South Florida by the numbers: Brazil is back

A map of Brazil (Credit: iStock)
A map of Brazil (Credit: iStock)

“South Florida by the numbers” is a web feature that catalogs the most notable, quirky and surprising real estate statistics.

Parabens! After years of political and economic chaos, Brazil has made a splashy return to Miami’s real estate radar in recent months. At one time a primary driver of Miami’s boom cycle, South America’s largest country fell into a deep recession in 2015 which, coupled with a strong U.S. dollar, severely hampered the stream of Brazilian buyers in Miami. But the election of a new president has coincided with a cautious optimism that appears to be reflected in local investment on macro and micro levels. Let’s explore Brazil’s new impact on Miami real estate in this month’s “South Florida by the numbers”.

No. 1: For the first time, Brazil’s ranking among countries buying South Florida homes in 2018, according to the Miami Association of Realtors. Brazilians made 12 percent of all foreign purchases of homes in the tri-county region last year, with Colombia and Venezuela tied for the second spot with 11 percent. [TheRealDeal]

$31 million: Price of a penthouse at 57 Ocean, which recently broke ground. The Miami Beach condo tower is being developed by Multiplan Real Estate Asset Management, which was founded by Brazilian billionaire José Isaac Peres. Prices at 57 Ocean start at $1.5 million, and completion is scheduled for September 2021. [TheNextMiami]

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$2,412: Per-square-foot price of a St. Regis Bal Harbour penthouse purchased by Brazilian music and entertainment mogul Jorge Sirena Pereira. Master Brokers Forum member Roberta Ingletto, who sold the unit, said the deal set a new price-per-square-foot record in the luxury condo complex, up 18 percent from the previous record of $2,053 per-square-foot. [TheRealDeal]

800,000: Total estimated number of passengers flying to Miami International Airport from Brazil in 2018, an increase of about 50,000 (or 6 percent) from 2017, according to information provided to the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau by Miami-Dade Aviation. The increase in Brazilian tourism and spending in Miami comes at least in part from an increased number of direct flights from Brazil to Miami via American Airlines, LATAM Airlines and Avianca Airlines, according to GMCVB Chief Operating Officer Rolando Aedo. [MiamiToday]

$12 billion: Estimated value of cargo shipped from Miami to Brazil each year, making it MIA’s largest international market for passengers and cargo flights. Miami-Dade County and Brazilian post office Correios recently announced a new shipping service that will slash the time it takes for e-commerce packages to travel from MIA to Brazil from weeks or months to days. [SFBJ]

This column is produced by the Master Brokers Forum, a network of South Florida’s elite real estate professionals where membership is by invitation only and based on outstanding production, as well as ethical and professional behavior.