Another Miami real estate boom is on the horizon, real estate executives say

Is another Miami condo boom on the way? Miami Today surveyed multiple brokers who agreed that the combination of 2011’s performance, investor interest and shrinking inventory were signals that 2012 would be a big year for the local market.

“I think we are on the verge of another boom,” said Patricia Delinois, incoming president of Miami Realtor Association and president & CEO of Century 21 Premier Elite Realty.

In 2011, 28,277 Miami-Dade properties were sold, according to Esslinger Wooten Maxwell Realtors President Ron Shuffield, who said it was the highest number reported on record. That has helped shrink the once excessive inventory to more manageable levels. Now there are just 14,129 listings on the market compared to 23,272 at the end of 2010.

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“We are eating through the inventory at a lot higher rate than anyone expected,” said Keyes Company President and CEO Mike Pappas. “There’s a fire sale in South Florida real estate, and the world market is coming here bringing global cash.”

While the average sales price data increased thanks to a recovering luxury market and a smaller share of distressed sales, the brokerage executives agreed that price appreciation wouldn’t normalize until lenders finished sorting through their foreclosed properties. [Miami Today]