January 09 Real Estate Market Reports for Miami Shores, Bay Harbor Islands, Surfside, Fisher Island, Aventura, Biscayne Park and El Portal

This is a Miami Real Estate Market Report for January 2009 – everyone asks the same question:  Have we hit bottom yet?  Will it keep getting worse?  Here’s my opinion and is based on what I see on a daily basis.  We are seeing less foreclosures and we are seeing less inventory – that is clearly a positive sign.  There are some neighborhoods that will continue to see a decrease in prices, but we are seeing others that are on the way up already.  Numbers don’t lie so if you are waiting for a deal, I would hate for you to be disappointed in a few months because your dream property sold or because prices started going up.  One thing I cannot stress enough, do  not assume that all sellers are desperate!  Sellers today, for the most part, are more flexible, take advantage of that and work with someone that will be able to negotiate a great deal for you.  Yes you can still get steals, mostly in the start up market between $200,000 and $500,000 – but most of these will require a lot of work and will be fixer-uppers.

I do these real estate market reports on a monthly basis, feel free to check back to see the change – or e-mail me if you want us to analyze any particular figures or cities we don’t cover here.

Miami Shores Real Estate Market Report

There are currently 166 listings in Miami Shores:
(23 less than in December)

• Highest priced listing is $3.5 million (bayfront home located at 1680 NE 104th Street)
• Lowest priced listing is $99,900 (bank-owned located at 89 NW 110th St.)
• Pending Sales (Properties under contract):24 (7 more than December)
• Closed sales in January: 6 (all of them $600,000 and under)

Let’s see if the Miami Shores Luxury Market picks up in 2009 since there were no sales above $1 million in 2008.

One of the sales from January was a property located at 537 NE 96th Street which was on the market, as a relocation property, since September of 2006 (over 2 years!), started at $950,000, was under contract 5 times and sold for $455,000. OUCH!!

Bay Harbor Islands Real Estate Market Report

There are currently 27 single-family home listings in Bay Harbor Islands: (2 less than in December)

• Highest priced listings are for $5,200,000 (9530 W. Broadview Drive – listed since March of 08 and 10200 W. Broadview Drive listed since January or 07)
• Lowest priced listing is $499,000 (9970 E. Bay Harbor Drive – Villa – listed since Feb. 07 – starting price of $659,000)
• Pending Sales (properties under contract):1
• Closed sales in January: 0

What is going on with the Bay Harbor Islands Real Estate Market ? With only 2 sales in 2008 it is not moving AT ALL!  The sales last year were:  E. Broadview Drive which closed for $1,543,500 on May 30 and 1251 98th Street which closed for $642,000 on August 15th.

Surfside Real Estate Market Report

There are currently 73 single-family home listings in Surfside: (3 less than December)

• Highest priced listing is $6,900,000 (this one makes me smile because it is a hotel listed as a single-family residence with 24 bedrooms – located at 9578 Collins Avenue).
• The next highest Priced listing that is actually a single-family home is $6,290,000 (Bayfront 5 bedroom/ 4 bathroom home at 1249 Biscaya Drive)
• Lowest priced listing is $274,000 for a short-sale at 9156 Harding Avenue
• Pending Sales (properties under contract): 4
• Closed sales in January: 2 (one for $330,000 and the other for $300,000)

Surfside Homes inventory consists of a lot of fixer-uppers!  One thing we tell all our Surfside buyers is to do in-depth inspections by a reputable inspection company….we’ve seen a lot of homes with spalling and structural issues – nothing that cannot be resolved, but it’s important to know what you are getting into.

There are currently 193 condo listings in Surfside: (6 less than December)

• Highest priced listing: $2,525,000 a 3/3 at Azure

• Lowest priced listing: $147,500 a 1/1 at Hillcrest By The Sea
  

• Pending Sales (properties under contract):16

• Closed sales in January: 4  (all under $550,000)

Surfside Condo inventory has been decreasing slowly but surely.  Richard Meier’s Beach House project was canceled and some other projects on stand-by.  One great thing is that the St. Regis Bal Harbour is in the process of being built and sales there are very strong…. one of the best Miami Beach Luxury Condo Projects around.

Fisher Island Real Estate Market Report

There are currently 159 listings in Fisher Island: (3 less than December)

• Highest priced listing: $30,000,000 for an exclusive Oceanside 5/5.5 home with artwork and all!
• Lowest priced listing: $335,000 for a 1/1 at Marina Village
• Pending Sales: 2
• Closed sales in January : 3 (Villa del Mare 7255 for $3,400,000 – Bayview at Fisher Island 5024 for $2,500,000 – and Oceanside 7631 for $2,625,000)

Fisher Island defeats all odds and people refuse to include it in “normal” market report statistics for Miami Real Estate.  The truth is that people are willing to pay for exclusivity and the Miami Beach Luxury Real Estate Market has not been impacted as the rest of the country claims.

Aventura Real Estate Market Report

There are currently 1919 condo listings in Aventura: (143 less than December)

• Highest priced listing: $6,000,000 for a 4/6 at Porto Vita
• Lowest priced listing: $12,000 for a covered parking space at The Venture
  
• Pending sales: 203 (19 more than December)
• Closed sales in January: 51

The highest closed sale in January was at 6000 Williams Island for $1,325,000 and the lowest was for $87,000 for a 1 bedroom / 1 bathroom residence at Biscayne Cove.

Our South American clients love Aventura Real Estate because of the shopping!!  Although the proximity to the beach and airports doesn’t hurt either.

Biscayne Park Real Estate Market Report

There are currently 40 single-family listings in Biscayne Park: (2 less than December)

• Highest priced listing $699,000 (11500 Griffing Blvd – a canal front home listed for $735,000 on October of this year)
• Lowest priced listing $195,000 (11320 NE 10 Ave – fixer-upper listed since August 2007 for $385,000 *they just raised the price $15,000*)
• Pending sales (properties under contract):5
• Closed sales in January: 1 (for the property located at 12002 NE 8th Avenue – sold for $165,000 and had been listed since March 2007 starting at $475,000)

Biscayne Park Real Estate is still very desirable for first time home owners and there are some hidden gems with spectacular lots in there.  In addition to being a bird sanctuary and being centrally located, it has its own police department which is always a plus.

El Portal Real Estate Market Report

There are 42 listings in El Portal: (5 less than last month)

• Highest priced listing is $549,000 (69 NE 87 St – listed since August 06, started at $749,900)
• Lowest priced listing $171,000 (for a short sale at 380 NE 87 Street)
• Pending sales (properties under contract):11 (3 more than last month)
• Closed sales in January: 2 (150 NE 87th Street sold for $263,790 and 173 NE 90th Street sold for $180,000)

I’m so glad we are starting to see movement in El Portal Real Estate in the past few months – I still consider El Portal a great place to live, also a fabulous option for first time home buyers and you cannot beat the location.

**all information obtained from the SouthEast Florida Multiple Listing Service**