MIAMI, FL - Condominium projects from Miami's Brickell area to Homestead with the most foreclosures are seeing the greatest sales activity in Miami-Dade County, according to a new study.
CondoReports.com said banks that are willing to deal on foreclosed units are driving the first quarter activity.
For example, Shoma at Keys Cove in south Miami-Dade County sold the most, with 50 units closing in the first quarter. The Vue at Brickell sold 25 condos, ranking it seventh on CondoReports.com' top-10 list.
"Many banks have taken ownership of units in these buildings and are looking to get out," said Adam Cappel, president of CondoReports.com. "Banks, either through short sales or units they own as a result of foreclosures, are the most active sellers in today's market as they are willing to accept market prices."
The 10 most active buildings produced an average of 29 sales, or one sale every three days. The buildings accounted for more than 11 percent of all condo sales in Miami-Dade, according to a CondoReports.com news release.
Most of the activity is tied to individual unit sales, and not bulk buys, Cappel said.
"These buildings are moving toward stability as speculative investors and thinly capitalized owners are being replaced with either owner-occupant or well-capitalized, patient investors buying in at a much lower cost," Cappel said in the statement. "Most are individual unit sales.
The study looked at closed sales in 2,000 condo projects with at least 50 units throughout Miami-Dade. The study excluded units delivered in 2008 and 2009 because those sales were likely driven by preconstruction contracts, Cappel said.
Source: South Florida Business Journal