After more than a year and a half, on November 8th, the international travel restrictions to enter the US have finally been lifted for over 30 countries. The US is […]
Miami-Dade County home sales continue to break records. September 2021 has been our best September sales month ever! In addition to that, the close of September has registered 2021 as […]
After more than a year and a half, on November 8th, the international travel restrictions to enter the US have finally been lifted for over 30 countries. The US is now allowing fully vaccinated travelers from these countries to enter the US upon showing proof of vaccination and a negative COVID test.
What does this mean for an already hot real estate market?
With the ban lifted, lines began forming at the US and Mexico borders even before daybreak. International flights are surging their way to the US with even dueling flights from cities like London, we are definitely seeing an influx of international travelers. On Monday November 8th, we saw 5,000 more arrivals than the Monday prior at Miami International Airport alone.
Though we believe many of the international travelers are here to see families after not being able to after over 19 months, we still think many are here with the purpose of investing in real estate both in this holiday wave of visitors and future waves in the new year.
International buyers in the past have made up to 5% of total sales volume in Florida. According to a report from the Florida Realtors, most foreign buyers that purchase properties in Florida come from Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela.The report also noted that the South Florida tri-county area gets the majority of foreign buyers (approximately 52%). It is likely many international travelers will also be interested in investing in Real Estate as well. In fact, we’ve started to hear that real estate brokers and agents have already started getting calls from foreign buyers in Canada, Latin America, Europe and other countries.
However, South Florida inventory is at an all time low currently. Palm Beach County has a little over one month of inventory, a 51% decrease from last year. Broward county has a one and a half month supply, a 40% decrease from last year. Miami-Dade County also has low inventory, only a 2.2 month supply of single family homes, a 42% decrease.
Bonnie Heatzig, executive director of luxury sales with Douglas Elliman in Boca Raton said, “An enlarged buyer pool looking to purchase when the inventory is at all-time lows will likely ignite the competitive bidding processes.”
“I’ve been trying to gear up as many off-market deals in the pipeline for when the flood comes in,” said Tony Rodriguez-Tellaheche, owner and managing broker at Prestige Realty Group.
With supply limited, options will be less. So the key question is, will foreign buyers be interested in the available real estate?
International buyers are not a “one-size fits all” type of group, instead their tastes differ. As Ignacio Diaz, co-owner of Group P6, a firm of luxury residential developers explains, some prefer luxury homes and condos, others look for properties with a “resort-like” feel, and some go for new construction.
“It’s hard to generalize, but mainly the foreign buyer tends to go towards condos because of the convenience,” said Edgardo Defortuna, President & CEO of Fortune International Group.
With record lows of homes, condos and townhomes in South Florida, the big issue facing all buyers (foreign, out of state and local) is lack of inventory. This makes the holiday season a great time for realtors to network with their friends and family to find out who in their network is looking to sell their home, as listings are “worth their weight in gold”.
Miami-Dade County home sales continue to break records. September 2021 has been our best September sales month ever! In addition to that, the close of September has registered 2021 as the best annual total Miami condo transactions, with three months of 2021 remaining to include.
This leaves many realtors, buyers, and sellers asking us questions like: “How come the South Florida Market keeps getting stronger?” and, “How long will this buying frenzy last?” To answer these questions, we need to look at what is going on in the market right now.
Miami and South Florida have always been a desirable location to move. We have great weather year round, and the price per square foot is significantly lower compared to our Global Competitors such as: New York, London, Geneva, Hong Kong and Monaco.
Though there are a slew of reasons for the South Florida and Miami-Dade real estate market boom, almost all of them can be attributed to a post-COVID world. Increased acceptance of Remote Based Employees allows people to get top paying jobs in states Like New York and California, while working from anywhere they like. Unlike many other states Florida opened as quickly as possible after lockdowns.
For those who are not at high risk and want the freedom to move around, it makes the sunny beaches and year round warm weather even more appealing for a remote work location to live. Especially when they do not have to sacrifice their income to live here.
As long as prime rates stay down and rent prices keep going up, buying a new home for South Florida locals is a smart investment.
Every week more companies are either moving their headquarters or opening a regional office here in South Florida. This is likely due to Miami’s proximity with Latin America as well as filling the demands of the increasing population here in South Florida. With more companies moving here, it creates more jobs which brings even more people moving here for work opportunities.
Foreign Buyers have been known to fuel buying frenzies in years past, especially in the Condo sector. However due to travel restrictions foreign buyers have been minimal since COVID lockdowns began. With travel restrictions loosening for International Travelers in November of this year, we are likely to see an increased participation of foreign buyers in our booming real estate market
One of the only things keeping this current market from exploding even more is lack of inventory. Although the lack of inventory does help to drive the prices higher as current buyers have to compete over the available inventory, many times leading to bidding wars and sellers receiving much over asking than expected.
End of the year leading into the holiday season it is typical to see reduced inventory, with more inventory becoming available again at the beginning of next year. Experts predict that 2022 will follow the same trend as potential home sellers become more comfortable listing and showing their homes. Plus the number of homeowners in mortgage forbearance will drop and likely bring more inventory to the market as well.
With all these factors in play, South Florida remains as one of the most desirable places to move globally, and we are likely to see this trend continuing for some time at least well into 2022 if not longer.
We, at Title Partners of Florida, write and support the real estate transaction closing, including the issuance of title insurance policies through Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund. We also coordinate searches, title products, and a variety of other services for our clients. Contact us with any questions about our real estate closing services by phone (844) 321-6168 or by email at titleinfo@titlepartnersfl.com.
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