The rate of foreclosures among outstanding mortgages in the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall metropolitan area fell 3.13 percentage points in November to 14.59 percent, compared to the same period in 2011, when the rate was 17.72 percent, according to data from CoreLogic. [more]

Industrial vacancy in Miami-Dade County dropped to just 5.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to the latest MarketView from CBRE. That is the lowest Miami’s vacancy rate has been since the fourth quarter of 2007. Average asking rates also hit their highest number since the second quarter of 2009, rising to $7.61 per square foot. [more]

Miracle Marketplace

Chicago-based real estate investment firm Heitman has paid $92 million for the Miracle Marketplace retail center on Miami’s Coral way. The property was sold by AWE Talisman in a deal handled by Jones Lang LaSalle’s Capital Markets team. [more]

Downtown Miami’s Southeast Financial Center closed 21,482 square feet of leases to two tenants in December, the building announced. For all of 2012, the building closed 155,000 square feet of leasing activity, including new leases and renewals. The largest recent lease was a 13,147-square-foot long-term lease renewal by the Consul General of Canada in Miami. Latin American Nautilus also signed a long-term lease renewal for 8,335 square feet at the property. —Alexander Britell

Kmart in Lakeland

Miami-based Aztec Group has secured a $3.91 million loan for the acquisition of a Kmart store at 4717 South Florida Avenue in Lakeland, the firm announced. Aztec Group’s Charles Penan and Howard Taft completed the transaction on behalf of the borrower, MG3 Casablanc 1, an affiliate of Hollywood-based real estate investment company MG3. The financing was provided by Sabadell United Bank for a seven-year term. “We evaluated the best financing options and secured competitive terms that allowed our client to acquire the retail asset,” Taft said. —Alexander Britell

The Sabadell Financial Center in Brickell signed 38,000 square feet of new leases and 13,000 square feet of renewals in 2012, according to CBRE. The project closed 22,000 square feet of new leases in December alone, led by CBRE senior vice presidents Maggie Kurtz and Diana Parker. The largest lease transaction at the end of the year was a 12,000-square-foot deal by Waserstein Nunez & Foodman. Testa Immuebles, based in Madrid, is the landlord of the property, which is located at 1111 Brickell Avenue. —Alexander Britell

The Fresh Market, which recently debuted a new location in Miami Beach’s burgeoning Sunset Harbour neighborhood, is continuing its Florida expansion with a pair of new leases in Naples and Brandon. [more]

Franklin Street Real Estate Services has hired Deme Mekras to lead the firm’s new Miami office as regional managing partner, the company announced today. Mekras will be leading a South Florida investment sales team including former Marcus & Millichap senior director Elliot Shainberg and David Reinke, investment associate. “Miami has unquestionably established itself as a global market with broad international appeal,” Mekras said. “Multi-family in South Florida has rebounded almost completely to pre-recessional levels — creating a great place to do business.” — Alexander Britell

The total number of residential listings in Miami-Dade County that pended in November rose 52 percent, according to a new report from the Miami Association of Realtors. The 3,374 homes and condominiums that pended represented a 19.1 percent decrease from the previous month, however. [more]

Miami-based KW Property Management & Consulting has been selected to handle property management services at Bimini Bay in the Bahamas, the company announced. The Bimini project, which includes 384 private residences, is located about 50 miles from Miami. [more]