Monthly Archives: November 2014

Real Estate

A Buyer’s Market in South Beach

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32Signs of a Buyer’s Market

Anthony Spitaleri

With the high-season about to start, the resale market in Miami Beach is showing signs of weakness. SoBe condo prices have increased as much as 57% since the bottom of 2009. According to data from the Southeast Florida MLXchange, the number of units sold during the 10 months of 2014 has fallen at least 15% YoY from 2013.

The winter season is typically busiest for real estate in South Beach with more owners listing in hopes of selling. This will only slow things down even more. In a healthy market, housing inventory is to be about 6 months. With increased saturation currently there are 9 months of supply. This is great news if you are the buyer, more options and leverage.

The South Beach condo market has varied from $529 per square foot at the last peak. This fell to $380 per square foot during the bust. Within the first 10 months of 2014, the average price per square foot was $590. This reflects an 11% increase from the peak. The current average of asking prices is at least $885 per square foot.

Also worth noting is strong competition from new developments. Since 2011 there are more than 285 new condo towers slated. This is nearly 40,000 units that will be hitting the market in the tri-county area. Miami-Dade accounts for 72% of all units.