The wealthy are downsizing and building smaller Miami luxury homes.
While the Miami real estate boom prompted 9,000-square-foot single-family homes and overly grand foyers, the downturn has brought on new Miami luxury homes from builders that are advertising ``opulent, yet efficient,'' and are slightly smaller with less bling.
Toll Brothers, in November, revealed three new cheaper floor plans available at its Wellington View community near Forest Hill Boulevard and Lyons Road.
Kenco Communities on Sunday will give residents of The Oaks at Boca Raton a preview at its post-boom, 4,943-square-foot Verona model.
The Verona, with six bedrooms and a three-car garage, lives up to Kenco's five-star reputation with a cheaper price tag of $1.3 million. Yes, that's the cheap model. Designs from the past few years have been priced between $2.5 million and $5 million.
Ken Endelson, co-founder and chairman of Kenco Communities says,``What happened in 2004, 2005, and 2006, it was all about the bigger the better, that was the mantra.'' ``We started out in 2003 building houses that were 4,700 square feet, 5,500 square feet. Then, three years later, people wanted 6,000 feet plus.''
Florida is not alone in shrinking its Miami luxury homes. Builder’s nationwide; say they are trying to cater to post-recession buyers who still want luxury, but at a discount.
ARCHITECT AND CONSUMER REQUESTS
The National Association of Home Builders released a survey last year and found that nearly 90% of builders are designing smaller Miami homes in response to requests from architects and consumers.
It's probably too early to know how well the designs are faring.
Increasing 23% in October compared with September, new home sales in the South have fluctuated throughout the year, according to U.S. Commerce Department reports.
However, November sales plummeted 21% compared with October.
While the majority of new homes have standard floor plans for first-time buyers, luxury builders have to be more discerning when redesigning. They need to maintain some of its luxury elements.
Toll Brothers' new designs may still have stately columns, but they'll be high-impact foam instead of stone, for example.
Contributed by MLR Realty
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