New Miami Beach Condos Looking for Buyers

Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Terra Beachside 6000 Collins

Miami Beach–A revived condo development called Terra Beachside 6000 Collins, which is the only major condo project under way in the city of Miami Beach, according to its developer, has kicked off its sales effort. Miami-based Pordes Residential is overseeing the sales and marketing for the 116-unit, six-story project at 60th Street and Collins Ave., which had previously stalled.

In November, the locally based BH3, led by Charles Phelan, Gregory Freedman and Daniel Lebensohn, bought the property to re-start development. Its one- to three-bedroom residences range in size from 1,095 square feet to 3,495 square feet, with asking prices from the mid $200,000s to more than $600,000. Each residence includes high-end finishes and 18-foot ceilings, and all two- and three-bedroom units are two-story floorplans.

Is this a good time to start selling condos in the Miami market? The market has, after all, seen a rough few years lately.

“Since launching sales earlier this month, we’ve been seeing a lot of educated, cash buyers,” Mark Pordes, president of Pordes Residential, tells MHN.  “Many who have visited the sales center say that they’ve been sitting on the sidelines renting, and are now looking for a value proposition.”

According to Florida Realtors, the entire state is seeing considerably better condo sales now than it did this time last year. In January 2010, condo sales statewide were up 81 percent compared with the same month in 2009, or 4,631 units sold last month compared to 2,554 units a year ago (a grim time, to be sure).

There are reasons for the increase. Buyers are probably feeling marginally better about the economy, for one thing, but more importantly the homebuyer tax credit is still in place. Prices are down as well, notes Florida Realtors. The statewide existing condo median sales price last month was $97,300; in January 2009, it was $113,300, marking a 14 percent decrease.

In southern Florida, any renewed demand for multifamily housing may run up against supply constraints, possibly putting upward pressure on rents and sale prices, or at least a floor under them. According to the most recent multifamily report on the southern Florida market by CB Richard Ellis, fewer than 3,000 multifamily housing units are currently under construction in the region, a mere trickle compared to the boom years of the mid-2000s.