Demand for trophy properties and record-setting sales are driving developers to bet on boutique, luxury condominiums in the narrow inlet south of Fifth, which some developers refer to as Miami Beach’s Babylon.

“In 2010, nobody wanted land down here. People thought Miami Beach was never coming back,” Tim Gordon, one of three principals of Aria Development Group, which is selling pre-construction units at its 321 Ocean residential complex in SoFi.

321 Ocean is among four condo developments with a collected 107 units on the market competing on extravagance for the worlds ultra-rich. Related Group is developing two projects, Marea and One Ocean, and Terra Development is selling pre-construction on its expensive, minimalist Glass tower.

A penthouse at Ocean House, a 28-unit condo tower at 121 Ocean Drive, was sold for $15 million, or $3,592 per square foot, in an all-cash deal completed late last month. Recent sales at Apogee and the Continuum South Tower valued property in SoFi at more than $2,000 a foot.

Sellers are going for even more. Eight resale units in the South of Fifth enclave are asking over $3,000 per square foot, with two units at the Continuum asking $4,000 a square foot.

Uber luxury condo developments waiting for final approvals in the tony Bal Harbour area, are rumored to start pre construction sales for $1700 per square foot and higher depending on size and location of the unit.

Miami has become the Riviera of North America – and for what it offers – it still is the best deal for foreign nationals who are very accustomed to prices in the stratosphere for much lesser services and amenities in other parts of the world.