The Gables thrive despite history of crashes

Despite a bevy of real estate collapses in its nearly 100-year history, Coral Gables is one of the richest cities in the South, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.

The city in Miami-Dade County has the 15th and 34th most expensive ZIP codes in the country by home prices, at $3.48 million and $2.67 million. The average sale price for a small house in northern Coral Gables is $500,000, broker Riley Smith told the Herald-Tribune. It is no easy task to find a property in poor shape there. The city’s consistency attracts buyers, Smith said.

“Everything is very organized and regimented, so property values stay more steady,” he told the newspaper. “There are not a lot of radical changes in the community. Everything is neater and cleaner. Other parts of Miami don’t look like Coral Gables.”

Back in the 1920s, Coral Gables was the largest real estate venture of its time, with $100 million invested and $3 million a year spent on a national advertising campaign, the Herald-Tribune said. But, following the Great Land Boom, Coral Gables saw a disastrous economic decline. Paper millionaires and salesmen went broke and headed north. The market crash of the 2000s pales in comparison. [Herald -Tribune] –Mark Maurer