10th New South Florida Condo Tower Begins Construction And More To Come

With one new condo tower already completed in South Florida, developers have initiated construction on at least 10 new highrises – the latest being the 374-unit BrickellHouse in Greater Downtown Miami that hosted a groundbreaking on July 18, 2012 – and are planning to assemble several more construction cranes in the next 18 months as the post-crash development era gains momentum, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.

Miami City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff – who was a guest speaker at the BrickellHouse construction launch ceremony – predicted that “between 15 and 17 cranes” would be assembled in Greater Downtown Miami and the nearby neighborhood of Coconut Grove by the end of 2013. (Watch the video of Sarnoff’s speech.)

“You would all agree the [previous Miami] building boom was extravagant and was extraordinary,” Sarnoff said. “It is good to see that Miami is coming back.”

CondoVultures.com is scheduled to profile condo trends in the second quarter of 2012 in the seven largest coastal condo markets in the tricounty South Florida region of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.

Beginning the week of July 16, 2012, the Condo Vultures® Market Intelligence Report™ plans to publish a seven-part weekly series analyzing new condo sales trends 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.

Some five years after the South Florida condo market began to crash, developers in Greater Downtown Miami have completed one condo tower and are building four others including the BrickellHouse project as of July 18, 2012.

In addition to the cranes in Greater Downtown Miami, South Florida developers are proceeding with the construction of Aventura’s Bellini At Williams Island; Greater Downtown Miami’s Brickell Citicentre (two towers) and MyBrickell projects; Hollywood’s Apogee Beach; Key Biscayne’s Oceana (two towers); Palm Beach County’s 4001 North Ocean project; and Sunny Isles Beach’s Regalia, according to a recent CondoVultures.com report.

South Florida’s latest condo construction boom comes only weeks after the first new condo tower – the 23 Biscayne Bay – to be built in the post-boom-and-bust era was completed and began transacting units in the second quarter of 2012, according to a recent CondoVultures.com report.

As of July 18, 2012, at least 46 condo towers with nearly 7,900 units are proposed, planned, under construction, or recently completed in South Florida, according to the Preconstruction Condo Projects list compiled by the licensed Florida brokerage CVR Realty™.

The new condos are being proposed as nearly 3,900 developer units created during the last real estate boom remain unsold in South Florida’s seven largest coastal market 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 as of March 31, 2012, according to a recent CondoVultures.com report.

Additionally, more than 1,800 units – previously purchased by bulk buyers during the heart of the condo crash – in South Florida’s seven largest coastal markets have not yet been sold as of March 31, 2012, according to a recent CondoVultures.com report.

It is unclear how many of the other proposed towers could get built in the short term as construction financing is challenging – and expensive – to secure, industry watchers said.

To overcome the obvious financing hurdle, most of the newly proposed projects are requiring prospective buyers to commit to deposits – to be paid in phases – of as much as 80 percent of the preconstruction contract price, industry watchers said.

During the most recent South Florida condo boom, preconstruction buyers were generally asked for deposits of about 20 percent, industry watchers said.

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 in the 225 Midtown Building at 225 NE 34th St., Suite 209B, Downtown Miami, Florida, 33137. Condo Vultures® LLC can be reached 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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