Real Estate

What a difference a year makes. Miami’s fledgling condo comeback of early 2012 has evolved into a full-blown stampede, with developers racing to acquire developable sites and launch new projects and international buyers snapping up units ‘sight unseen.’

With the big game approaching, Jones Lang LaSalle is looking to an unconventional source of data for its Super Bowl pick: commercial real estate.

Today's news that Espacio USA, the American subsidiary of one of Spain's largest real estate development firms, is planning a $412 million mixed-use project just north of the Arsht Center is a big step forward for downtown Miami on a few levels.

When is an office building much more than just an office building? When it's the symbol of an entire city. New York has the Empire State Building. Chicago has the Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower). And here in Miami, we have Miami Tower, otherwise known as 'the building that lights up at night.'

Flashback to 2006. Developers across South Florida were outgunning each other for the privilege of building the biggest, tallest, priciest, most luxurious condos in the land. That’s when a light bulb went off in the mind of Rilea Group CEO Alan Ojeda.

News this week that Adler Group, one of those real estate firms that truly built Miami, and Atlanta-based ECI Group obtained financing for the land acquisition of a Miami bayfront site slated for a major multifamily project is a positive sign for the South Florida real estate market.

"Ambitious" might be an understatement when describing the folks at Port Miami. With a $2 billion master plan now underway, the Port is positioning itself as a long-term player along the eastern seaboard.

News like Florida’s unemployment rate dropping to 9% in March and the latest housing report that shows home prices in Miami continue to rise for fourth straight quarters are all indicators that our economy continues to rebound strongly.

The real estate crash has affected numerous businesses sectors, many of which are still dealing with the consequences of an overleveraged real estate market. Mortgage originators in particular have been confronted with “repurchase” demands by the entities to which they sold loans in prior years – primarily major banks and Government-Sponsored Entities (GSEs), including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. What does this mean for the financial sector and broader economy? One law firm that works with loan originators at the heart of the issue is sharing its perspective via a new blog.

Great read from Forbes exploring the role that foreign buyers are playing in Miami's real estate comeback. One of the new residential towers rising, the 374-unit BrickellHouse (@BrickellHouse), has already seen 50% of its condo product fly off the shelves. The activity is being fueled primarily by buyers from Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, Russia, and Asia.