Elliman moves into Delray Beach
Douglas Elliman just purchased a Delray Beach brokerage firm, bringing its roster of offices to 19 statewide as it expands along Florida’s coast.
The firm bought Tauriello & Co. Real Estate, founded in 2000 by Sue Tauriello. Tauriello’s 60 agents and office at 900 East Atlantic Avenue will all become part of Douglas Elliman, Jay Parker, CEO of Elliman’s Florida brokerage, said. He declined to disclose the purchase price.
Tauriello will remain with Elliman as a realtor, as the firm’s total number of agents now tops 900 in the state.
The New York-based brokerage has been eyeing Delray Beach and Tauriello & Co. for some time, Parker said. Tauriello’s “homegrown” nature made the firm an attractive target in the growing market -— known for its trendy restaurants, boutiques and nightlife — which has become an increasingly popular destination for Northeasterners and others, he said.
“We had identified Tauriello as a possible candidate for acquisition probably a year and a half ago as we began our search to move into the Delray Beach market,” Parker said. “[Douglas Elliman Chairman] Howard Lorber and I both agreed Delray was a nexus market for us.”
Broker: Miami luxury sellers, it’s time to drop your prices
Ron Shuffield
With Miami more than a year deep into a housing market slowdown that’s seen sales tumble and listings linger, Ron Shuffield, the CEO of EWM International Realty, is urging luxury homeowners to drop prices.
October’s “perfect storm,” created by the bitter U.S. presidential race and Hurricane Matthew, caused Miami to suffer its worst October for luxe home sales since 2011, he said. Only 94 houses and condos priced above $1 million sold that month, marking a drop-off of more than a third from the 145 sold in 2015.
Shuffield, whose brokerage has 10 offices in South Florida, said that while those forces may have been temporary, sellers shouldn’t expect buyers to flock back to Miami. The market is still contending with an inventory of 4,100 luxury homes listed for sale across Miami-Dade County. A healthy luxury market can contend with up to 18 months of supply, he said, but Miami is now grappling with nearly three years’ worth of inventory. That means buyers are more inclined to sit on the sidelines and shop around for deals.
“When you have inventory growing to that level and sales falling off, the major motivator to buyers is going to be an adjustment in price,” he said.
CBRE: Miami ranks fourth for Asian investment among U.S. markets
Good news for Miami real estate players hungry for Asian capital. A report from commercial brokerage CBRE shows more than half a billion dollars worth of Asian cash flowed into Miami real estate during the first six months of 2016, making it the country’s fourth most popular destination for investments from across the Pacific. Asian investors spent $665 million on real estate in Miami during the first half of this year, marking a massive jump in volume from the $34 million during the same time period in 2015.
The flow of capital from Asian countries, especially China, has reached record levels in the past year as investors seek to hedge themselves against risk in their domestic markets. In particular, the depreciation of China’s yuan makes investing in U.S. real estate a comparatively safe bet, according to the report.
The numbers are there to prove it: By CBRE’s count, Asian investors snapped up $14 billion worth of U.S. real estate assets during the first half of 2016, which represents about 52 percent of all outbound investment for the region. In the U.S., New York enjoyed the most activity, with $4.02 billion in investments, followed by San Francisco with $1.4 billion and Chicago with $1.34 billion.