Miami Condo Index – South Beach – July 2007

July 12, 2007

I realize that South Beach is not located within the Miami city boundaries. South Beach resides in the city of Miami Beach, which in itself is a separate city from Miami. I felt compelled, however, to include a South Beach condo index due to much interest in condominiums located in South Beach, and because I conduct a significant portion of my business in South Beach. Besides…if I didn’t provide this information then who would?

It was much more difficult to create a South Beach condo index than it was for Brickell or Brickell Key. There are so many more buildings to consider in South Beach. I didn’t want to only include the luxury buildings residing in South Beach but also didn’t want to include each and every small development located in the 33139 zip code either. I wanted to create a South Beach condo index that encompassed all of South Beach. To a nonlocal person, I wanted to provide a transparent look into the South Beach real estate market. Like I said though, I didn’t want to include each and every small development throughout all of South Beach either. The overall average price per square foot in South Beach would be significantly less than the figures below if one were to include every condo building in South Beach.

I instead chose to include those developments that are the most well known to South Beach locals. I realize that I’ve omitted a few but after much consideration, I decided on the following 19 buildings found below. The condo units at Flamingo South Beach will be considered at a future date once the entire development has been converted into condominiums and more resales are available. Other new developments may also be considered once additional resale information can be obtained. That being said, the following have made the South Beach graduating class of July 2007. Alongside each development, you will find the average price per square foot of units currently available for sale on the MLS.

• 1500 Ocean Drive – 1500 Ocean Dr | 33139 | $1,321.81
• Bentley Bay – 520 & 540 West Ave | 33139 | $788.22
• Hilton Bentley Miami Beach – 101 Ocean Dr | 33139 | $1,134.45
• Continuum South Tower – 100 S Pointe Dr | 33139 | $1,247.93
• Cosmopolitan South Beach – 110 Washington Ave | 33139 | $600.44
• Courts at South Beach – 140 Jefferson Ave | 33139 | $548.60
• The Decoplage – 100 Lincoln Rd | 33139 | $685.00
• The Floridian – 650 West Ave | 33139 | $590.07
• Grand Venetian – 10 Venetian Wy | 33139 | $588.74
• Icon South Beach – 450 Alton Rd | 33139 | $926.62
• Il Villagio – 1455 Ocean Dr | 33139 | $1,678.82
• Meridian Lofts – 2001 Meridian Ave | 33139 | $569.84
• Mirador 1000 & 1200 – 1000 & 1200 West Ave | 33139 | $441.03
• Murano at Portofino – 1000 S Pointe Dr | 33139 | $1,221.11
• Murano Grande – 400 Alton Rd | 33139 | $867.90
• Portofino Tower – 300 S Pointe Dr | 33139 | $902.25
• Setai South Beach – 101 20 St | 33139 | $1,959.88
• Waverly at South Beach – 1330 West Ave | 33139 | $532.59
• Yacht Club at Portofino – 90 Alton Rd | 33139 | $745.27

Overall, the numbers did not surprise me too much. The only one that shocked me was Meridian Lofts but there’s a unit listed there for $4,000,000, or $1,140.25 per square foot. That increased the overall average. To someone unfamiliar with the South Beach real estate market the numbers above might seem ridiculous, but to those familiar with the local market, these numbers shouldn’t come as a surprise. The average price per square foot for condos currently listed in South Beach using the 19 buildings above came out to $913.19. The weight-adjust average came out to $793.99. The weight-adjusted average is significantly less due to the fact that Mirador 1000 and Mirador 1200 represent almost 18 percent of the overall units used in the index. It also has the lowest average price per square foot of all the buildings included in the index which helped to provide a better representation of the overall South Beach condo market. Although the average price per square foot in South Beach was almost one and a half times that of Brickell, the numbers in the June 2007 Brickell index were much more shocking to me.

The numbers below will show the average price per square foot in these buildings based on closed sales of condos in each building over the last six months.

• 1500 Ocean Drive – 1500 Ocean Dr | 33139 | $879.20
• Bentley Bay – 520 & 540 West Ave | 33139 | $627.70
• Bentley Beach – 101 Ocean Dr | 33139 | $1,254.49
• Continuum South Tower – 100 S Pointe Dr | 33139 | $1,021.55
• Cosmopolitan – 110 Washington Ave | 33139 | $546.89
• Courts at South Beach – 140 Jefferson Ave | 33139 | $472.21
• Decoplage – 100 Lincoln Rd | 33139 | $566.95
• Floridian – 650 West Ave | 33139 | $540.72
• Grand Venetian – 10 Venetian Wy | 33139 | $465.92
• Icon – 450 Alton Rd | 33139 | $767.72
• Il Villagio – 1455 Ocean Dr | 33139 | $1,129.88
• Meridian Lofts – 2001 Meridian Ave | 33139 | $437.49
• Mirador 1000 & 1200 – 1000 & 1200 West Ave | 33139 | $438.60
• Murano at Portofino – 1000 S Pointe Dr | 33139 | $962.09
• Murano Grande – 400 Alton Rd | 33139 | $771.10
• Portofino Tower – 300 S Pointe Dr | 33139 | $919.28
• Setai – 101 20 St | 33139 | $1,733.20
• Waverly at South Beach – 1330 West Ave | 33139 | $474.57
• Yacht Club at Portofino – 90 Alton Rd | 33139 | $665.19

Overall, the price per square foot of units sold in these buildings over the last six months was $772.36, or $686.73 when weight-adjusted. I was surprised to see that the average price per square foot for condos sold over the last six months at Grand Venetian was under $500. I would have expected this to be significantly higher. I also thought that 1500 Ocean Drive and Icon would have been higher as well. It is amazing to see The Setai at $1,733.20 per square foot but it wasn’t particularly surprising. The Setai is known to be the ultra-luxury building of South Beach. I think we’ll see the average price per square foot at The Floridian and The Cosmopolitan come down some as both buildings have a number of preforeclosures and foreclosures in them.

The figures below will show the sold-to-listed ratio as a percentage. For example, as you will see below, 1500 Ocean Drive had an average price per square foot of condo units sold that was 50.34% of the average price per square foot of condo units listed. You’ll notice that the figures for Bentley Beach and Portofino Tower are in parentheses. Both of these had a higher average price per square foot of units sold in the past six months than those that are currently listed.

• 1500 Ocean Drive – 1500 Ocean Dr | 33139 | 50.34%
• Bentley Bay – 520 & 540 West Ave | 33139 | 25.57%
• Bentley Beach – 101 Ocean Dr | 33139 | (9.56%)
• Continuum South Tower – 100 S Pointe Dr | 33139 | 22.16%
• Cosmopolitan – 110 Washington Ave | 33139 | 9.79%
• Courts at South Beach – 140 Jefferson Ave | 33139 | 16.18%
• Decoplage – 100 Lincoln Rd | 33139 | 20.82%
• Floridian – 650 West Ave | 33139 | 9.13%
• Grand Venetian – 10 Venetian Wy | 33139 | 26.36%
• Icon – 450 Alton Rd | 33139 | 20.70%
• Il Villagio – 1455 Ocean Dr | 33139 | 48.58%
• Meridian Lofts – 2001 Meridian Ave | 33139 | 30.25%
• Mirador 1000 & 1200 – 1000 & 1200 West Ave | 33139 | 0.55%
• Murano at Portofino – 1000 S Pointe Dr | 33139 | 26.92%
• Murano Grande – 400 Alton Rd | 33139 | 12.55%
• Portofino Tower – 300 S Pointe Dr | 33139 | (1.85%)
• Setai – 101 20 St | 33139 | 13.08%
• Waverly at South Beach – 1330 West Ave | 33139 | 12.23%
• Yacht Club at Portofino – 90 Alton Rd | 33139 | 12.04%

A few of the figures are a bit misleading. 1500 Ocean Drive, Il Villagio and Continuum have active listings that are priced at over $15M. These listings skewed the overall average price per square foot for units listed in those buildings which in turn through off the sold-to-listed percentages.

That concludes the South Beach condo index for July 2007. Next week I’ll return with another look at the condos in Brickell. It’ll be interesting to see how things have changed in a month’s time.