables-based Dabby Group. ``They will continue to put … (1 comments)

downtown: Florida Real Estate Prices On the Rise in Miami and Orlando? - 11/03/10 03:25 AM
As we all know, Florida has seen some of the most dramatic falls in real estate prices and the total number of homes sold since the housing market collapsed. Although things are bad in much of the state, it seems that the real estate market in Florida may be on the mend. Some of the most hard hit areas such as the Orlando, Miami, and Fort Myers areas have seen nice rebounds in the number of homes sold over the last several months, raising hope that prices will soon follow. Fort Myers, located in Southwest Florida, has seen the number of … (0 comments)

downtown: Market bright spot: condos in Dade - 11/01/10 04:40 AM
As South Florida's shaky real estate market searches for recovery, an investor group's $1 billion bet on the local condominium market is about to be put to the test. Starwood Capital-led investor group ST Residential -- in charge of more than 1,200 new condo units in South Florida -- launched its ST Miami initiative this month, announcing plans to release hundreds of new condo units into South Florida's fragile market in the coming months. Condo sales were the standout figure in the September existing sales report released Monday by the Miami Association of Realtors. Existing condo sales in Miami-Dade County rose … (0 comments)

downtown: Firm can buy debt of downtown condo - 10/29/10 04:10 AM
A New York-based real estate investment firm has won a bank auction and court approval to buy the debt of downtown Miami's Everglades on the Bay condominium towers.Rockwood Capital paid about $142 million for the note, according to South Florida real estate consultancy Condo Vultures. But the sale of the 849-unit project on Biscayne Boulevard did not go smoothly, with the developer, another bidder and the bank holding the debt battling over terms.Developer Cabi Downtown LLC -- which faced a 2009 foreclosure suit by Bank of America on a $209 million construction loan -- claimed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court this week … (0 comments)

downtown: Miami Heat's Big Three a boon to neigjboring condos - 10/25/10 04:13 AM
Drivers making their way east on Interstate 395 toward the exit marked ``Arenas'' can't help but notice the four skyscrapers towering over downtown Miami -- the highway seems to steer directly into them before curving off to the shores of South Beach.As more cars and more cameras will be taking that exit to the arena where basketball giant LeBron James will bring his talents this season, downtown Miami's condo developers are looking to cash in on the new-found cachet of the Miami Heat team. Developers of the four skyline-shaping condo towers across the street from AmericanAirlines Arena -- Marina Blue, 900 … (0 comments)

downtown: Foreign buyers see big opportunity in housing bust - 10/06/10 09:11 AM
The Viceroy, a swanky condominium complex in downtown Miami, gives the impression that the United States is in another real estate boom. The sales office is strangely exuberant. Buyers gush about the glam condos - designed by hipster tastemaker Kelly Wearstler - and their hotel-like amenities: poolside libations, daily housekeeping and room service food stirred up by a celebrity chef.Since January, 262 of the Viceroy's 372 units have sold. But there's a twist: Almost 90 percent of the buyers are foreigners. And they all paid cash.The Viceroy's story is playing out across Miami. Individual investors from as far as Argentina, Canada, … (1 comments)

downtown: Europeans and South Americans buy condos as homes, investments - 09/02/10 07:04 AM
Many of the international buyers scooping up condos in South Florida's top bayfront communities are buying to occupy part-time, brokers say, but many would consider a future sale at a profit.Where these buyers decide to purchase depends in part to the condominium's location, as some are more attracted to beachfront enclaves like Miami Beach, Sunny Isles Beach and Aventura while others want to be in the center of the action and opt for condos in greater Downtown in areas such as Omni, Brickell and downtown. At the 66-floor Marquis Residences, one of Miami's tallest buildings at 1100 Biscayne Blvd., many of … (0 comments)

downtown: Miami High-End Condos Experience a Miniboom - 08/27/10 04:04 AM
It is past half-time for 2010 Southeast Florida real estate sales. After a rocky 2009, how did 2010 weather so far, is the million dollar question many are asking. Prices started tumbling since September 2008 - and in certain market segments, housing values are still down significantly, but there is also good news to report as to market research provided by Brosda & Bentley Realtors. Especially for new luxury oceanfront condo developments in Sunny Isles Beach, Miami Beach and downtown Miami in particular, sales are booming and prices in some areas are on the rise. Jade Beach condo tower, in North … (0 comments)

downtown: Hopes rise with sales of downtown Miami condos - 07/29/10 04:18 AM
The idea of a vibrant city center in Miami is bolstered by a Downtown Development Authority finding that condo sales -- and prices -- are going up.Residents and officials longing to see downtown Miami transformed into the nexus of a bustling, 24-hour city are beginning to see a little cooperation from the market.Even as home prices have continued to drop across South Florida, downtown Miami -- the hub of the over-development that many believe sparked the housing market collapse -- seems poised for a comeback, a new study released by the Miami Downtown Development Authority shows.The report found sales of downtown … (1 comments)