Foreign buyers sustain sales surge

An influx of overseas buyers is prompting some developers to start their own mortgage financing operations to speed closings amid high demand. Developer Joe Milton, president and CEO of J. Milton & Associates, recently put up $100 million of his company’s cash to set up a mortgage company to fund loans help his clients close on units at the luxury St. Tropez condominium in Sunny Isles Beach. He said no loans are being made to foreign nationals, though they comprise 60 percent of his buyers. Jenny Huertas, the international sales director for Condo Vultures, a Bal Harbour-based brokerage and consultancy, said international buyers have revitalized the market. [Miami Herald]