January 21, 2013
Last year we saw the beginning of the housing market recovery with the sale of many luxury oceanfront properties from Miami Beach to Palm Beach. This year we are seeing buyers out earlier than usual searching real estate listings online and then going out and making purchases.
“I’m seeing twice as many buyers this January as last January,” Joe Petrowsky, president of Right Trac Financing Group, a mortgage company near Hartford, Conn. said in an interview. “People have finally figured out that prices are moving up, interest rates are really low, and they don’t want to miss out on the opportunity.”
A recent survey of 1,002 adults in December by Fannie Mae, the government-backed mortgage investor, found that the highest number of consumers in the survey believe home prices will rise this year, forty-three percent expect mortgage rates to jump and forty nine percent believe the cost of renting will also rise.
Roll all this together, says Doug Duncan, Fannie’s chief economist, and you can see why consumer sentiment “could incentivize those waiting on the sidelines … to buy a home sooner rather than later” — pushing spring behavior into mid-winter.
Things are definitely looking up for the luxury real estate market this year. The buyers are out and ready, which makes this a great time to list your luxury property.
The housing recovery is here and it cannot be stopped, only moderated, Robert Curran, managing director and lead homebuilding analyst at New York-and London-based Fitch Ratings, told Reuters. Curran is joining an ever-larger chorus of experts predicting the both home price and home sales will rise this year, providing that no unforeseen economic disaster strikes.
“Last year was clearly an up year for the major housing macros, a lot of things came together very nicely and we have come off of a very low low,” Curran said. “I don’t think there are major risks to the recovery. There are issues that could moderate the level the further recovery that we are experiencing in 2013. But short of a meaningful economic recession, I think we are still intact.”
Source: The Real Deal
January 11, 2013
Luxury waterfront real estate Inventory in Miami has been dwindling down to almost nothing due to the condo buying frenzy that took place last year. Real estate developers have been proposing one new waterfront condo tower project after another hoping to replenish the condo market and ride this new wave of luxury buyers. Each new condo design is chic with all the latest gadgets and modern floorplans for buyers with exquisite taste.
The latest condo tower project to hit North Miami is the Marina Palms Club & Residences. Two luxury waterfront condominium towers will be located on a 14-acre site at 172nd street and Biscayne Boulevard. The buildings will include 468 residences, a marina and yacht club with one million square feet of residential space.
The new Paramount Bay, a luxurious condominium tower located on the bay has almost sold out. About 90 percent of the condo inventory has been sold with only 28 unites are left.
Over the past year many waterfront condos have been purchased by foreigners, but in this case 50 percent of Paramount Bay condos have been bought by U.S. citizens with about one third of those buyers located in Florida.
