Miami Beach Luxury Real Estate Market Report - March 2009

Miami Beach Luxury Real Estate only had 3 single-family sales over $1 million in the month of March. I’ve said this before, the market is so volatile that you may see 8 sales one month, 15 another and then only 3 the following month. The amount of sales don’t really tell you what’s going on in the market – also remember that closings usually take at least 30 days – so these houses were most likely put in escrow in February sometime (except for 6050 N Bay Road that took less than a month from the time it went on the market to closing….the deal of the year). These 3 sales are very different and not at all comparables because of location, condition of home and type of sale – it wouldn’t be fair to assess average price per square feet in Miami Beach by utilizing these 3 homes.

6050 N Bay Road – Miami Beach, FL 33140

This 1951 Bayfront home with over 4,000 square feet of living space – 4 bedrooms / 4 bathrooms and 1 half-bath and a lot of 19,685 square feet with 77 feet on the bay sold for $3,200,000.
It was listed for $3,900,000 on February 19th, 2009 – went pending on March 2, 2009 and closed March 11th – that’s less than $800 per square foot! The listing description read “Hurry, will not last long at this price” and they were right.

5777 Pinetree Drive – Miami Beach, FL33140

Another 1951 home, this time a short sale, with over 4,300 square feet of living area – 5 bedrooms / 4 bathrooms on a 13,258 square foot lot with 76 feet on the water sold for $1,600,000.
It was listed on and off since 2005 with pricing varying from $2,995,000 then $3,195,000, then $3,799,000 and $3,499,000 – it’s MLS history showing a pending sale that never closed, several canceled listings, several brokerage changes – one fluctuating history if you ask me. Selling for $369 per square foot.

1166 Bay Drive – Miami Beach, FL 33141

This Normandy Island 1949 home with 2,400 square feet of living area – 3 bedrooms / 4 bathrooms on a 13,149 square foot lot with 77 feet on the Bay sold for $1,350,000.
This property also has a long history on the MLS – Active since March of 2007 and priced at $2,750,000 with a couple of changes in price and brokerages – but finally selling at $560 per square foot.

Miami Beach Luxury Condo Sales

Miami Beach Luxury Condos on the other hand, had 10 sales above $1 million raging from $1,000,000 to $3,750,000 – here’s the breakdown

Apogee – unit 1502 – 3 bedrooms / 3.5 bathrooms – sold for $3,750,000
Continnuum South – unit 2705 – 3 bedrooms / 2.5 bathrooms – sold for $3,000,000
Continuum – unit 2706 – 2 bedrooms / 2.5 bathrooms – sold for $1,600,000
Setai – unit 3001 – 2 bedrooms / 2 bathrooms – sold for $1,500,000
Caribbean – unit S 1602 – 3 bedrooms /3.5 bathrooms – sold for $1,700,000
The Bath Club – unit 802 – 3 bedrooms / 4.5 bathrooms – sold for $1,200,000
Caribbean – unit 1303 – 2 bedrooms / 2 bathrooms – sold for $1,300,000
Icon – unit 1207 – 2 bedrooms / 2.5 bathrooms – sold for $1,175,000
Green Diamond – unit 2801 – 3 bedrooms / 3 bathrooms – sold for $1,135,000
Green Diamond – unit 3601 – 3 bedrooms / 3 bathrooms – sold for $1,000,000

The good news is that none of these were short sales nor bank owned sales – says a lot about a recuperating Miami Beach real estate market! I don’t like to do average price per square feet with different buildings either because it can give you a false sense of where the market is. Each building is different, not only in location but amenities, views, condition of property, etc.