search

The Real Deal Logo

Trending

LA court strikes down SB9 law allowing single-family lot splitsLA court strikes down SB9 law allowing single-family lot splitsFort Lauderdale crane collapse victim seeks over $50M in damagesFort Lauderdale crane collapse victim seeks over $50M in damagesHousing deal finally passes; here are the detailsHousing deal finally passes; here are the detailsTides’ original investors may be wiped out by preferred equity dealTides’ original investors may be wiped out by preferred equity deal
New York

TRD South Florida’s winter issue is live!

Inside: How much real estate pros are making, a wake up call for retail landlords and more

No one’s saying things are looking 100 percent dire in South Florida, but with a continued slowdown in several sectors, the industry is dealing with a few less-than-promising conditions in today’s market. And that’s having a trickle-down effect.

Our cover story investigates just how much bacon real estate pros are bringing home across a dozen different job categories. TRD found that while some are doing just fine amid the slump, there is a large segment — brokers in both residential and commercial real estate — who are working twice as hard to land the deals that were flowing in like water only two years ago.

Luxury residential agents in particular are struggling to keep the closings coming. Our look at the biggest drops between asking and selling price in the last year finds that some homes at the highest end of the market are going for as much as almost 50 percent off their list price. Brokers, it’s time for some real talk with your sellers about pricing expectations.

Some retail landlords, too, are in need of a wakeup call, according to our report on that sector, which found that overly optimistic property owners are looking to charge unsustainably high rents.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

When sales at new condo towers are lagging, developers have their own version of a wakeup call, a “come to Jesus” moment with the brokerage that’s failed to deliver. Sometimes that results in replacing the sales team. As new development marketing firms fight for more projects to represent — including those that already have representation — some undercutting of the competition is involved. In short: It gets ugly. Check out our behind-the-scenes here.

For a look at another popular sales tactic, check out TRD reporter Katherine Kallergis’ story on splashy groundbreaking ceremonies. The piece explores how builders hope buzz delivers the amount of presales required to secure construction financing.

The struggle to secure such loans was just one of the many stumbling blocks Mehmet Bayraktar faced in building the $1 billion mixed-use project on Watson Island — a project that was first approved in 2001. Island Gardens, as its known, is now the subject of a legal battle between the developer and the city, which kicked Bayraktar off the project this year. Click here to read about the project’s dramatic history.

Other highlights in the issue include a look at development in Overtown, our ranking of the priciest sales in Palm Beach County and a look at the booming townhouse trend in Broward County.

Enjoy the issue!