When real estate professionals and consumers alike think about South Florida, the beaches and nightlife of Miami immediately comes to mind.
Well, South Beach, it may be time to move over just a bit for the burgeoning city of Fort Lauderdale.
My home city -- my office is on the Galt Ocean Mile and I live off Sunrise and A1A -- has always been second-fiddle to the international mecca that is Miami. While it still may be, Fort Lauderdale is growing and improving by leaps and bounds and was just listed among the Top 10 Downtown Areas in the United States by the Tennessee-based website, Livability.com.
Here is a list of the top 10 best downtown areas in the country for 2014:
1.Fort Worth, TX 
2.Providence, RI
3.Indianapolis, IN
4.Provo, UT
5.Alexandria, VA
6.Frederick, MD
7.Fort Lauderdale, FL
8.Bellingham, WA
9.Eugene, OR
10.Birmingham, AL
Source: Livability.com
As you can see, Fort Lauderdale, which never before made the list, finds itself with some pretty impressive company. And what is more, out of all those places listed, Fort Lauderdale is the only one that can boast temperatures about 70 degrees just about year-round.
The reasons for the boost in the Fort Lauderdale downtown area are many.
Jobs are highly prevalent in the Fort Lauderdale downtown area and people want to live close to their jobs. With real estate prices down from where they were, but rising from the worst times, and a plethora of new construction -- such as that done by my company, Broward County RE Group -- there is plenty of quality real estate to go around, according to the South-Florida Sun-Sentinel.
"We are an incredibly hot market," said Stan Eichelbaum, president of the Downtown Fort Lauderdale Civic Association to the Sun-Sentinel.
The downtown area has more entertainment, shops and restaurants than ever before and its lively atmosphere makes for a place that people want to gather. And Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler believes things are only improving.
The city has more than 4,000 new residential units in development and several more initiatives in the works to continue to reshape and improve the entire area.
"These investments, coupled with our outstanding quality of life, continue to strengthen downtown Fort Lauderdale's position as an outstanding place to do business and an even better place to call home," Seiler said in a statement.
The international market has also become aware of Fort Lauderdale. The Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport has been undergoing extensive renovations for years now. While that has been a major inconvenience to people living near the airport, it also shows a commitment to improving the city's place on the world stage.
More and more direct flights are coming over from Europe and Asia. This foreign influx brings money into the area and will only make for its continued improvement.
Yes, more than ever Fort Lauderdale is becoming the place to be and that means its real estate market should begin to see an even more rapid improvement.
Now is the time to get in on what can still be considered a lower floor. Because soon you may not be able to find real estate in Fort Lauderdale for any cheaper than it comes 40 miles south in Miami Beach.
As one of the leading and fastest growing real estate companies in the Fort Lauderdale area, please visit www.realestategroupfortlauderdale.com to find out more information on the area, see a full MLS search and also peruse recent and future construction projects by Broward County RE Group.
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