Low prices, high culture rejuvenate downtown Miami market

The downtown Miami housing market is on the upswing, according to the Financial Times, largely because of lower price points and the influx of cultural institutions to the area.

In the past decade some 22,500 new condominium units were brought to the market, and many were purchased at high prices years from completion. When the bubble burst one-third of new apartments were unsold.

But population is beginning to catch up. The downtown population has doubled to 70,000 people over the last decade and tight lending has slowed construction of additional units. With the opening of the American Airlines Arena the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, an arts district, high-end hotels and restaurants and the annual Art Basel Miami fair, more affluent people are flocking to the 60-block area.

And they’re encountering lower prices. New units that come to the market are selling at about $380-per-square-foot — 30 to 50 percent less than they sold for before the crash.

All these factors, the Financial Times said, are combining to help reverse one of the areas hardest hit by the recession. [FT]