Almost 800 Canadians will be at the Florida Homebuyers Seminar hosted by FHFC (Florida Home Finders of Canada) in Toronto tonight. The seminar will show Canadian’s the many issues involved with the purchase of South Florida and Miami beach real estate and why there has never been a better time for then to do so.
Canadians aren’t the only foreign buyers racing to Florida to buy up Miami condos and other Miami Beach properties. Brazilian buyers and French buyers encourage by rock-bottom are buying up Miami condos as well. Luxury Miami condos and Miami Beach real estate properties are again popular among Latin America buyers who purchase them as investments but also as a second home for when their children go to school here. Other international, especially in countries where the currency is strong against the dollar, are flocking to South Florida too.
Jenny Huertas, international sales director for Condo Vultures, estimates that three out of five buyers in the Greater Downtown market are coming from abroad and buying Miami condo. Developers lowering prices on new Miami condos and Miami Beach real estate properties to below what it cost to build is setting off this buying frenzy.
Most of the foreign buyers are paying cash. An example, one Frenchman has bought 47 properties since January for a real estate firm in France and one in Switzerland. They plan to buy, if necessary fix it up, rent out for the next five years, and then sell for a profit.
The Frenchman has already made a paper profit on a unit at the Marquis Residences, a 67-story luxury tower in downtown Miami where prices for a one-bedroom apartment start at $375,000. His unit cost $317 per square foot. Prices at the Marquis Residences are now around $400 per square foot.
Down from its high of more than $1.60 in 2008, the Euro is now worth $1.23, and might cool things off a little. To buy a $1 million condo, it now takes around 814,000 euros compared to 625,000 euros under the old exchange rate.
Most of the foreign buyers are from Europe, Latin America, mostly from Argentineans, Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela and Canada. However, there are a few Chinese investors and African buyers also are starting to buy Miami Beach real estate.
Artech, 237 units building in Aventura, 11 condos were sold to Chinese investors. Units in the building are selling for almost half of the original asking price.
A number of local brokerages have country specialists on staff who works with their team abroad to bring in buyers.
Brazilians find Miami Beach real estate attractive because the prices of Miami condos are so low, the Brazilian currency is strong, the Brazilian economy is healthy and real estate prices have risen in cities like Sao Paulo, where a luxury property might cost $800 to $1,000 per square foot.
Contributed by MLR Realty
Home