So what’s happening this year with luxury homes in Miami Beach? Well today we have 77 homes on the market above $5M with 11 closed sales above $5M so far this year. The areas I’m covering are South to North include Fisher Island to Golden Beach and only West enough to include the Venetian Islands, plus Star, Palm & Hibiscus Islands. What I plan to do with this blog post is to go over statistics, trends and show you what’s in demand along our beautiful islands and waterways.

In review of homes that have already sold ‘year to date’, we see 11 sales ranging from $5.5M to a record 2008 sale (April 15th) at $13,100,000on the prestigious North Bay Road at 50th. It was on the market for 234 days and sold at only 69% of list price (Asking Price $18.9M).

In review of these luxury waterfront homes that have sold above $5M we find an average square footage at 7,381(sf), an average list price of $9.471M, an average price per square foot of $1,310(psf), an average selling price of $7.750M, an average selling price per square foot of $1,091(psf), an average Sale Price to List Price at 83.37% and average days on market at 273(DOM).

In review of these luxury waterfront homes active available above $5M we find an average square footage at 8,362(sf), an average list price of $11,610M and an average price per square foot of $1,372(psf). If we were to correlate the average selling price per square foot on the recent 11 sales ($1,091psf), we find a $281 per square foot difference on asking price vs. selling prices.I use Sale Price to List Price and Days on Market as valuable indicators for gauging real estate market improvement. As we see sale price to list price ratio increasing (SP/LP), we should notice an improvement in our luxury waterfront real estate market. (continue reading…)

The NY Times called me in early February writing an article on the Venetian Islands. The article went out last Friday March 28th and since this interview, there have been 5 closed sales this year along with 5 additionally under contract (Congrat’s Todd!). Another important difference is there are now 43 homes for sale on the Venetian Islands. The luxury home market is not suffering as the media would like to portray. This is a highly desirable location with views of the open Biscayne Bay and Downtown Miami which are inspirational and picture perfect. There are pedestrian friendly paths along the bay and each Island (Rivo Alto, Dilido, San Marino Island & San Marco), are centered between Miami Beach (Lincoln Road) and Downtown Miami.

“Sales will be stagnant much of this year,” predicted Ashton Coleman, a mortgage broker and real estate agent in Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Of over 50 homes on the Venetians listed for sale, only two have sold within the last three months, he said, one for $2.7 million and the other for $1.3 million. The 50 do not include a handful of private sales, not in his listings. But limited inventories have created a demand at the ultra-high end, Mr. Coleman noted.

I am not an agent in Fort Lauderdale. My comments were taken out of context as condo sales will be stagnant while Miami Beach homes for sale on the water will perform better than the condo market. What is this last part? “Limited inventories have created a demand“…if there are 50 for sale and 2 closed, this makes no sense. This was made up by the author for additional content although I appreciate any authors inquiries. The best homes are indeed selling as we see each month.

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