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How to Time Miami’s Condo Market A year from now: A glut of new and old condos will create a rare buying opportunity in South Florida.
To grasp the buying opportunities emerging in Miami’s condo market, it pays to study the prices obtained this year for two remarkably similar apartments next door to each other on the main drag of Brickell, the residential high-rise district in downtown Miami where the sky is filled with cranes and half-constructed buildings.
First up is 1060 Brickell Ave., a fashionable building erected in 2008 with a lobby filled with white Eames-like furniture and modern art. Apartment #1815, a 945-square-foot one-bedroom, sold in mid-March for $285,000, or $302 per square foot. The seller pocketed a $93,225 gain (net of a 6% commission) after buying the apartment five years earlier in the depths of the real estate slump.
Right next door stands 1080 Brickell Ave., an elegant building erected just last year, with a lobby filled with—you guessed it—white Eames-like furniture and modern art. In this case, you will also find an espresso machine, but it’s hard to see why that should justify such a large price gap. Apartment #2508, a two-bedroom, 1,217-sq.-ft. apartment, sold for $620,000, or $509 per square foot.