Young New Yorkers pick South Florida for second homes

Many New Yorkers have found their second homes in South Florida. And they’re younger than ever before, several brokers told Real Estate Weekly.

Replacing a buyer clientele of mostly retirees are a hipper crowd that is “looking at Miami like they are looking in the Hamptons,” said Jacky Teplitzky, a managing director at Douglas Elliman who specializes in sales in both the New York and Miami markets.

People in Manhattan, as well as New York City suburbs, such as Scarsdale, N.Y., Bronxville, N.Y. and Greenwich, Conn., are looking for Sunshine State properties, where the amenities of a second home are more extravagant, Teplitzky said.

The features of homes include two swimming pools, tennis courts, a parking space or a spa, Teplitzky told Real Estate Weekly.

Stephan Cotton, who handles sales at One Thousand Ocean in Boca Raton for LXR Realty, said that New Yorkers make up the largest percentage of his customer base. They prefer the retail services in Florida to the Caribbean, specifically the luxury shopping that has blossomed beyond the Miracle Mile of Coral Gables, the newspaper said. [REW] –Mark Maurer