Condo boom heads north

From the South Florida Market Report: As the tri-county region enters the fourth year of this current real estate cycle, the preconstruction condo boom that began in Miami-Dade in 2011 with a focus on international buyers has spread to Broward, and to a lesser extent, up to Palm Beach, too.

The shift to the markets north of Miami-Dade, where preconstruction condo projects are generally priced cheaper on a per square foot basis, comes at a time when foreign buyers have less purchasing power due to the strengthening U.S. dollar and the slumping international economy.

Concurrently, consumer confidence is growing with domestic buyers — who tend to invest more actively in Broward and Palm Beach counties than in Miami-Dade — as the U.S. stock market hovers near record highs and the national unemployment rate sits at its lowest level in years. [more]