Developers have boosted sales for downtown
Miami condos by cutting prices in a race to pay off lenders
Around April, renters at 500 Brickell, one of mant downtown Miami condos, had the run of the extensive twin tower luxury complex including the pool, the gym, the spa and other amenities with relatively few neighbors.
All that changed in just a few short months.
The developer that rented the unsold unit to Marock, the Related Group, closed its on-site leasing office because nearly all of the =apartments had been rented. The remaining were put back into the pool of downtown Miami condos for sale, but that stock is also quickly evaporating.
A new wave of investors and home buyers have been pouring into downtown Miami condos market and buying up half-priced condos, over the past several months. In fact, several buildings in Brickell are either sold out or close to it.
Peter Zalewski, a principal of the Condo Vultures brokerage said, ``It's definitely a mini-boom,''. ``In the mentality and psychology, there are a lot of the same characteristics you saw during the run up.'' The differences is that there are no increasing prices and the investors, which are mainly foreign nationals, are paying in cash and are willing to rent or hold the units until the market recovers.
It could be at least three years away or more because of the oversupply of condos and hundreds, if not thousands, of pending condo foreclosures, analysist say.
Since June, More than 160 units have sold in the 500 Brickell building since June, according to Alicia Cervera Lamadrid, president of Related Cervera Realty Services.
The dramatic price reductions by builders are behind the new burst of sales activity, especially those who have been stuck with hundreds of unsold units in projects that were delivered after the market crashed in 2007.
Their problems in a way have mirrored those of thousands of South Florida homeowners stuck in properties worth less than the mortgages owed against them.
Contributed by MLR Realty
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