Nine thousand residential units planned for Doral

Peter Zalewski of CondoVultures
Peter Zalewski of CondoVultures

Question: With all the condo development going on east of I-95 in Miami-Dade County, what is happening in Doral?

Doral, a city of 50,200 residents, which was incorporated in 2003, is one of the strongest economic engines — and base for employers — in Miami-Dade County.

This suburban city, located on reclaimed swampland located west of Miami International Airport, is known internationally for being home to numerous multinational operations, federal offices, a major golf tournament and most recently, the Miss Universe pageant.

Doral also has a reputation for offering reasonably priced housing options in Miami-Dade, aimed at primary users who are looking to live in a suburban setting near their jobs, in hopes of avoiding the area’s heavy traffic congestion.

In response to the projected demand for nearby housing, more than 9,000 new residential units  with 3,000 units currently under construction  have already been approved for this suburb, according to the city of Doral’s website.

Currently, nearly 250 condo units are on the resale market in Doral at an average asking price of $214 per square foot as of Thursday, according to the Southeast Florida MLXchange.

In 2014, buyers purchased more than 320 condos at an average transaction price of $171 per square foot. A year earlier in 2013, buyers acquired more than 400 condos at an average asking price of $153 per square foot, according to the data.

Based on the 2014 sales pace of about 27 condo resales monthly, Doral currently has about 9.3 months of supply available for purchase. A balanced market is thought to have about six months of supply. More months of supply indicates a buyer’s market, and less months suggests a seller’s market.

The Doral market has an additional 191 townhouses available for purchase, at an average asking price of about $207 per square foot.

Buyers purchased more than 235 townhouses, at an average price of $175 per square foot in 2014, compared to 285 townhouses at an average price of $161 per square foot in 2013.

Currently, Doral has about 9.6 months of supply of townhouses available for purchase, based on the 2014 resale activity.

On the rental front, nearly 290 properties are currently available for lease at a median asking price of $1.43 per square foot monthly.

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Tenants leased more than 1,820 properties, at a median price of $1.36 per square foot monthly in 2014, compared to less than 1,500 properties at a median price of $1.32 per square foot in 2013.

Doral currently has about 1.9 months of rental properties available for lease based on the 2014 leasing activity.

The unanswered question going forward is whether Doral has enough primary users to fill up all of the existing and new residential units that are currently available and planned for this suburban economic powerhouse.

Thought Of The Week: Ian Schrager Looks To Broward Despite Issues In Miami Beach

International hotelier Ian Schrager made South Florida real estate headlines this week with the revelation that he is looking  to launch an Edition-branded hotel project in Broward County.

Word of the northward expansion from the South Florida flagship hotel location in the 2900 block of Collins Avenue in Miami Beach comes as Schrager’s development group is working to find buyers for the nine unsold units in his 25-unit Residences at the Miami Beach Edition condo project that was completed in October 2014, according to Miami-Dade County records.

Schrager’s team is also busy with a lawsuit that alleges “fraudulent inducement, misrepresentations and omissions and violation of the Florida Condominium Act” brought by a pair of presale buyer entities, that alleges the actual square footage of their unit under contract in the Edition is about “19 percent less than described” in “advertising materials,” according to The Real Deal.

Consequently, the presale purchase price of the unit in question works out to about $3,355 per square foot rather than the $2,717 per square foot amount the buyer entities were “promised,” according to the report.

Currently, Schrager’s group has listed four new units in the Edition project at an average asking price of about $2,817 per square foot as of Thursday, according to the Southeast Florida MLXchange.

An additional two units are listed on the resale market at an average asking price of $3,871 per square foot, according to the data.

Peter Zalewski is a real estate market consultant, non-practicing licensed real estate broker and columnist for The Real Deal who now answers reader questions about the South Florida real estate market in a weekly Friday column. Questions and comments can be sent to southfloridanews@therealdeal.com. The TRD editors will choose which submissions will be addressed.