S & J Journal

Brazil. As reported by the South Florida Business Journal , Brazil ranked highest for property searches of Miami listings for sale in August 2013.  Brazil was followed by Canada, Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela. Among U.S. cities searching for Miami properties online, the top five were: California - Los Angeles Georgia – Atlanta New York – NYC Texas – Dallas Illinois – Chicago Read the full article.   NOTE: Topping visitors to our real estate blog last month are Canadians and Russians.

Home prices across the nation rose by 9.3% in February from a year ago , the highest increase since May 2006, possibly due to an increasing number of homebuyers and a limited supply of inventory. Miami's price gain was even greater at 10.4% over last year, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index. Read the USA Today article.

Canada's national newspaper, The Globe and Mail , reported Canadians are helping the Florida real estate market recover by being their number one foreign buyer... Citing the most recent S&P Case-Shiller data, the report says the price of a single family home in South Florida surged 12% from its low point in April 2011. In 2010, transactions involving Canadian buyers accounted for 36% of all real estate purchases by foreigners, it says. More than 500,000 Canadians now own Florida property, according to the report. “Florida properties are a bargain compared to real estate in Canada. The median priced home in Florida is nearly half than that in Canada,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank. Among the most desirable locations for Canadians are Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice, Orlando-Kissimmee and Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Palm Beach. Read the article.

We have started the year off with lots of activity in the real estate market. (So much so, that Slesnick & Jochem is holding five open houses this Sunday!) Here is a chart we clipped from Miami Today (January 17, 2013 edition) prepared by EWM Realty that shows how the market has performed in the past ten years in Miami-Dade County - the graphic includes Inventory, Sales, and Prices... Our Sunday Opens (early so you don't miss the Super Bowl)

The Miami Association of Realtors held a conference last week at the Biltmore called the Miami International Real Estate Congress where 250 agents from the United States and ten foreign countries joined together to network and discuss the Miami/Miami Beach residential markets. These remain highly sought-after cities for international buyers and investors. The Association reported that the largest amount of foreign real estate purchases here are from Venezuelans, followed by Argentinians and Brazilians. Generally this is because prices are still better in Miami than in those countries' markets. Latin Americans account for about 70% of the international real estate transactions in Miami and Miami Beach (Western Europeans 18%). Read more here:   http://www.miamiherald.com/ 2012/11/05/3083404/foreign- interest-in-miami-property. html#storylink=cpy

Listen to Jeannett Slesnick and Ginger Jochem on the Coral Gables Real Estate Today Radio Show on 880 AM The Biz every Wednesday from 1 to 1:30 p.m. This past week, Jeannett and Ginger gave a glimpse of the cost of real estate around the world. The price per square foot in some of the world’s biggest cities will amaze you. See how Miami compares below… LOWEST WORLDWIDE Santiago, CHILE $160/sq.ft. LOWEST USA Houston, TX $54/sq.ft. MEDIAN WORLDWIDE Athens, GREECE $890/sq.ft. MEDIAN USA Chicago, IL $158/sq.ft. (Miami, FL ranks nearby at $178/sq.ft. Coral Gables’ price per square foot is $371) HIGHEST WORLDWIDE Paris, FRANCE $3,287/sq.ft. HIGHEST USA New York, NY $1,068/sq.ft. Prices in U.S. Dollars. Figures based on 2011 MLX data and Credit Sesame Blog.

Miami foreign real estate investments in 2011 are in the billions of dollars, according to a recent Florida Trend article. Some projects announced this year include: Brickell CitiCentre - a $700-million retail, office, hotel and condo tower, Developer from Hong Kong. Resorts World Miami - $3.8-billion project with four hotels, casino, condos, mega pool, convention center, Developer from Malaysia. Brickell House – 18-story, 96-unit condo tower in the city’s arts district, Developer from Argentina. International buyers are attracted to Miami’s location and appeal, condo rental market, and real estate that is more affordable than other metro cities in the U.S. and South America. Direct foreign investment in Miami commercial real estate reached $472 million this year from 2010’s $16 million.