Commercial solid at core

Miami-Dade’s residential real estate woes aren’t hurting the commercial sphere, according to county property appraiser Marcus Saiz de la Mora. He says a mid-year report on assessed property values shows a stable commercial market in 2007 and 2008, and he calls the market pretty much flat. The survey shows the assessed value of all 35 municipalities in Miami-Dade plus the unincorporated region indicates an increase of 6.8 percent, to $59.5 billion in 2008 from $55.8 billion the previous year. The tax base includes all types of commercial properties including retail, office, mixed-use and industrial, as well as vacant commercial and industrial land. The overall preliminary tax roll, which includes residential, multi-family and commercial, declined 2.6 percent, to $239 billion this year from $245 billion in 2007.