Downtown Miami Condominium Development Aimed at Low to Mid Priced Market

November 1st, 2006 · Comment Here · News

Amid the ongoing slump in the Miami housing market, there appear to be pockets of strong demand for well-located housing at prices middle-income buyers can afford. In the 33-story Loft 3, for example, one-bedrooms start at $159,000 and two-bedrooms at $293,000.

”This has been a very, very underserved market,” said Oscar Rodriguez, who heads the attainable housing division of Related Group, the Miami developer building Loft 3.

After a five-year South Florida housing boom left prices way out of reach for many buyers, the demand for projects like Loft 3 is drawing more builders into the ”workforce” or ”attainable” housing niche.

Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds of Los Angeles, co-led by former NBA star Earvin ”Magic” Johnson, recently announced an investment in a condo in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, where buyers put 5 percent down on units starting at $250,000. G.L Homes in Sunrise reported brisk sales for Boynton Beach houses starting at $312,000.

The starting numbers are lower than the September existing-home median prices of $270,800 for condos in Miami-Dade and $370,300 for houses in Broward, according to the Florida Association of Realtors.

Many developers say Miami land and construction costs so much that they can’t sell for lower prices without government support. For example, Miami allowed Related Group to use a city-owned garage across the street for resident parking. Also, Related Group bought the land several years ago, when prices were better.

Said Frantz Cesar, a buyer in his 50s, as he walked out of a Miami condo sales center: “You feel like you have to buy something before prices start going up again.”