Downtown Miami
Miami is the third-most overpriced city in America, according to a list compiled by Forbes. Three South Florida cities were among the top 20, with West Palm Beach ranked sixth and Fort Lauderdale at number 17. Los Angeles is first on the list, which looks at housing prices, cost of living, and median salary for residents, among other criteria. Bradenton, on the west coast of Florida, was ranked eighth on the list. [Forbes via SFBJ]
Billionaire Jon Stryker has been confirmed as the buyer of Jimmy
Buffett’s Palm Beach home, according to a source close to Buffett and long-time real estate advisor to the famed singer. Stryker owns
the two properties adjacent to the Buffett’s home at 540 S. Ocean
Boulevard in Palm Beach, which sold for $18.5 million. Stryker
inherited a vast medical-device fortune, and has a wealth estimated at
$1.4 billion by Forbes. [Palm Beach Daily News]
After once earning the top spot on Forbes’ rankings of America’s most
expensive postal codes, Fisher Island’s 33109 fell all the way to
number 33 last fall. Now, there are a handful of homes in foreclosure,
23 residents are still suffering from investments with Bernard Madoff,
and the median home price on the island, which had been $3.85 million,
has dropped by 15 percent. The island is going forward with a series of
expensive renovations totaling $60 million,
but some condo units on the island have dropped in price down to less
than $500,000, and one — a 450-square-foot apartment — is listed for
just $190,000. [Miami Herald]
The Related Group has backed out of a partnership in the Trump Towers
condominium development in Sunny Isles Beach, another sign that the
high-end developer is retrenching. Betsy McCoy, Related’s vice
president and associate general counsel, said the company had sold its
interests in Trump II and Trump III at Sunny Isles and satisfied its
obligations to lenders. Michael Cannon, executive director of Integra
Realty Resources in Miami, said it was not uncommon for large
developers to contract in a severely weakened economy, though the
come-down is a bit humbling for the reputation of Related, which built
Murano at Portofino, Icon South Beach and Apogee in Miami Beach, plus
50 Biscayne, 900 Brickell and Loft Downtown in Miami. For Chairman
Jorge Perez, the retreat has had a personal impact. He was dropped
from the Forbes 400 list, where he once ranked at No. 197 with an
estimated personal wealth of $1.8 billion. After it declined by 50
percent, he was removed from the 2009 list. [GlobeSt]
The sun has set on South Florida’s years as a retirement paradise — at least, that’s what Forbes Magazine says. The title’s latest top 10 list, “America’s Recession-Proof Cities To Retire In,” looked at the country’s 40 largest metropolitan statistical areas and ranked them by home prices, cost of living, employment rates, and number of sunny days. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale area came in a meagre 29th, beating out Los Angeles (31st) and New York (40th), but ranking far below up-and-coming Atlanta, Ga. (1st) and Kansas City, Mo. (9th). Central and Northern Florida fared better: the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area was No. 2 on the list, and Jacksonville ranked 14th. Forbes attributes South Florida’s tumble to high housing costs and a real estate market that has seen better days. [Forbes via New Times Broward-Palm Beach]
A quartet of pricey neighborhoods is South Florida’s contribution to
Forbes’ list of America’s 500 most expensive zip codes. Fortunes have
changed for three of them in the real estate crash, but Coral Gables –
in zip code 33146 — saw property values stay stable. Miami Beach — 33109 — was
No. 33, with the median asking price down 15 percent, to $2.4 million.
Key Biscayne — 33149 — came in at No. 199, with the median asking
price down 10 percent to $1.14 million. And another section of Miami
Beach — 33154 — saw a 5 percent drop to $518,581. At No. 494, it may
not make next year’s list. [more]
Forbes looks at the luxury homeowners around the country who have made
the largest price cuts to their properties over the past year. The seller of Two Trees
Farm in Bridgehampton has reduced the prices of the main house and a
separate Gin Lane home by $20 million each, to $75 million for the main
house and $20 million for the second house, according to data from real
estate listing company Trulia.com. Donald Trump made a $25 million
price cut to his $125 million Maison de l’Amitie on the Palm Beach
waterfront. [more]
Real estate developer Don Peebles,
chief executive of Miami-based Peebles Corporation, has made Forbes’
first “Wealthiest Black Americans” list, in the company of Oprah
Winfrey and Tiger Woods. The list places Peebles’ worth at $350
million, and his company owns hotels, apartments and office space in
Miami Beach, Las Vegas and Washington, D.C.
[more]
