Billionaire real estate developer Richard LeFrak made an appearance on BloombergGo this morning to give his perspective on the condo market — especially the luxury sector — in both South Florida and New York City.
“In Miami…the market there is somewhat dependent on the dollar exchanges,” LeFrak said. “A lot of the customers come from Latin America; a lot of those customers are suffering, especially Brazil… from a let’s say poor local economy.”
Recent months have seen a strong slowdown in Miami area condo sales, especially for neighborhoods like Sunny Isles Beach that have large concentrations of high-price condos.
LeFrak said markets tend to correct themselves, and in New York, he predicts that will lead to condos converting to apartments in order to cash in on a steady national rental market.
Both millennials and baby boomers, he said, are looking to urbanize and move out of the suburbs. That means more demand from two of the nation’s largest demographics.
South Florida’s rental market has already seen growing interest from investors, as evidenced by the more than $2.8 billion worth of multifamily properties that traded hands during 2015.
“The rental apartment business has been unbelievably good, and it’s going to continue to be good,” Lefrak said. [Bloomberg] —Sean Stewart-Muniz