A wrap-up on trends in high-end real estate in Miami for 2015 suggests that there is still momentum in markets in South Florida.
Even though Miami is considered on par with luxury world locales such as has New York City, London and Hong Kong, Miami’s luxury real estate market remains the most affordable luxury in terms of value.
ONE Sotheby’s International Realty’s end-of-year trend report for 2105, in a nutshell, shows strong price appreciation in both the Miami-Dade and the Broward markets since 2011. In that five-year span, the Miami-Dade market is up 60 to 100 percent and the Broward market is up 20 to 50 percent.
Both of those markets are impacted by slightly different forces, the report said. Miami is heavily influenced, especially in the higher brackets, by foreign buyers. Broward, on the other hand, and especially in the condo market, is more influenced by the strength of the U.S. economy, which is good and is projected to stay that way into 2016.
In the words of the report’s authors, “Miami-Dade has remained the most sought-after, most populous, most active and most expensive county in South Florida, with continued, stable price growth and somewhat even transaction numbers in 2015, compared to 2014.”
Pricing has maintained or bettered 2014 levels in Miami, but transaction volume fell off a little in some property segments, such as $1 million-plus condos and waterfront homes and condos. The report says that in both markets, the $1 million to $5 million segment is stabilizing.
But, as a whole, the majority of Miami-Dade County’s single-family submarkets registered year-over-year gains. Only six single-family submarkets saw price reversals, while 38 submarkets notched gains.
In Broward, five single-family submarkets saw price reversals and 23 submarkets saw year-over-year gains.
Miami condo real estate market trends
In Miami-Dade inventory has increased year-over-year, but the number of transitions has decreased in that same time span.
Miami-Dade’s diverse condominium market has remained fairly resilient to recent macroeconomic fluctuations, particularly at the higher end. Miami is in another major development cycle, particularly in the mainland urban core (Coconut Grove to Midtown/Edgewater) and parts of Miami Beach.
Although the resale condo submarkets didn’t hold up as well as single-family homes did, with 10 condo market declines and 13 markets showing appreciation, the market overall continued to realize price appreciation in most price segments.
The impressive rental rate growth of recent years has led to an increase in new conventional rental product that could moderate future rent increases. However, the conventional rental growth is in response to a growing demand downtown, which is a strong indicator for long-term stability. Price drops for resale condos in the urban core were realized due new construction resulting in more units coming online.
Here again, the report points out that the buying power of foreign investors is influencing this segment as well.
The report calls Broward County’s condominium market “stable” and at “a state of equilibrium.” The total condo market performance (waterfront and non-waterfront) is showing a 53 percent price lift compared to 2011. Both pricing and transaction volume have remained positive. And, that upswing pushed Broward’s total sales activity (6,420) past Miami-Dade’s (6,078).
Most remarkably, in 2015, 225 of Broward’s condo sales closed at more than $1 million. In 2011, 75 sales in that same price bracket were recorded. That’s a 200 percent increase in volume in that price range in five years.
Unlike Miami-Dade, Broward saw significant increases in sales volume for both waterfront and non-waterfront residences, in addition to the luxury market segments.
And as further proof of the strength of that market, ONE Sotheby’s International Realty sold a waterfront residence in Fort Lauderdale’s Harbor Beach for more than $27 million. That deal was not only the highest sale in 2015, but the only sale above $10 million in Broward’s real estate market last year.
