Miami Life

The city of Miami is a diverse, and thriving metropolitan area in the heart of Miami-Dade County. The city is a major tourism, business and recreational destination.

Although the city, and the state of Florida’s real estate markets as a whole, is experiencing major slowdown as a result of the country’s mortgage and credit market slump, many still have high hopes that the area’s property markets will rebound this year, despite the soaring amounts of foreclosures and large housing inventories.

Buyers And Sellers Are Still Faced With Uncertainties

According to a Miami-Dade housing and economics analyst, both home buyers and sellers are facing a lot ofreservations in determining the appropriate market price for a multifamily homes, and the biggest concern among both sellers and buyers is that no one wants to pay or sell at a bad price, as many are still searching for the right market.

The problem, according to housing market observers, is that conversions and the flood of new homes could turn the rental market upside down this year. Rising competition from unsold and vacant condominiums and single-family homes as well, may have the potential to perpetuate a “shadow market” of inventories, and this may increase vacancy rates in the short term and lead to a flattening of lease rates.

Where Most Of The Troubled Properties Are Located

According to a report by Condo Vultures, a local housing industry analyst, Miami’s downtown district is home to around 30 percent of the distressed, or troubled properties in South Florida,.

The report refers to distressed properties as those that are in the process of foreclosure, and allowed by the bank to be sold for a lower price than that of the amount owed by the borrower/owner, or owned by banks after failing to sell to investors at court-ordered foreclosure auctions. The city’s coastal districts of Brickell Avenue, downtown, the Biscayne Boulevard corridor and the surrounding areas are home to 293 troubled properties, and these include townhomes, condos and single-family homes.

Why Demand For Rental Units Is Still High

According to economists and local property analysts, the demand for rental units in this area is still high, because of job and population growth. South Florida is expected to add 106,000 residents this year, with Palm Beach getting the largest influx at nearly 40,000. The tri-county area is also expected to generate an estimated 35,000 new jobs, with Miami-Dade and Broward counties vying for the most number of new jobs created.

For this year, only 2,000 new apartment units will be added to the South Florida housing market, as compared with the 60,000 that were taken out of the rental pool through conversions last year. The total number of rental units in the shadow and traditional rental markets are still considerably less than South Florida’s rentals four years ago.

Despite these gloomy and sorry housing market figures, realtors are still standing firm and are hopeful. Property values have risen, foreclosures are up, and many homeowners are in distress. Home prices may cool off for some time most say, but are likely to either rise or go back to the norm in the long term.

The good thing is that many property buyers will come from Latin America, investing in second homes and not speculating, as well as wealthy European buyers who are looking for respite from their harsh climates back home. The incoming wave of newly-retiring baby boomers should also help in lifting up the market, and in restoring confidence in a battered, but still standing housing sector.

Vanessa Arellano Doctor
Miami Beach Condos

The current effects of the residential housing slump in Florida today have started to create ripples as well in the commercial real estate sector, but according to research by private sector analysts and academics, this market should remain stable, partly because of the state’s healthy economic climate and the projected increase in in-migration from other states and countries as well.

Recent Study Sees A Better Prospect For The State’s Commercial Real Estate Sector

A recent study on the state’s commercial property market sector, done by the University of Florida’s Bergstrom Center For Real Estate Studies, has indicated a positive outlook for this market, however respondents do expect occupancy rates to fall for office, retail and industrial property, as well as rental rates to drop as well. The study notes that it does not see some lessening of the market, however the prospects are not as gloomy as the news that dominates the residential markets here. Researchers continue to point out that while the state has seen a large number of foreclosure, the numbers generally vary among each county, and the state’s steady economic growth should effectively help it to weather the current property market downturn. According to the study team, there are pessimists who still think that people are quickly going to pack up their bags and flee Florida, however that won’t be the case when the winter season comes, as they won’t be going too far. They also note that as long as more people keep relocating here, the growth will only bring a correction to the market, and it won’t be as gloomy as the outlook in industrial states in the north of the country.

Despite High Prices, Florida Remains A Lucrative Area For Commercial Real Estate

Despite the woes brought about by the housing crunch, the state still is seen as a viable area for commercial real estate investment, whether one looks for commercial property in areas like the northeast, southwest, central Florida, Miami-Dade or Broward counties. According to commercial property market analysts, the key to the survival and success of this industry would be adapting well to present realities, and redevelopment, and developers in Florida have been seen as better adept to adapting to newer environments or ideas, which makes the place a viable location for the commercial property market investors.

The overall commercial property market, despite having solid fundamentals, does see a slowdown from its levels in 2007. Some analysts have noted that capital does not exist, and that banks and other financial institutions have temporarily put a halt to lending for the commercial real estate industry. However, this is not the case, as the slowdown in investment activity has actually more to do with a lack of confidence by investors and lenders, who are still quite jittery about current market conditions, and like most prospective home buyers, are adopting a wait and see approach. Commercial property market observers note that until such time confidence levels return to normal levels, and with lenders willing to take some measured risks, the investment in the state’s commercial real estate market will continue to remain a little bit off last year’s levels, although not for long however.

Vanessa Arellano Doctor
Florida Commercial Real Estate

For businesses who wish to maintain a presence not only in the United States, but also to other regions and markets as well, setting shop in the city of Miami is a wise option. The city of Miami offers excellent opportunities for new and expanding businesses. Miami is a tourism hotbed, as it serves as the port of origin for the vast majority of cruise lines that ply the Caribbean.

It’s also home to numerous companies that do business in Latin America. Whatever your niche, you’re definitely going to discover a potential market in Miami, and South Florida as well.

The City Is One Of The Nation’s Important Financial Centers

Miami is considered as one of the nation’s important financial centers. The city is the major center of regional commerce, and has a strong international business community. According to surveys, Miami is considered a vital link between North and South America, hence it has been called “The Gateway To The Americas”, because of its proximity to Latin America.

The city also serves as the headquarters of many multinational corporations, as this area serves as a base for their Central and Latin American operations. Many top firms, including American Airlines, Cisco, Disney, Exxon, Microsoft, Oracle, SBC Communications, Sony, and Visa International have their regional operations centers here.

Miami Port Is Among The Nation’s Busiest

The Port of Miami is among the nation’s busiest ports of entry, particularly for cargo coming from South America and the Caribbean. The city also serves as the base of operations of many cruise line companies, which ply the routes across the Caribbean, South America and Europe.

In addition, downtown Miami also has the largest concentration of international banks in the country. The city also has the distinction of hosting the 2003 Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations, and is one of the leading candidates to become the trading bloc’s headquarters.

The City Offers Many Incentives To Businesses

The city of Miami, along with Miami-Dade County as well, provides for a number of tax advantages, and other incentives to businesses of all types and sizes. The absence of any local or state personal income taxes helps to lower overall employment costs. The city has no local corporate tax, and the state’s corporate tax rate of 5.5% is among the lowest in the US. Qualified new businesses may also qualify for getting federal benefits when locating their enterprises within the Miami-Dade federal Empowerment Zone.

The city of Miami is known for many things; however one of the most commonly-cited reasons for visiting Miami is its vibrant and diverse nightlife. As compared to other cities, Miami has a thriving nightlife, so the day does not have to end when the beach closes for the night.

There is a wide sampling of dance clubs, theaters, restaurants, fancy cafes and bars that dot the Miami landscape. South Beach in particular is also frequently often cited as having one of the hottest, and most interesting entertainment districts in the country, and has a booming culinary, cultural, sports and recreation, and housing market.

Vanessa Arellano Doctor
Miami Real Estate

The Miami City Commission is expected to approve a controversial $200 million condo and commercial development on public land in the heart of Overtown in what is likely to be a contentious special meeting Wednesday.

The project by Michigan developer Crosswinds, tapped by the city without bids more than three years ago, has been delayed by strenuous opposition from activists and Overtown residents. They say it does little to help mostly poor residents in desperate need of decent housing in the historically black neighborhood.

But opponents’ options for continuing to block the project may be exhausted. They won a lawsuit that succeeded mainly in delaying a final decision by the commission, which voted 4-1 to approve it in October 2006 only to have an appeals court order a new vote.

Even if it is approved, critics question whether the Crosswinds project will actually be built amid a condo glut and a housing industry crisis in which money for construction and mortgages has dried up.

”It seems irresponsible to me that our commissioners would continue supporting building condominiums in this market,” said Denise Perry, executive director of the Overtown activist group Power U Center for Social Change. “Why would we advocate a project for which there is no market at this point?”

The city calls the project a vital spur to Overtown’s revival, and it has won the support of the district commissioner, Michelle Spence-Jones.

Vanessa Arellano Doctor
http://Miamirealestateinc.org

Fort Lauderdale home developer Levitt and Sons won bankruptcy court approval to walk away from about 4,000 residential lots that are collateral on loans from two of its biggest lenders.

The court’s ruling allows Bank of America and KeyBank, if they choose, to begin legal proceedings to get title to the lots, primarily in Central and North Florida. Levitt, the builder best known for building the planned community Levittown in Long Island, N.Y., failed to get more money from the two lenders to finish construction on the lots. The builder’s inability to get financing in the weak housing market contributed to it filing for Chapter 11 on Nov. 9.

Levitt, however, remained hopeful it will work out financing agreements with its other key lenders — Wachovia, Regions Bank and AmTrust. The builder had been part of Levitt Corp., but was split from the parent’s operations at the time of the bankruptcy filing. Tuesday’s ruling means Bank of America and KeyBank can sue to take over the lots through foreclosure. If successful, the banks could sell the lots or have other developers finish construction.

The developer controlled about 2,462 unsold lots in Hernando, Lee and St. Lucie counties that secured loans from KeyBank, according to court papers filed by the builder. Levitt owes the bank about $96 million. Levitt is willing to abandon the lots because the loan amounts exceed their value.

Bank of America, which is owed about $104 million, hasn’t decided whether it will foreclose, said Craig Rasile, a Miami lawyer for the bank.

Vanessa Arellano Doctor
Miami Real Estate / Miami Beach