Miami vacancy rate to rise

The next year looks bleak for Miami real estate. The city has the highest number of mortgage write-offs in the country, and more than a quarter of Miami borrowers have fallen behind on payments or defaulted. A fourth-quarter Grubb & Ellis report on the office market predicted that the vacancy rate in Miami-Dade County would rise quickly in 2009. South Florida’s retail vacancy rate is expected to increase to more than 5 percent.