4,300 New Condo Units Remain Unsold From South Florida Boom

Spurred by more than 3,000 new condo sales in 2011, South Florida’s seven largest coastal markets have now sold 91 percent of the nearly 49,000 new units created during the boom that began in 2003, according to CondoVultures.com.

Buyers paid nearly $1.8 billion for more than 4.4 million square feet of livable space between January and December of 2011 in projects located east of Interstate 95 in the coastal markets of Greater Downtown Miami, South Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, Hollywood / Hallandale Beach, Downtown Fort Lauderdale and the Beach, Boca Raton / Deerfield Beach, and Downtown West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Island, according to the report based on the Condo Vultures® Buyers Guide™ eBook series.

With the 2011 developer sales, buyers have now purchased nearly 44,350 condo units for more than $21.8 billion in South Florida’s seven largest coast markets between 2003 and 2011, according to an analysis of Clerk of the Court records from Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.

“South Florida’s supply of new condo product created during the recent boom is on pace to sell out in the first half of 2013,” said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures® LLC. “International investors with strong foreign currencies deserve much of the credit for the strong sales velocity – an average of more than 250 new unit transactions monthly in 2011 – being experienced in South Florida. The unanswered question is whether the foreign buyers will continue to flood into South Florida given the economic dynamics now being experienced in Europe and key Latin American countries such as Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela.”

The total number of unsold new condos does not include any of the more than 8,000 units that were purchased in bulk transactions by investment groups that plan to one day resell the units at a premium, according to the Condo Vultures® Bulk Deals Database™.

In anticipation of the eventual sellout of the new condos created during the boom, developers are already proposing 24 new condo projects with more than 4,500 units in each of the counties of South Florida, according to the Condo Vultures® Preconstruction Condo Projects list.

As of March 6, 2012, at least five new condo towers have already formally initiated construction, according to a recent CondoVultures.com report.

Since the week of Jan. 16, 2012, CondoVultures.com has examined South Florida’s residential condo trends in 2011 in the seven largest coastal condo markets in the tricounty region of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach.

On a weekly basis, the Condo Vultures® Market Intelligence Report™ analyzed new condo sales and pricing in Greater Downtown Miami, South Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, Hollywood / Hallandale Beach, Downtown Fort Lauderdale and the Beach, Boca Raton / Deerfield Beach, and Downtown West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Island.

To read the market-specific new condo sales reports for 2011, please visit the Archives or the Market Intelligence Report™ section of CondoVultures.com.

During the South Florida real estate boom, developers created 148 projects with more than 34,000 units in the three Miami-Dade County markets of Greater Downtown Miami, South Beach, and Sunny Isles Beach.

An additional 68 projects with more than 10,000 units were created in two Broward County markets of Hollywood / Hallandale Beach and Downtown Fort Lauderdale and the Beach.

Developers created 28 projects with nearly 4,500 units in the two Palm Beach County markets of Boca Raton / Deerfield Beach and Downtown West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Island.

In the four decades prior to the boom, developers created nearly 700 condominium projects with 76,500 units in the same seven coastal markets in South Florida, according to a comprehensive study undertaken for the Condo Vultures® Official Condo Buyers Guide™ eBook series.

On a market-by-market basis, Greater Downtown Miami has the distinction of being the single neighborhood with the greatest number of new condos created during the boom with nearly 22,250 units. At the end of 2011, less than 1,750 units remained under the control of the original developers, according to a recent report from CondoVultures.com.

Sunny Isles Beach ranks second with nearly 6,400 new units created during the boom. As of Dec. 31, 2011, Sunny Isles Beach has about 580 unsold developer units, according to a recent report.

The popular South Beach neighborhood of Miami Beach ranks third with nearly 5,600 new units created since 2003. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2011, South Beach had 965 unsold developer units, according to a recent report.

Downtown Fort Lauderdale and the Beach claimed the No. 4 spot with nearly 5,100 new units added during the boom. As of Dec. 31, 2011, the Downtown Fort Lauderdale and the Beach market has less than 50 developer units unsold when excluding the former Trump International Hotel & Tower with 298 units – and headed to a foreclosure auction on March 14 – and the newly created 171-unit Fort Lauderdale Residences – also known as the W Fort Lauderdale, according to a recent CondoVultures.com report.

The Hollywood / Hallandale Beach market ranks fifth with nearly 5,000 new units created since 2003. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2011, the Hollywood / Hallandale Beach market is statistically sold out with less than five unsold developer units, according to a recent CondoVultures.com report.

The Downtown West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Island market ranks sixth in South Florida based on more than 3,400 new units created during the boom. As of Dec. 31, 2011, the Downtown West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Island markets has nearly 625 unsold developer units, according to a recent report.

At the bottom of the list with the fewest number of new units created is the Boca Raton / Deerfield Beach market, where less than 1,050 condos were added during the boom. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2011, the Boca Raton / Deerfield Beach market had more than 325 units – about 32 percent of the total boom-era inventory for the market – unsold, according to a recent report.

Condo Vultures® relied on public records and private research to complete this study over the course of the last three years.

The results of this exhaustive researching of deeds, condominium documents, and government files is the basis for a series of seven ebooks titled the Official Condo Buyers Guide™. The guides for Greater Downtown Miami, South Beach, and Sunny Isles Beach are already on available for purchase on Amazon.com.

This information is also the foundation for a new Condo Ratings Agency™ service designed to provide guidance on the financial stability of nearly 1,000 condo projects – old and new – with 125,000 units east of Interstate 95 in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.

It is important to note there are various stages to a residential real estate transaction in South Florida.

A transaction begins when a property is made available for sale and ends when a title is conveyed from one party to another party as a result of the recording of a deed with the local government.

As part of the process, a property typically goes under contract and into a due diligence phase by which a deal can be canceled.

The CondoVultures.com new condo sales report is based on completed transactions where a deed is recorded and taxes paid as a result of the sale.

Condo Vultures® LLC is a real estate consultancy and marketing company based at 1005 Kane Concourse, Suite 205, Bal Harbour, Florida, 33154. You can reach Condo Vultures® LLC at 800-750-0517.

Don’t forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports to stay informed on the latest market trends and to find out about our various Condo Vultures® Seminars. Looking for a property at a deep discount? Take a peek at the Vultures Database™ or view our Video Library. Looking for bulk projects direct from developers or lenders? Visit the Condo Vultures® Bulk Deals Database™. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™, Official Condo Buyers Guide To South Beach™, Official Condo Buyers Guide to Sunny Isles Beach™, Official Condo Buyers Guide to Downtown Fort Lauderdale and the Beach™, Official Condo Buyers Guide to Hollywood / Hallandale Beach™, Official Condo Buyers Guide to Downtown West Palm Beach™, and Official Condo Buyers Guide to Boca Raton / Deerfield Beach™, are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

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