Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

With travel ban lifted, international buyers could make the South Florida real estate market even hotter

With travel ban lifted, international buyers could make the South Florida real estate market even hotter

South Florida real estate agents are bracing for a wave of international buyers to flood the South Florida housing market as a result of the federal government easing pandemic-related travel restrictions last Monday. If the influx is as large as anticipated, a tight housing market will grow even more competitive. In Florida, foreign buyers make up about 5% of the dollar volume of sales. Experts believe that with travel restrictions lifted, they’ll be making their way to South Florida to buy a home or condo. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

Cold feet can delay real estate closing, but the usual culprit is paperwork errors  

The closing is the last step in the long, sometimes difficult, almost always anxious journey in buying and selling a house. And it can be just as ripe for pitfalls as any other part of the process. According to a poll of 50,000 agents and brokers by the National Association of Realtors, only 6% of settlements go off without some kind of hitch. [Source: Miami Herald]

‘Granny flats’ are rising in popularity amid the pandemic, study says

Accessory dwelling units are rising in popularity in the wake of the pandemic — and for older adults, they’re increasingly viewed as an alternative to a long-term care facility. Often dubbed “granny flats,” the most popular use of an accessory dwelling unit nationwide this year was to house a parent of the homeowner, according to a new study from HomeLight, a real estate referral company. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

This Florida city tops the planet for high-end housing price hikes over the last year

Miami leads the globe for the highest price jump a city’s luxury housing market over the last year. Prices increased by about 26% from the the third quarter of 2020 to the third quarter of 2021, according to the latest luxury sales report issued Wednesday by the British-based Knight Frank firm. The report analyzed price changes for the “most desirable and expensive property in a given location,” which is generally defined as the top 5% in the market by value for 46 cities across the world. [Source: Miami Herald]

South Florida’s affordability crisis is only getting worse. Here’s what it would take to fix it.

The housing crisis in South Florida has only grown worse over the past decade, and with most fixes taking years to implement, the lack of affordability could lead to negative effects on South Florida’s economy. It’s a tale of ups and downs. During the real estate boom of 2005, affordability, defined as how much housing costs relative to income, in South Florida plummeted as housing prices rose, according to data from ATTOM Data, a provider of nationwide property data. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

STAT OF THE WEEK
$1,305
A seller has sold a 4,598-square-foot building built in 1951 located in the 400 block of 27th Street in the Hialeah-area. The deed was signed on September 29, 2021. The purchase price was $6,000,000, or $1,305 per square foot.[Source: Miami Herald]

ALSO TRENDING:

› Go inside one of Tampa Bay's rare midcentury modern homes
This midcentury modern house in Lutz was designed by architect Dan Duckham and completed in 1971. John Palmer Jr. built the home, lost it, then came to live there again 50 years later.

› Tight market helps keep Jacksonville-area home prices at $310,000 median
Jacksonville-area homebuyers kept paying high prices — half spent more than $310,000 — as the number of homes for sale shrank last month, data from the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors shows. “In October, we had barely a month’s inventory available for buyers, and this challenge does not appear to have any hope of waning,” NEFAR President Missi Howell said in remarks the association circulated as monthly sales data was released this week.

› Coral Gables-based agency looks north, opens real estate office in Palm Beach
Palm Beach just became home to a new real estate agency, Berkshire Hathaway HomeService (BHHS) EWM Realty. The Coral Gables-based company last week opened its 11th office on Worth Avenue, its first in Palm Beach County. The other locations are in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. The agency’s executive office at 205 Worth Ave. marks a natural progression for the company, said Ron Shuffield, president and CEO of BHHS EWM Realty.

› Treasure Coast homes bought by Zillow now up for sale
The large selling off of homes owned by real estate website giant Zillow is also happening on the Treasure Coast. As many as 20 homes in St. Lucie County are listed on the Zillow website. Last week, 30 Zillow-owned homes were up for sale, some at prices less than what the company paid to buy the homes.