In 1963, Alexander Muss arrived in Miami Beach with his wife, two daughters and a son. He was a member of a respected family of builders. Alex understood his craft, enjoyed its nature and rejected any materials but the best and any construction that was not up to his standards, fortunately.

Alexander Muss turned his eyes south to the sand and sun of Miami Beach an area at that time with no condominiums and very few apartments on the ocean. His construction took into account not only excessive heat, humidity, salt air, sudden squalls and hurricanes; but, also what the future would hold for this then sleepy, tropical area with its soft ocean breezes; year round golf; sailing and the ultimate necessity – lots of land just waiting for people like Alexander Muss to arrive.

Today, six buildings stand in his honor: the west bldg. (5600 Collins Avenue); the tower house (5500 Collins Avenue – Miami Beach's first condominium and our home); seacoast north (the Alexander hotel & condominiums – 5225 Collins Avenue); seacoast east (5151 Collins Avenue); seacoast south (5101 Collins Avenue) and seacoast 5700.

Alex was large, engaging, and slightly rough around the edges and a fine businessman and a teddy bear to his friends. His belief that each building should last many years resulted in 12” concrete block construction giving grey hair to any plumber needing to access between and into walls for repair and bearing walls between apartments. They also keep conversations inside the apartments and make it difficult to carry conversations from room to room.

Primarily, he built with and for the best materials and tenants alike. Most buildings built in the last 30 years in South Florida are put together w/spit while building codes on Miami Beach have become stricter each year. Not one builder has or will give you the quality of the above named buildings.

Today we are approaching the 41-year birthday of the building, the tower house. The structure that they created for us is a celebration we should all toast to Alex Muss and the knowledge that with the proper TLC (tender loving care) she will outlive the 21st century!

 

 

South Florida July home sales surge to ’05 heights

Courtesy of therealdeal.com

Single-family home sales are surging in South Florida to heights unseen since the last boom and bust cycle that ended in collapse five years ago.
In Miami-Dade County, sales of single-family homes soared 27.3 percent in July to 1,227 sales compared to 964 sales in July of last year. Condo sales rose 13.4 percent, up from 1,356 in July 2012 to 1,538 last month.
“The Miami real estate market continues to thrive as demand for housing intensifies and increasing inventory remains insufficient,” Miami Association of Realtors board chairman Natascha Tello said in a release.
In Broward County, there were 1,475 home sales, a 13 percent increase from July 2012, while Palm Beach County saw a 21 percent gain in sales activity in July, from 1,233 to 1,486 sales.
Across Florida, home sales totaled 21,238 last month, up 21 percent from a year ago, according to the Orlando-based Florida Realtors association. — Emily Schmall

 

Foreign Buyers Drive Florida's Housing Recovery

Foreign Buyers Drive Florida's Housing Recovery

By Toluse Olorunnipa

Courtesy of Businessweek.com

 

August 22, 2013

Bottom of Form

Nicole Kenaston’s dreams of owning a home in Miami keep getting dashed. The 32-year-old federal government worker says she’s bid on at least five houses in the past three years and each time lost out to an overseas buyer paying cash. “I’ll find a place I like and can get financing for, and the all-cash buyers will come in and pay above market for it,” says Kenaston. “It’s heartbreaking.”

Foreign investment in Florida real estate—a perennial favorite for Canadian snowbirds and wealthy South Americans—has been on a tear since the end of the recession, according to a March report by the National Association of Realtors. Overseas home buyers accounted for 7.3 percent of statewide residential sales by dollar amount in 2007; the figure climbed to 19 percent in the 12 months ended June 2012, the most recent data available. Florida accounted for a quarter of all U.S. residential real estate sales to foreigners during that period, the highest level nationwide. “It feels like 2003 in South Florida,” says Peter Zalewski, owner of Condo Vultures, a brokerage and consulting firm based in Miami, looking back to the early days of the state’s  housing boom.

Buyers from overseas have spent $50 billion-plus on more than 250,000 properties in Florida since 2009, the Realtors’ data show. Daniel Arguelles, 33, a stockbroker in Bogota, has bought three houses in the Miami area over the same period. “You have cheap prices, a cheap dollar, and low interest rates. And that’s a scenario that you haven’t seen in about 50 years,” he says. Arguelles, like many international buyers, is renting out his properties. Others are using them as vacation homes.

While Arizona and Nevada are also drawing foreign buyers, the economic impact has been greatest in Florida, the state with the highest foreclosure rate in the nation. In the 10 South and Central Florida counties that have had the largest influx of international cash since 2010, property-tax assessments have risen by an average of 4.1 percent this year, according to state records. That’s almost twice as fast as the rest of the state. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who is struggling to plug a $50 million budget gap, traveled to Spain and France this year to lure home buyers from those countries.

The influx of foreign money has boosted demand and helped push up prices, sparking bidding wars, according to real estate agents and buyers. South Florida home prices were up 14 percent in May from a year earlier, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller real estate index—though they remain about 40 percent below the 2006 peak. Kenaston reports that in one Miami neighborhood where she’s been looking, prices for a three-bedroom, single-family home have risen to $250,000 from $180,000 three years ago.

Developers have seized on the trend and are proposing to add more than 20,000 condos in more than 150 new buildings across South Florida. “We do expect construction [in Florida] to pick up in 2014 and 2015, related to stronger international demand and more domestic demand,” says Chris Lafakis, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics .

In Sunny Isles Beach, a city of 21,000 north of Miami where home values jumped 10.2 percent this year, Mayor Norman Edelcup says he is preparing for his city’s $6.9 billion property-tax base to double by 2018 after the completion of eight planned luxury condominium towers. He says some of the extra revenue will go toward new parks, expanding a school, and saving for costs associated with the next hurricane. One of the projects under construction is Porsche Design Tower Miami, a 57-story building equipped with a car elevator that will transport unit owners’ vehicles right into their apartments. Prices start at $4.9 million and top out at $32 million. “It’s all been attributable to the foreign buyer,” says Edelcup. “We’ve tried to market ourselves as Florida’s Riviera. It’s certainly been a boon to our tax base.”

The bottom line: Overseas buyers accounted for 19 percent of residential sales in Florida at last count, up from 7.3 percent in 2007.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-08-22/foreign-buyers-drive-floridas-housing-recovery

Miami Housing Demand Soars

 

courtsey of Property Wire

 

 

Miami remains a hotbed of real estate activity and now the Miami Association of Realtors reports that demand is increasing as supply in the city dwindles. Both domestic and international buyers are driving the market for homes in all price ranges above $100,000, and have been doing so since before the recovery took hold two years ago. If performance continues on its current track, this will be another record-breaking year a town that at one time faced one of the hardest struggles in the nation during the housing recession. For more on this continue reading the following article from Property Wire.

The Miami real estate market continues to strengthen as a result of record demand, fuelled by both domestic and international buyers and investors.
According to the latest analysis from the Miami Association of Realtors increased supply remains insufficient to satisfy demand, especially for lower priced properties.
Second quarter active listings in Miami-Dade County totalled 13,151 and at the current sales pace, this reflects 4.9 months of inventory for single family homes and 5.8 for condominiums.
Months supply of inventory declined 15.9% for single family homes and increased 2.6% for condominiums compared to the second quarter of 2012.
‘The Miami real estate market continues to attract significant demand from both domestic and international buyers and investors,’ said Natascha Tello, chairman of the board of the Miami Association of Realtors.
‘Second quarter statistics reflect a strengthening market with limited supply, surging sales, and a majority of cash transactions, mostly as a result of the presence of foreign buyers in Miami from worldwide markets,’ she added.
In the second quarter, inventory of single family homes decreased 3.1% with the greatest percentage decreases occurring for properties listed under $200,000.
In Miami-Dade, condominium inventory increased 2.6% in the second quarter. For condos only inventory listed below $200,000 decreased, with properties listed below $50,000 declining a significant 63.5% and listings between $50,000 and $100,000 decreasing 37.6%.
In the second quarter, the median sales price for condominiums in Miami-Dade County was $180,000, an increase of 18.4% year on year and 11% compared to the previous quarter. The median sales price for single family homes rose 21% to $205,650 in the second quarter compared to the second quarter of 2012, and 9.4% compared to the first quarter of 2013.
Year on year, the average sales prices for single family homes and condominiums increased 14.2% to $446,289 and 14.9% to $352,246, respectively, the data also shows.
Following two consecutive record-breaking years, the Miami real estate market appears to be headed towards another record year. Miami-Dade residential sales, including existing single family homes and condominiums, increased by 13.6% in the second quarter, from 7,228 to 8,214, compared to a year earlier and 27.2% compared to the previous quarter.
In the second quarter, Miami sales of existing single family homes increased 19.5% compared to a year earlier. The sales of existing condominiums increased 8.9% compared to the second quarter of 2012.
‘We are experiencing robust sales activity throughout Miami-Dade County and in all price ranges except for properties listed under $100,000,’ said Fernando Martinez, residential president of the Miami Association of Realtors.
‘The low end of the market is seeing decreased sales due to a depletion of inventory. As our prices recover, we are also seeing fewer new listings in the lowest price points. In this seller’s market, properties that are priced right are selling very rapidly and generating multiple offers,’ he added.
In the second quarter, 62.6% of all closed sales were all cash compared to 65% a year ago. All cash sales were 44.7% of single family home closings and 75.8% of all condominium sales. Since nearly 90% of foreign buyers pay cash, this reflects Miami’s position as a top market for foreign buyers.

read article in its entirety:
http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/miami-housing-demand-soars-61021.aspx
 

Florida’s Rebound Powered by Foreigners’

 

By Toluse Olorunnipa - Aug 15, 2013 12:00 AM ET

Courtesy of Bloomberg

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-15/florida-s-rebound-powered-by-foreigners-money-in-housing.html

 

Record foreign investment in Floridahousing over the last three years is boosting property-tax revenue in the localities hardest hit by the recession.
In the 10 Florida counties that have had the largest influx of international cash since 2010, property-tax assessments have risen by an average of 4.1 percent this year, according to state records. That’s nearly twice as fast as the rest of the state.

“It’s all been attributable to the foreign buyer,” Norman Edelcup, mayor of Sunny Isles Beach, a city of 21,000 north of Miami where values jumped 10.2 percent this year, boosting tax revenue.
The purchases are helping localities in south and central Florida recover from the 18-month recession, which ended in June 2009 and left the state with the second-highest foreclosure rate, behind Nevada, depressing prices and tax revenue.
Even with the buying, prices in most parts of the state haven’t returned to pre-recession levels. In the metropolitan areas of Miami and Tampa, prices are about 40 percent below the 2006 peak, according to a S&P/Case-Shiller housing report released July 30.
Foreign investment in Florida residential property has been rising since the end of the recession, according to a March report by the Washington-based National Association of Realtors.

Increasing Sales

In 2007, overseas buyers accounted for 7.3 percent of statewide residential sales by dollar amount. The portion has since risen to 19 percent for the 12 months ending in June 2012, the most recent data available. Florida accounts for a quarter of all U.S. residential real-estate sales to foreigners during that period, the biggest portion of any state, the report found.
The investors, many from South America and Europe, helped Florida’s property-tax base expand this year for the first time since 2007, said county property appraisers, real estate agents and local officials.
While localities in other parts of the country are benefiting, including Phoenix and Las Vegas, the impact has been greatest in Florida.
Buyers from overseas have purchased more than 250,000 properties in Florida since 2009, spending more than $50 billion, the Realtors’ data show. Buyers from abroad are purchasing property as vacation homes and to rent.

Bidding Wars

The influx has boosted demand and helped push up prices, sparking bidding wars, according to real estate agents and buyers. South Florida home prices were up 14 percent in May from a year earlier, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller real-estateindex. Property-tax collections typically lag behind home-price gains by at least a year.
Developers are rushing to meet the demand of international investors, proposing more than 20,000 condos in more than 150 new buildings in South Florida.
That construction may add billions of new dollars to the property tax rolls of local governments, which had an influx of tax dollars during the last building boom followed by a drop when the recession hit.
“It feels like 2003 in South Florida,” said Peter Zalewski, owner of Condo Vultures LLC, a brokerage and consulting firm based in Miami. “Once domestic buyers move back into the marketplace, then the boom is on.”

‘Cheap Prices’

Chris Lafakis, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics Inc. in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said Florida’s developers -- and local governments -- anticipate even more foreign money.
“We do expect construction to pick up in 2014 and 2015, related to stronger international demand and more domestic demand,” he said.
Daniel Arguelles, 33, a stockbroker in Bogota, said he bought three houses in the Miami area since 2009, having been attracted by depressed prices. He uses them as rentals.
“You have cheap prices, a cheap dollar and low interest rates,” he said in a telephone interview from Bogota. “And that’s a scenario that you haven’t seen in about 50 years.”
Prospective buyers say they aren’t happy about added competition.
Nicole Kenaston, 32, said she has been trying to purchase a house in Miami for the last three years, making offers on at least five. Each time she’s made an offer, a foreign investor has outbid her, paying cash, she said.
“I’ll find a place I like and can get financing for,” she said. “And the all-cash buyers will come in and pay above market for it.”

‘Heartbreaking’ Experience

In one neighborhood where she’s been looking, prices have risen to $250,000 from $180,000 three years ago, Kenaston said.
“It’s heartbreaking,” she said.
The recovery in property-tax revenue is helping debt of the state and its localities beat the broader $3.7 trillion municipal-bond market this year through Aug. 13, according toStandard & Poor’s index data.
Florida debt lost 3.47 percent for the period, against 4.1 percent for the market this year. Last year, Florida was up 8 percent against 7.4 percent for the market. Since trailing the market during the recession, Florida state and local securities have beaten the broad market in three of the following four years, according to S&P, and are on pace to repeat that in 2013.
In Miami-Dade County, Florida’s largest, elected officials are trying to plug a $50 million budget hole, even with a 3.4 percent gain in assessed-property values this year. The mayor quickly scrapped a proposal to raise taxes last month after public outcry. County commissioners are considering shutting libraries and dismissing firefighters.

Luring Buyers

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, 59, traveled to Spain andFrance this year and tried to lure homebuyers from those countries.
Edelcup, 78, the Sunny Isles Beach mayor, said he is preparing for his city’s $6.9 billion property-tax base to double after the completion of eight planned luxury condominium towers. He said some of the extra revenue will go toward new parks, expanding a school and saving for costs associated with the next hurricane.
One of the projects under construction in Sunny Isles Beach is Porsche Design Tower Miami, a 57-story building with a car elevator and prices ranging from $4.9 million to $32 million. It may add hundreds of millions of dollars in taxable property.
“We’re blessed to have two and a half miles of coastline,” Edelcup said. “We’ve tried to market ourselves as Florida’s Riviera. It’s certainly been a boon to our tax base.”