Sales of new condominiums jumped 67 percent year-over-year in Sunny Isles Beach in the third quarter of 2011, according to a  report from Condo Vultures. A total of 175 units were sold in the city in the three-month period from July to September, a jump from 105 transactions in the same period in 2010. There are now only 675 unsold condos from the boom. — Alexander Britell [more]

In the last eight years, new developer units in Sunny Isles Beach have generated a total of 5,500 sales totaling $3.96 billion, according to a report from Condo Vultures. There are still 850 condo units remaining unsold in Sunny Isles as of the second quarter of 2011, according to a survey of Miami-Dade County records. “The South Florida condo boom changed the landscape of Sunny Isles Beach forever,” said Peter Zalewski, founder of brokerage and consultancy Condo Vultures. — Alexander Britell [more]

Affluent buyers, especially those from Latin America, are driving Miami’s residential market, with sales up to a level of activity few expected. Home sales in the Miami metro area rose 16 percent from 2010 in the first half of the year, according to research firm DataQuick. Gil Dezer’s Trump Towers project has just 12 percent of the condominium units in the two-tower complex remaining. “The Brazilians walk in, they don’t even negotiate,” Dezer said. “It’s a no-brainer for them.” Dezer said he planned on announcing two new projects by the end of this year. According to Peter Zalewski, founder of Condo Vultures, the foreclosure freeze initiated after allegations arose of a robo-signing scandal was a welcome reprieve for the market. “People should thank the foreclosure mills,” he said. [NYT]
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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]

An Artefacto-furnished unit

Armed with a strong currency, Brazilian buyers are making their move in the Miami high-end market, and one devel [more]

When Donald Trump built Trump Tower, his father, developer Fred Trump, suggested he use brick instead of glass, the real estate mogul told the Financial Times in a “Things My Mentor Taught Me” feature today. The elder Trump began mentoring the young Donald when he was young. “I would follow him around construction sites and see how he conducted business,” he said. But the relationship grew into a more formal business partnership. “His four-step formula for success was simple: get in, get it done, get it done right and get out,” Donald recalled. “I didn’t agree with everything he said. I wanted to develop in Manhattan, which he couldn’t understand. He was satisfied with Brooklyn and Queens… brick worked for him, but that wasn’t my vision,” Trump said. [Financial Times] 

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Trump Towers in Sunny Isles Beach

There were 111 new condo units sold in Sunny Isles Beach in the second
quarter of 2010, reducing unsold developer inventory to 20 percent,
according to a white paper from Condo Vultures. The units sold for a
total of $102.2 million, or an average of $475 per square foot in the
buildings that have been constructed in the area since 2003. Condo
Vultures founder Peter Zalewski said buyers were being driven to Sunny
Isles because of the much higher prices in South Beach. The oceanfront
community has been performing
well of late, with Trump Towers in Sunny Isles recently
topping $100 million in sales. TRD

Dezer Properties has filed the paperwork necessary to begin individual unit sales at the luxury Trump Tower III condominium in Sunny Isles Beach, disappointing the investors that had been angling to make bulk purchases at the 271-unit project, according to a new report from brokerage and consultancy Condo Vultures. Dezer took control of the project, one of three in the oceanfront complex bearing the Trump name, from co-developer the Related Group in February. As of Feb. 10, 57 percent of the units in the Trump Towers were unsold. TRD

Some tough lessons have been learned in South Florida’s troubled real estate market as once-distressed assets return to being productive properties. One thing that’s coming into focus for banks: It costs less to approve a short sale for a development than to go through the foreclosure process, according to data compiled by Condo Vultures Realty. (See slide show above for some examples of large properties that have gone one of those routes and the outcomes.) Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy of Condo Vultures, expects lenders to move toward more short sales this year. They get a comparable price without the costs of holding on to a property as it goes through foreclosure, he said. “It just makes more financial sense.” [more]

Dezer Properties has acquired the Related Group’s ownership stake at 813-unit Trump Towers in Sunny Isles Beach and will assume the liability for the $265 million loan on the three-tower condominium project. Dezer plans to slash prices by at least 30 percent in order to sell off the 435 units that remain. Most units will go for $350 per square foot, while penthouses will be priced at $600 per square foot, Dezer said. The property, at 16001 Collins Avenue, was jointly developed by Related and Dezer, and Donald Trump granted his name to the towers through a licensing deal. Trump Towers is the latest in a string of properties Related has been unloading amid the state’s real estate slump. Lenders took over its $1 billion luxury Icon Brickell project in Miami late last year, and in July it relinquished its 420-unit CityPlace South Tower in West Palm Beach to a partnership led by Scotia Capital. [Miami Herald]