Forecasts For Miami’s Condo Market In 2008

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By Vanessa Doctor

The conditions in the city of Miami these days have been interesting lately, and despite the predictions of doom, it's a fact that this surely is a gloomy year, but it won't be like that for long, according to analysts.

The conditions in the waterfront condo market are not that stellar, as are most markets, as a lot of buyers continue to wait in the sidelines, looking for prices to considerably fall and are waiting for signs that the market is improving.

An Influx Of Overseas Buyers Is Keeping The Market Afloat

According to local property brokers, the area's condo markets are seeing dramatic increases in the numbers of purchases made by overseas investors, especially by Canadian as well as European buyer, largely because of the weakening of the US dollar, which many note will remain that way well into 2009.

The city's luxury waterfront market has also yielded surprising results for this year. In the first quarter of 2008, there were 289 luxury condo sales from January 1 through today. Around 112 of these sales have closed, while 177 are in the process of closing. These condo units are located in areas such as Miami, Coconut Grove, Miami Beach, Bal Harbour and Sunny Isles

The 112 closed sales were valued at $195,384,000, or about $1,744,500 per unit. According to brokers, the average selling price was pegged at $554.94/sf.

Tips For Condo Buyers In This Area

Seasoned real estate brokers have a few words of advice for buyers in a down market like today. First, prospective buyers should look for condos wherein the seller bought the unit prior to 2004, this is because the seller will have a lot more space to negotiate as compared to someone who purchased it after 2004. Lastly, buyers should carefully observes for price drops, and forget about trying to buy foreclosures, since many analysts see these buys as more thanoften not good deals, because the banks that took over these properties still need to recover their expenses, which will generally reflect in the selling prices.

Miami Condo Market Predictions For 2008

According to South Florida real estate analysts, for 2008 a lot of significant events will take place, which will help to reshape the area's property markets. They forecast home prices to fall by at least another 15 percent, and that individual foreclosures will increase 300 percent from last year, when they already soared.

Around half of all new condo buyers this year will walk away from projects by the time they reach completion, and bankruptcies by developers and lenders will escalate further, to the point that they become common. The analysts also predict that a number of lenders, appraisers, and brokers will be indicted for mortgage fraud this year. Lastly, government moves at bailouts and interest rate cuts will be only temporary stop-gap measures, that will not stop but merely delay the coming recession, which many fear will be declared by the third quarter of the year.

Rehabilitating the housing market and bailing out homeowners in danger of foreclosing their homes has become the major concern of politicians, lenders and regulators. The economic stimulus package approved by Congress earlier this year, could slightly help boost home sales in South Florida's stalled housing market.; however some observers say that it will be of little help for homeowners who are suffering from negative equity and area mired between falling prices and foreclosure. The plan, skeptics say, also won't help lower and middle income homeowners seek help in a depressed market.



Vanessa Arellano Doctor


Miami Beach Condos
Miami Real Estate

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