January 2010 Real Estate Market Reports for Miami Shores, Bay Harbor Islands, Surfside, Fisher Island and Aventura

This is a Miami Real Estate Market Report for January 2010 – Good overall feeling for this year.  Although many expect a collapse, you can see an obvious decrease in inventory and increase in sales which can only mean good news.  If you study areas with a large number of pending contracts, the majority of those contracts are short sales which take a while to close. (Hoping to see some new laws soon to limit the response time from banks on these).

Distressed inventory in all of these areas is decreasing and sellers are gaining confidence.  It doesn’t hurt that most are pricing their properties correctly and those are the ones that sell quickly.  Sellers need to be realistic and base their prices on closed sales, not imaginary numbers born from emotional attachment to their homes.

All of the numbers are a good reflection for 2010 – let’s just wait and see.

Miami Shores Real Estate Market Report

There are currently 99 Miami Shores homes for sale:
(first time under 100 in a few years!)

• Highest priced listing is $2.699 million (bayfront home located at 1430 NE 101 Street –listed since September 2007 for $3.9 million )
• Lowest priced listing is $189,500 (approved short sale located at 17 NW 107th St)
• Pending Sales (Properties under contract):45 (26 of these are short sales which historically take a long time to close)
• Closed sales in January: 4

The 4 Miami Shores homes sold last month were the following:

• 246 NE 92 Street – listed for $499,000 and selling for $450,000 (listed since September 2009 for $525,000)
• 8890 NE 10th Avenue – listed for $495,000 and selling for $435,000 (Bank Owned property and although listed as Miami Shores, it’s City of Miami)
• 33 NW 93 Street – listed for $319,000 and selling for $310,000 (originally listed for $369,900 in January 2008)
• 1 NW 110th Street  – listed for $258,000 and selling for $235,000 (purchased for $78,000 May 90, Listed for $258,000 October 09 – flipper?)

I did a comprehensive Real Estate Market Report for Miami Shores Homes sold in 2009 – go to: Miami Shores Real Estate Market Report for 2009

Bay Harbor Islands Real Estate Market Report

There are currently 21 Bay Harbor Island Homes for sale:

• Highest priced listings is for $4,950,000 (10200 W Broadview Drive – listed since December of 2008 for $5,200,000)
• 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):3 (1 of them a short sale at 1288 NE 101 Street)
• Closed sales in January: 0

Please note that there were only 6 Bay Harbor Island home sales in 2009 ranging from $570,000 to $3,400,000.  Four of those sales were above $1M which is sort of good news for the Bay Harbor Island Luxury Home Market (I say sort of because there were only 2 sales the whole year in 2008, which means the sales are improving).  There is some new construction in the areas and interesting things happening with the community, this may encourage people to actually want to pay the price to live in the area with the lowest crime rate per capita in South Florida.

Surfside Real Estate Market Report

There are currently 59 Surfside homes for sale:

• Highest priced listing is $4,990,000 (for 7,000 square foot “master peace” **thinking listing agent meant “master piece” – with 100 feet of water frontage – being sold as a short sale).
• Lowest priced listing is $279,000 for the home located at 9133 Froude Ave (short sale in “surdside” –wishing agent would proof read their remarks)
• Pending Sales (properties under contract): 6 (4 of these short sales, one a bank owned property)
• Closed sales in January: 1

The Surfside home sold in January was located at 9381 Abbott Avenue – a 3 bedroom / 2 bathroom, 1,566 square foot home listed for $369,000 and selling for $340,000.  This house had been originally listed for $389,000 in September 2009.

As for 2009 – There were a total of 44 surfside homes sold the whole year, compared to only 32 in 2008.  Slow recovery, but recovery nevertheless.  Things are looking up in Surfside with less distressed home inventory.

There are currently 135 Surfside Condos for sale:

• Highest priced listing: $2,500,000 a 3/3 at Azure Condo unit 707
  

• Lowest priced listing: $64,900 a studio at Seaside Terrace Condo
  

• Pending Sales (properties under contract):28 (15 of these are short sales which historically take some time to close)

• Closed sales in January: 7

The 7 Surfside condo sales in January were the following:

• 9499 Collins Ave #502 – Spiaggia Condo – listed at $440,000 and selling for $440,000 (short sale)
• 8777 Collins Ave #1006 – Champlain Towers South – listed at $329,000 and selling for $230,500
• 9511 Collins Ave #808 – 9500 Oceans Condo – listed for $265,000 and selling for $260,000
• 9499 Collins Ave #606 – Spiaggia Condo – listed at $225,000 and selling for $240,000 (foreclosure)
• 9499 Collins Ave #1011 – Spiaggia Condo – listed for $215,000 and selling for $210,000 (short sale)
• 8816 Collins Ave #206 – Atlantic Rose Condo – listed for $158,700 and selling for $150,000 (foreclosure)
• 9595 Collins Ave #N104 – Solimar Condo – listed for $139,000 and selling for $122,500

Most of the condo sales in Surfside have been distressed sales – something to pay attention to if you are buying – check the building’s financial statements and make sure their condo maintenance fees are being covered and if they have reserves.  Spiaggia is slowly getting rid of its distressed condos which should be a relief for the residents (although price range has been seriously affected).

There were 76 Surfside condo sales in 2009 ranging from $130,000 to $1,500,000 as compared to only 47 sales in 2008.  The surfside condo market reflects the surfside home market which is a good sign for the area.

Fisher Island Real Estate Market Report

There are currently 132 Fisher Island Condos for sale:

• Highest priced listing: $30,000,000 for an exclusive Oceanside 5/5.5 home with artwork and all!
• Lowest priced listing: $190,000 for a studio at Marina Village
• Pending Sales: 8 (3 of these are short sales)
• Closed sales in January: 1

The one single Fisher Island condo sale in the month of January was for the residence at Oceanside at Fisher Island Condo, unit 7241 – a 3 bedroom / 3 bathroom / 1 half-bath, 3,140 square feet listed for $3,100,000 and selling for $2,100,000 (A one million dollar reduction … OUCH!)

There were 32 Fisher Island Condo sales in 2008 ranging in price between $700,000 and $5,457,000 compared to 25 sales in 2008.

Aventura Real Estate Market Report

There are currently 1418 Aventura condos for sale:

• Highest priced listing: $5,300,000 for a 4/6 at Porto Vita
• Lowest priced listing: $53,900 for a 1/1  at Point East Condos (a 55+ community)
  
• Pending sales: 296
• Closed sales in January: 60

Aventura is moving! – with progressively less inventory, more pending sales and more closings – The highest closed sale in January was at Hamptons South, 20201 E Country Club Drive #2409 -3 bedroom/3.5 bathroom unit for $1,000,000 and the lowest was for $62,000 for a  1 bedroom / 1.5 bathroom residence at Biscayne Lake Garden.

There were a total of 1020 Aventura Condos sold in 2009 ranging in price between $50,000 and $2,950,000 (we always say that there is something for everyone in Aventura) – as compared to 824 sales in 2008 – obvious change for the better and expect this to keep improving in 2010.