While Brazilians have been getting much of the attention, it’s actually Canadians who represent the largest foreign buyer demographic in Florida. Canadians have been coming to Florida for decades, particularly Broward County, but now, armed with a strong currency, they’ve expanded their reach across South Florida, especially Miami and projects like Canyon Ranch Living in Miami Beach. The Real Deal talked to EWM’s Paula Barrera, Mark Pordes, president of Pordes Residential and a Canadian buyer about what’s driving the trend. See more in the video above.
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Condominium developers saw a loss in the continuing dispute over sales contracts from the beginning of the downturn, according to the South Florida Business Journal. Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal ruled in favor of two purchasers who sought a refund from North Carillion, the original developer of the Canyon Ranch in Miami Beach. The court overturned a ruling by Miami-Dade Judge Herbert Stettin, who had ruled in favor of the developer. [more]

Canyon Ranch in Miami Beach has sold 100 units since October 2010, according to Pordes Residential Real Estate. “The pace of sales has been tremendous,” said Michael Sadov, real estate sales director at the property. “Prices are being paid are near the top of the market, and some residences have closed at prices that would be considered very good in a strong market.” Sadov, along with Pordes’ Mark Pordes, took over marketing for the project last year. As part of a continuing trend in Miami real estate, Canyon Ranch has seen significant interest from abroad. “Buyers from Brazil and elsewhere have discovered Canyon Ranch and are choosing to stay,” Pordes said. — Alexander Britell
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A trademark of the housing boom in Miami, lavish parties are now returning to the city’s condominium market, with projects seeking to use the events to attract buyers. New building owner BH3 spent as much as $100,000 on a party at Hollywood Beach’s Trump Holywood, and Canyon Ranch gave a massive party including yoga, zumba dance instructors and kickboxing in March.
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Prices are stabilizing in Miami, in spite of the fact that there is a three-to-four-year supply on the market, leading some to believe collusion is taking place. “I think the way you get prices going up is by artificial price setting,” said Peter Zalewski, founder of Condo Vultures. “I’m not going to use the “C” word, collusion, but there’s a certain price mechanism that all of the owners are starting to abide by and adhere to.” For example, prices at the Canyon Ranch complex in Miami Beach have gone from selling at $555.24 per square foot last year to $634.25 per square foot, even though there are 175 vacant units. [CNBC]
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The new Tui Lifestyle showroom in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood and designer Tui Pranich

Less than two months after the debut of their Soho showroom, the founders of Miami-based Tui Lifestyle, the two-year-old interior design start-up that promises turn-key luxury home furnishings in a span of 72 hours, are thinking about moving their corporate headquarters to New York City.
Tui, the brainchild of entrepreneur Jason Atkins and designer Tui Pranich, timed its 2008 launch with that of Jorge Perez’s Icon Brickell in Miami and has since made a name for itself in the South Florida region by marketing its affordable, yet high-end, furniture and accessories collections to developers who use them to furnish their model apartments and incentivize buyers.
Among the takers so far: Canyon Ranch Miami Beach, Trump Hollywood, Trump Towers in Sunny Isles Beach and Miami’s Viceroy condominium. But in Atkins’ own words, “Miami is nothing compared to New York.”  [more]

Lehman Brothers Holdings has filed two more foreclosure lawsuits against Miami Beach-based WSG Development, focusing on two unfinished projects, ArtsPark Village in Hollywood, and a commercial property in West Palm Beach. The suits follow two prior actions, one for the Prism condo in West Palm Beach, and for the Canyon Ranch condo hotel on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach. The ArtsPark mortgage was valued at $20 million three years ago, while the commercial property’s loan is $3.4 million. [SFBJ]

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The luxury and second-home markets may still be hurting, but the marketers over at Miami Beach hotel-condo Canyon Ranch are hoping the tranquility of the wellness-inspired property will be enough to lure wealthy New Yorkers away from their chilly recession cocoons.
To that end, the Brown Harris Stevens sales team in New York of Wendy Maitland, Brenda Powers, Reid Price and Elizabeth Sample, recently brought on to market the remaining units, hosted a luncheon this afternoon at Midtown sushi restaurant Nobu 57, where roughly three dozen members of the industry and press gathered to hear their pitch (see slide show above). [more]

Canyon Ranch, a three-tower luxury condominium complex in Miami Beach, sold 336 units to a pair of buying entities created by the project’s lender, Lehman Brothers, in order to take ownership of the property using a “deed in lieu of foreclosure” method. The purchasers paid $291 million, or $672 a square foot, setting a bulk sales record for the area, according to Condo Vultures, the real estate consulting group. Peter Zalewski, a principal with Bal Harbour-based Condo Vultures, said the luxury spa and oceanfront location demanded a premium price, even at deeply discounted rates. The deal will be closely watched as a possible indicator of a bulk sales floor establishing itself within the highest end of the market. [Condo Vultures]