SkyFive Properties Blog

If you are searching for an amazing waterfront community of homes on South Beach, then you must review your North Bay Road real estate options.  This ultra-hip neighborhood is located just north of the Venetian Islands and Sunset Islands communities along the bay.  The area is a beacon for celebrities that desire palatial estates on ample land with the convenience factor of being minutes away from all of the excitement on South Beach. The homes running along the coveted street are available in a wide array of sizes and styles with the common denominator of incredible lots with views to die for.

North Bay Road real estate is big on the Wow Factor. Some of the mansions in the neighborhood are jaw-dropping in terms of design and overall appeal.  The community as a whole is magnificent, but it isn’t cheap. A stunning 12,500 square foot spec home sold recently sold for $20.5 million, and there is currently another mansion on the market for $40 million.  The high-end of the market for the available properties are certainly impressive, but the lower-end offers a couple of starter homes near the one million dollar range – so the market isn’t completely pricing out everyone. 

South Florida real estate continues to outpace the rest of the United States with new, impressive gains again according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller data.  In comparing prices for Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade county homes in May from the previous year, a remarkable 13.2% rise in values has taken place.  The month-to-month increase from April of this year to May has kept pace with the year-to-year growth, coming in at a 1.2% rise in values.  Further good news was seen in comparing the March to April growth of 1.1% to the April to May growth of 1.2%. Overall, these numbers are revealing that the South Florida real estate market is quite healthy and certainly one of the leading markets in the United States. The Case-Shiller 10-City Composite Index gained 9.4% year-over-year and its 20-City Composite rose 9.3% – giving real estate in South Florida nearly 50% greater gains than the rest of the sample US markets.

Looking into June results, Broward County’s condo market logged in some excellent results with closed sales up 10.1 percent and the median sales price growing 23.8 percent, according to the Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors.  Overall, 70% those transactions were in cash.   Statewide condo prices grew grew at 8.5%, indicating that Broward County condos greatly outpaced the rest of the state and was certainly the leader in all of South Florida real estate.  Sales volume for the balance of the state grew at 3.1%, again reinforcing the strength of the Broward County condo market.

The Miami mansion of billionaire steel magnate Leroy Schecter has sold for a ‘bargain’ price of $28 million. The home, located in Indian Creek Village, was originally purchased back in 2006 for a price of $18.6 million.   Schecter then reportedly spent several million dollars on top-level renovations. Upon the completion of the work, he first placed the Miami mansion on the market for nearly double his purchase price, a sky-high sum of $32 million. (Gotta love how billionaires think).  Since 2008, the asking price of the property has changed several times.

In 2012, a neighboring property that was owned by hedge fund manager, Edward Lampert, was sold for a record price of $40million.  The market was back in a big way, and another incredible property within the community sold for $47 million to a wealthy Russian.  Following this news, Schecter raised the asking price of his Miami mansion up to $45 million. The market didn’t take too kindly to the massive price increase.  After a year of minimal activity, the price was brought back down again to $35 million.  The new price brought back a great deal more activity as the market for ultra-luxury waterfront homes has roared back.

Real Estate in Miami is the ultimate sign of prestige for jetsetters from around the globe.  International money is pouring into luxury condos, pre-construction developments and waterfront mansions at unprecedented historic rates.  When one acre of waterfront real estate in Miami sells for $125 million dollars, you know that the market is surging. Florida is getting a whopping 34% of the $92.2 billion total international investment dollars that are pumping into the United States – with the lions-share of those funds going into the Miami region.

Fashion models are the ultimate personification of the good life.  They appear in our finest magazines, billboards and televisions commercials alongside the most prestigious brands in the world.  They stimulate our  collective imaginations with beauty and creativity – allowing us to project ourselves into their world of glizt and glamour.  More than anywhere else in the world, Miami is the city associated with this dream world of parties and incredibly attractive people. Mercedes Benz Swim Week 2014 is currently here.  The city is alive with beauty and excitement.  With this, a question comes to mind…has the surreal world of fashion modeling impacted real estate in Miami?  Through owning both a modeling agency and real estate business in Miami, I have some interesting answers to that question and more…

Ocean House Miami Beach has a special meaning for me.  Nearly a decade ago, I supervised the pre-construction sales platform for this ultra-luxurious development that sits on the sand in the prestigious South of Fifth neighborhood of Miami Beach.  In the various development meetings, the unit-mix and overall brand identity for the project were discussed at length.  The developer, Michael Samuel, in the end, made the decision to go big.  The name South of Fifth was born for this project, giving tribute to this outstanding up-and-coming area. Later the name was changed for legal reasons to the current name.

Going big meant creating and designing a concept of massive floor plans with the best and most expensive finishes for the condos within the project.  Developers always take a good look at what level of finishes to build for the kitchens and bathrooms and analyze it against construction costs vs projected upside of what the units will sell for.  In this case, we shot for the moon. And now, ten years later, Ocean House Miami Beach is still providing great value at the top of the market with recent sales this year of $3,592 and $3,844 per square foot.  Those numbers are astounding when compared to the condo sales at the Continuum that I have recently discussed.