Miami Real Estate – December 2008

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Summary - December 2008

For the month of December 2008 vs. November 2008, we experienced a substantial 74% increase in the number of closed sales versus the prior month. This increase in sales was predominantly focused in the Downtown/Brickell, Miami Beach and Coral Gables areas.

Recently, everyone has been talking about the big increase in sales of bank-owned properties or those in pre-foreclosure [short sales] and here is why. If you look at the combined total of 165 sales in Downtown/Brickell and Miami Beach condos [under $500k], a total of 95, or 58%, fell into this category. We think that the supply of bank owned properties will continue to climb as will the percentage of bank owned sales. Another fact that we should pay attention to, whether you are a real estate practitioner or investor, is that the majority of December’s distressed sales, or 73%, were bank owned properties and not short sales.

There was also an impressive increase in the number of sales of condos over $500,000 in Miami Beach versus November 2008. It should also be noted that more than 50% of these sales included some form of “jumbo” conventional financing. Apparently, the supply of jumbo mortgages is not so dire for Miami condos. I would also like to add that five luxury homes traded hands in Miami Beach in December, including waterfront locations on the Sunset Islands, Pinetree Drive, Allison Island, San Marino Island and Rivo Alto Island.

Featured Sales – A Downtown Loft and A Luxury Home

The Baylofts - 455 NE 25th St., Miami

This month’s featured sale was the purchase of a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom loft condo in a new building near the Miami Performing Arts Center. The all-cash buyer paid $130,100 for 965 square feet [90 m2] of living space in a building that was constructed in 2004, which equates to a price of $135 per square foot! This unit features a wrap around balcony, 10 foot ceilings and stainless steel appliances. The best part is that the monthly maintenance fee is only $383, and with such a low purchase price, this condo was an absolute steal. We should also recognize that the most recent sale of an identical two bedroom unit in this building was at a purchase price of $238,100. This was a bank-owned property which was on the market for only 35 days and the original asking price was $129,900.

Sunset Island – 1525 N View Dr., Miami Beach

A Swiss buyer, Sonja Berchtold, as director of JP Investments I Inc., purchased this luxury waterfront home in late December for an all cash price of $6.25 million. This Caribbean Colonial residence has over 6,600 square feet (613 m2) with 5 bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms and sits on almost an acre of land and with 165 feet (15.3 metres) of open bay frontage and direct access to the ocean. The seller, Rand Skolnick, purchased the home in February 2002 for $4.2 million. The original asking price was $8.9 million and after six months on the market the home sold for practically thirty percent less, or $6,250,000.

For any additional information on Miami real estate, foreclosures, short sales or bank owned properties, please contact us at info@miamiangelproperties.com or call 305.673.5300.

The data used to generate this chart is gathered from the Multiple Listing Service (“MLS”). The data in the MLS is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. This data is for December 2008 for single family homes, unless otherwise indicated as condominiums. Homes that are pending sales have had offers made on them, and those offers have been accepted by the seller, however the sale has not yet closed. The prices are the actual sales prices of all single family or condos that closed during the month of December 2008.

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