In the last year and a half, Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties, have decided to build almost 45 towers and release on the market almost 7,600 units. Five of the towers are under construction right now. As a result, it seems that South Florida’s housing market is officially growing.
International Buyers Boost Market
The most recent construction in South Florida is the “23 Biscayne Bay Condo” Downtown Miami. The tower has 18 stories and 96 residential units. 46 of these units were sold. Melo Group’s executive, Martin Ferreira, was the developer of the project. He says that most investors are from Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. In fact, Melo Group originated from Argentina and the project is so successful, that the developer intends to build 4 new towers. The buildings will feature either rental units or condos, and will release on the market almost 600 units. That’s excellent news for the real estate market of South Florida because realtors will start selling and renting once again.
South Florida has many other development companies that are interested in constructing condo towers. 45 buildings are expected to be built in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties in the following years. Moreover, designers are willing to create new apartment units that could become condominiums. This way, the renting market will be improved.
Low Volume of Unsold Units
Currently, South Florida features 49,000 units spread throughout markets like Palm Beach, Deerfield Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Hallandale Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, South Beach and Miami. Only 3,900 of these units are unsold. Despite this inventory of unsold apartments, developers are ready to construct and propose almost 6,100 units in 35 towers in places such as Sunny Isles Beach, Aventura, Surfside, Bal Harbour, Miami Beach, Key Biscayne and Greater Downtown Miami.
Some of these oceanfront development sites have already been traded by several investment groups that paid over $336 million for these transactions. The houses they’ve invested in are perfect for developing luxury condo projects. The coasts of Palm Beach and Broward will also see new condo developments pretty soon. For example, in Broward, the developers are planning to construct 800 units in 5 towers. Palm Beach is going to feature 700 units in 5 towers in places like West Palm Beach, North Palm Beach and Gulf Stream.
More Condo Projects Underway
No one knows if all proposed towers are going to be constructed. At the moment, there are numerous financial problems overseas and lots of projects are waiting for governmental approval. It is uncertain if international buyers are going to invest in the condo market of South Florida. Additionally, projects that are under construction feature numerous daunting requirements. For example, buyers have to make a deposit payment of up to 80% of the initial purchase price. These requirements are stricter than they were before the crisis. Furthermore, developers have more problems when securing a construction financing. This is caused by the recent real estate meltdown and the American banking crisis.
South Florida’s real estate market is slowly recovering. Still, the preconstruction condo sales procedure still requires a defense against the speculator boom markets. The housing specialists are expecting to see how the buyers, lenders and developers will handle this growth phase.
