Monday, July 30, 2012

Most Luxurious Condo Buildings in Brickell

I think it’s safe to say that many people that move to Miami envision lots of time spent on the beach or viewing it from their oceanfront condo. Long-time locals, however, understand that urban living can be just as scenic and one of the most desirable spots is Brickell. Home to the country’s largest concentration of international banks, Brickell naturally attracts those that desire to live close to work and to Miami’s finest eateries, shops and entertainment venues.

Brickell real estate offers no shortage of luxurious residential buildings. Let’s look at some of the most popular.

Asia Brickell Key
Asia boasts 36 floors, in a tower that stands 483 feet in height. Completed in 2008, it quickly became one of the most desirable luxury residences in the Brickell district of downtown Miami.

Asia Brickell Key boasts 123 luxury condo units, in two, three and four bedroom floor plans that start at 1,600 square feet. With only three to five units per floor, Asia offers maximum privacy to its residents.

Since amenities typically define a luxury building, Asia epitomizes the concept. Here are just a handful of amenities you’ll find at Asia:

·      Multiple swimming pools
·      Fitness center
·      Private storage facilities
·      Tennis courts
·      Private elevators that open into units’ foyers
·      Touch-screen lifestyle management technology
·      Built-in cappuccino maker in some units
·      Valet
·      Concierge

Additionally, Asia is located within walking distance to restaurants and shops. Current offerings at Asia are priced from $950,000 to $8,830,000.

Santa Maria
Located on the waterfront on Biscayne Bay, Santa Maria condos top out at a lofty 51 stories. No corners were cut in the development of this stunning complex, built in 1997. Units range in size from two to five bedrooms with from 2,100 square feet to 6,300 square feet of living space. All units boast floor-to-ceiling windows from which to take in the amazing views.

Amenities at Santa Maria include:

·      Jacuzzi
·      Fitness Center
·      Tennis Courts
·      Racquetball
·      Spa
·      Lap pool
·      Marina
·      Library
·      Business center
·      Conference room
·      24-hour security personnel

Current luxury Santa Maria condo offerings are priced from $1,200,000 to $6,750,000.

Four Seasons Residences and Hotel
The Four Seasons is a name known worldwide for luxurious hospitality and the property in Brickell is no exception. For those leery of purchasing a residence in a mixed residential/hospitality complex:

·      The residents have a separate entrance from hotel guests
·      There are private elevators to the units
·      Swim in the pool set aside for the exclusive use of residents

The Four Seasons Miami was completed in 2003 and boasts 73 floors. There are 186 luxury condominium units, occupying the 40th to the 70th floor. These residences range in size from 1,114 to 6,499 square feet.

Aside from the condos and hotel facilities, the Four Seasons tower holds 10,600 square feet of retail space, Sports Club/LA Miami, Bahia Bar, Acqua Restaurant (seafood) and the Four Seasons Pool Terrace.

The Four Seasons offers one, two, three and four-bedroom units, up to 7,458 square feet, and priced from $399,000 to $15 million. 

Sunday, July 29, 2012

ICON BAY - New downtown construction by The Related Group

The Related Group is getting ready to start selling a new waterfront condominium building in Downtown Miami called Icon Bay. It will be a bayfront building located east of Biscayne Blvd and NE 28 Street. 

You can see the renderings and location in the following Icon Bay video.

icon bay downtown miami

All units in Icon Bay will have bay views and they will also feature private elevators. The building will have approximately 300 units in total. 80% of the units are going to be 2bed/2bath and 2bed/2bath+DEN and 20% will be 1bed/1bath+DEN. You can get an idea of the views on the image shown below.

icon bay views

The price per square foot will start at $405 when they start sales. The 1bed/1bath+DEN units will start at $360,000. The 2bed/2bath units will start at $440,000. And the 2bed/2bath+DEN units will start at $500,000.

icon bay floorplans

The payment schedule is in the process of being defined but most probably it will be similar to the payment structure of Millecento, another pre-construction project sold recently by The Related Group. In Millecento the payment structure was:
1) 10% of the price at reservation
2) 10% of the price at contract
3) 15% of the price when construction starts
4) 15% of the price when construction ends
5) 50% due at closing

There are three other bayfront buildings close to Icon Bay that were built 5 years ago. These buildings are Star Lofts, Onyx and Platinum. In addition, there is also Paramount Bay, where units are currently selling north of $500/foot.

icon bay onyx platinum star lofts miami condos

In Star Lofts there are currently 7 units for sale from $269,000 to $1,650,000. The price per square foot ranges from $332 to $659. 

In Onyx on The Bay there are currently 6 units for sale from $242,000 to $480,000. The price per square foot ranges from $243 to $388.

In Platinum Condominium there are currently 10 units for sale from $180,000 to $496,650. The price per square foot ranges from $217 to $360.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Most Popular Luxury Oceanfront Condo Buildings in Miami

Although it may seem that Miami Beach was invented as a vacation playground for the wealthy, over 87,000 residents call it home. The beach is the main draw, of course, for those that choose from among the amazing array of Miami’s luxury oceanfront condo offerings, but the convenience of being in close proximity to world-class dining and shopping is close behind. If you’re interested in purchasing a luxury waterfront condo in Miami, we are happy to help you become better acquainted with some of the more popular properties.

Mei
Pronounced May-e, Mei is a Mandarin word for beauty. Located on Collins Avenue in the North Miami Beach area, the Asian-accented Mei stands 22 stories tall. The 136 units range in size from 900 to 1,900 square feet with an average list price of $1.3 million. You’ll also find 36 two-story townhomes on site, with 2,000 to 4,000 square feet of living space. Amenities include condo cabanas on the beach, an oversized private spa, a fully-equipped fitness center, valet, concierge and a doorman and front desk, staffed 24 hours a day. Current offerings at Mei are priced between $499,900 and $1,950,000.


mei condo miami beach

Setai
Built in 2004 in South Beach, Setai is a 40 story tower with unparalleled ocean, bay and city views. The residences range in size from one to four bedrooms, and Setai offers penthouses and two-story townhomes, as well. The penthouses feature infinity-edge swimming pools and all units boast top-of-the-line kitchen appliances and with whirpool tubs and separate, glass-doored showers in the bathrooms. High-end touches such as teak cabinetry is evidenced throughout the units.

Setai’s developers realized that the lure of the beach would be strong among its residents and met that by providing beach amenities to rival the finest resort:

·      Beach daybeds
·      Towel service
·      Food and beverage service

Additionally, Setai offers residents three swimming pools, a boutique, an on-site 5-star restaurant, a seafood bar, 24-hour concierge, valet, laundry, maid and room service. Setai has no rental or pet restrictions. Current offerings at Setai are priced from $599,000 to $9,950,000.


setai south beach

Il Villaggio
Il Villaggio is another South Beach luxury condominium complex, built in 1999.
The complex stands 17 stories high, situated atop a charming high-end retail complex. Il Villaggio offers 127 one, two and three bedroom units.

Residents typically choose Il Villaggio for the amenities offered. These include:

·      Health club
·      Jacuzzi
·      Pool-deck bar
·      Beach cabanas
·      Towel service
·      Complimentary bottle water and magazines on the beach
·      Food and beverage service
·      Concierge service
·      Beach concierge
·      Valet service
·      Round-the-clock, fully-staffed security service

Current prices for Il Villaggio condos range from $1 million to $6,950,000.


il villagio south beach

Next week, we’ll take a look at another handful of the best-of-the-best in Miami oceanfront luxury condo buildings.

Friday, July 13, 2012

July Miami Hurricane Weather Update

With hurricane Emilia losing steam right now in the Pacific Ocean, it is bringing light now to the fact that the real hurricane season is about to begin. Historically the largest hurricanes in Florida history generally come between the third week in August, to the last week in September.

At the end of last year in December 2011, a public consortium consisting of experts on insurance, risk management and seasonal climate forecasting at the University College London projected that this summer we would have an above average hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean. Their predictions believe that there will be 14 tropical storms, 6 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes. If this is true this means that we will go through the entire alphabet. The last time we went through the entire alphabet was in the summer of 2005, which was the year Katrina hit gulf coast cities.

In May of this year the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) released their forecast saying that this will be an average hurricane season (9-15 storms). They based their forecast off of the current ocean temperatures in the Atlantic and the wind shear. 
The Florida State University for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies issued its annual forecast predicting that 13 storms would come from the Atlantic this season. They believe 7 of those storms will turn into hurricanes.

Now that we’re coming into the middle of July, we now have had 4 tropical storms. Realistically this pace is looking at a 13-15 named storm season. The temperatures have been a little bit of the average temperatures, but one thing to note is this will not have a huge effect on
Florida Miami real estate.

Hurricanes actually increase the price of real estate. They really help bring jobs back to life. The negative effects that big hurricanes have on real estate are higher home insurance prices.  Miami does get hit yearly by hurricanes but it’s important to note that the damage is very minimal because the hurricanes are usually at a category one. When the hurricanes hit the Gulf and go towards the panhandle that’s when they do far more damage. Overall it looks like a great season and no need to worry!

Monday, July 9, 2012

Foreigners buying all real estate deals available in Miami. Can locals buy? (Part 2)

In a previous post I discussed the current reality of the Miami real estate market in which most of the best deals are being acquired by foreigners. Now we dig deeper to understand the causes of this buying frenzy. Nowadays, one of the most active buyers of Miami real estate are Brazilians. The question is, why are Brazilians so active now when they were not that active in previous occasions?

Brazil is part of the BRIC group of countries, which also includes Russia, India and China. These countries are also called the Big Four since they are countries that are expected to have more economic power than the G7 in the near future. Brazil's economy has grown very fast in the past decade and has attracted a lot of investors from all around the world. As a result, the cost of living and inflation have increased considerably. In addition, their currency, the real, has appreciated against the dollar in the last decade.

The best example I can give you is a Brazilian client who tells us that it is less expensive for him to bring his family to the US when they go on vacations than to go anywhere inside Brazil. Basically, they prefer to spend in dollars because it is cheaper here in the US. Furthermore, I have another Brazilian client who started buying properties in Miami a couple of years ago. He tells me the price per square foot in Brickell for a brand new condo is lower than the price per square foot in a good area of Sao Paulo for an older unit. 

It is important to note that inflation is high in Brazil because the economy is improving and there is a lot of capital inflows. It is not like other countries in Latin America where inflation is high because of scarcity since they do not make anything and everything has to be imported, such as Venezuela.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Miami’s Real Estate Economy is Turning the Corner

This past month Miami government leaders released the Miami real estate statistics. The overall real estate values of Miami-Dade County increased by 2 percent, coming to 190.7 billion. This is really fantastic news because it’s showing real healthy growth for a market that has been sluggish for 4 years. Since 2008 the market has seen drops of 55 billion in the overall real estate value. The 30% drop in real estate values played a major role in job creation. Recently there has been a rise in new construction, creating more construction jobs.

These numbers prove a couple things. First, the Miami real estate market is done bottoming out. This can also mean that there are more buyers than sellers. This created a little demand pull on the need for homes. When the market had a substantial amount of foreclosures and layoffs, there were clearly more homes for sale in Miami than buyers. With the high unemployment or underemployment in the Miami area the amount of buyers really decreased. This proves the second point, that the overall health of the Miami economy has increased which is helping refuel the real estate.

What this means for each resident is very important for everyone in Miami to understand. It means that this is really sincerely a perfect time to buy or sell. Probably even the healthiest time to buy. If this trend keeps up Miami real estate has a tendency to become very expensive. Realistically it will. If you want to move to Miami or out of Miami, this is the time.

In the real estate market the new banking rules will stop a bubble from creating. Therefore the market will not rage like it did in the early 2000’s. If we see an increase in the next 4 months in a row, we will officially be out of the mess. We’re not fully out yet but June 2012 was a great month for Miami real estate.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Foreigners buying all real estate deals available in Miami. Can locals buy?

We at Miami Riches work with local and international buyers and sellers. The best deals out there are usually short sales, foreclosures or REOs which typically take only cash offers. In the past couple of years, the majority of these deals have been sold to foreigners and locals are starting to complain because they are left out and have not been able to take advantage of the real estate rebound we are experiencing in Miami.


One of the biggest problems for locals is that nowadays lenders require bigger down payments. Since the savings rate is in USA is very low compared to other countries, it is very difficult for local buyers to meet this requirement of bigger down payments. Even if you meet the down payment requirement, after you have a contract to buy a property and the contract is contingent upon the buyer obtaining financing, there are factors that can preclude the buyer from getting the final loan approval. For example, nowadays most buyers meet the income criteria set by lenders but have a short sale or a foreclosure in their credit history because they strategically defaulted on their loan after they bought a property in the height of the boom.


If you are a seller who has a really good deal in your hands, are you going to be willing to sell to a buyer with financing while there are still a lot of cash buyers out there that can close right away?


Even though properties in Miami are not as cheap today as they were a couple of years ago, there is still a lot of foreigners waiting to pay cash for the best deals. There are so many foreigners buying real estate in Miami that the association of Realtors added a new field this month to the MLS to track the country of origin of buyers.


We have seen a clear trend in the past 12 months. Foreigners are buying most of the lowest priced deals, usually short sales, foreclosures and REOs; while the few locals that can get a mortgage are buying mostly resales which are usually priced higher than their distressed sales counterparts. If you are going to pay cash for a property, start looking for these best deals. We have an option in our search properties page in the Miami riches website, where you can only search for short sales and foreclosures.


It is very encouraging to hear that this year the savings rate in the US ticked higher and that lenders are starting to lend more and more. This will definitely help the local market but we need to see more of this to get to a more balanced market where locals can also take advantage of the deals available.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Miami Real Estate Market Update - Brickell Area - June 2012

In the following table you can see all closings in the brickell area for the month of June 2012. There were a total of 57 closings. The main statistics are:

  • Average price per square foot: $333
  • Lowest price per square foot: $134 (Four Ambassadors 1067)
  • Highest price per square foot: $620 (Epic unit 4203)
There were two units that went pending in just one day. Both units in Brickell Key, one in Carbonell and another one in Isola. 

Building Unit Bed/Bath Living Area Days on Market List Price Sale Price Price per sq ft
Four Embassador 1126 0/1 580 2 82,500 105,000 $181
THE CLUB AT BRICKELL BAY 3610 0/1 425 8 115,000 116,000 $273
The Four Ambassadors 1067 1/1 990 11 120,500 132,500 $134
Brickell Bay Tower 316 0/1 480 62 138,500 135,000 $281
FOUR AMBASSADORS 811 2/2 990 84 140,000 140,000 $141
CONDO 403 1/1 787 1 149,000 142,000 $180
THE CLUB AT BRICKELL 3621 1/1 825 168 159,000 184,108 $223
One Miami 1417 1/1 868 389 195,000 190,000 $219
The Club At Brickell Bay 2812 1/1 818 22 225,000 215,000 $263
THE CLUB AT BRICKELL BAY 3312 1/1 818 131 229,000 220,000 $269
one miami 902 1/1 846 56 229,000 207,000 $245
Brickell Key II 1201 1/1 700 20 229,000 205,000 $293
BRICKELL ON THE RIVER 803 1/1 775 77 235,000 218,000 $281
BRICKELL KEY ONE A901 1/1 940 5 239,000 220,000 $234
FORTUNE HOUSE 1106 2/2 930 126 259,000 252,000 $271
The Plaza 901 Brickell 3708 1/1 639 52 285,000 290,000 $454
BRICKELL ON THE RIVER 3201 2/2 1117 49 285,000 270,000 $242
FOUR SEASONS 3502 1/1 624 487 289,000 270,000 $433
ONE TEQUESTA POINT 902 1/1 780 93 289,900 250,000 $321
THE MARK ON BRICKELL 2809 2/2 1140 11 294,900 308,000 $270
ONE MIAMI EAST CONDO 3503 1/1 868 51 299,000 322,910 $372
ISOLA CONDOMINIUM 1103 2/2 968 1 299,000 290,000 $300
500 BRICKELL EAST 3103 1/1 754 66 300,000 275,000 $365
One Miami 3414 2/2 1105 12 308,880 310,000 $281
The Club at Brickell Bay 2523 2/2 1105 123 310,000 303,000 $274
BRICKELL ON THE RIVER 508 2/2 1402 298 325,000 295,000 $210
THE IVY 2314 2/2 1172 33 329,999 285,000 $243
Skyline on Brickell Condo 2903 1/1 791 21 330,000 310,000 $392
500 BRICKELL 1503 2/2 1239 260 349,500 349,500 $282
Icon Brickell Condo 4204 1/1 726 528 365,000 362,000 $499
The Mark 2601 2/2 1200 180 365,000 360,000 $300
500 BRICKELL WEST 1810 2/2 1200 440 369,900 334,000 $278
COSTA BELLA 1801 2/2 1249 70 375,000 360,000 $288
COURVIOSIER COURTS 304 3/3 1656 15 375,400 370,000 $223
MET 1 T-2906 2/2 1005 150 399,000 385,000 $383
One Miami 323 3/2 1792 49 412,000 416,555 $232
THE PLAZA ON BRICKELL 1411 2/2 1395 31 414,900 414,900 $297
Brickel Key II 320 2/2 1500 78 425,000 395,000 $263
Carbonell 3101 1/1 1031 174 429,000 399,000 $387
Icon Brickell Viceroy 4801 1/1 898 58 439,000 425,000 $473
The Plaza 2604 2/2 1101 47 440,000 400,000 $363
THE MARK ON BRICKELL 2204 3/2 1510 23 449,000 425,000 $281
One Miami 4212 3/2 1416 11 450,000 430,000 $304
THE PLAZA ON BRICKELL 2104 2/2 1120 6 450,000 420,000 $375
EMERALD AT BRICKELL 1905 2/2 1264 93 459,000 420,000 $332
BRICKELL KEY ONE A704 3/3 2001 129 575,000 570,000 $285
ONE MIAMI EAST 4109 3/2 1792 45 629,000 610,000 $340
ONE TEQUESTA POINT 1208 3/2 1640 29 720,000 710,000 $433
ICON BRICKELL TWO 3605 2/2 1450 20 725,000 690,000 $476
CARBONELL CONDO 3305 2/2 1505 1 870,000 860,000 $571
EPIC 4203 2/2 1372 78 875,000 850,000 $620
THE JADE 901 2/2 1878 145 889,000 832,500 $443
FOUR SEASONS RESIDENCES 49A 2/2 1808 129 1,150,000 1,000,000 $553
THREE TEQUESTA 2506 3/3 2293 94 1,189,000 1,100,000 $480
Three Tequesta Point 1801 3/2 2353 259 1,249,000 1,000,000 $425
JADE RESIDENCES 3007 3/3 2130 20 1,364,900 1,300,000 $610
JADE RESIDENCES AT BRICKE 4211 4/4 3415 78 1,997,900 1,899,000 $556

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