Market Report for South of Fifth Condos for Sale | Q1 & Q2 2020

The South of Fifth Condo Market Update for Q1 & Q2 2020

We are writing this blog as a quarterly condo market update for South of Fifth. We will update you on the market’s performance as well as on current trends. Finally we will tell you what we expect to happen in the months to come and where we expect to see opportunities for great deals.

$500K to $2M

The South of Fifth Market has softened in the last few years. This year we are seeing less sales than in previous years and the price levels remained equal to those in 2018 and 2019.  In the last 6 months we saw 39 units being sold while only 13 of these sales happened in the last 3 months! The months of inventory are currently at 31, meaning it will take 31 months (almost 3 years) to absorb all units if the market remains like it is today and no new units will enter the market. Covid-19 has definitely had an impact on this market, potential buyers weren’t able to travel to Miami or to enter these buildings and therefore we have seen very limited sales. Sales has been very slow while at the same time some sellers are in desperate need for cash and therefore looking to sell. We expect inventory to rise further as more sellers might have to offload their real estate assets and the high season is only starting in November.  This is a great market for buyers ready to pull the trigger. You can use our data in the slideshow above to see which condos are best for your budget, which condos are selling at the highest discounts (Continuum, Murano, 321 Ocean and Icon) and which units have been on the market for the longest period of time.

Please call us at 305.508.0899 to really deep dive into the different condos or in case you have your eyes set on a specific South of Fifth condo for sale and would like to know its true market value.

Unit 505 at the South Tower was the best priced 2 bedroom sale in 2020. This property sold for $1.7M or $910 per SF. It was listed for $1,985,000  (14% discount). It stayed on the market just 22 days before being sold in January (Pre-covid)

$2M to $5M

We see the same trend here as in the other price ranges. The market has slowed down and price levels have stagnated. We are currently seeing 87 units on the market while 15 units sold in the last 6 months and 6 of these sold in the last 3 months. To put this into perspective; the market’s inventory increased from 35 to 43 months in the last 90 days. This means that under current market conditions it will take almost 4 years or 43 months to absorb all the current inventory. In other words the supply/demand curve is unbalanced and is currently favoring buyers, as there is more supply than demand.

The fact that there were no showings allowed for the last 2 months and buyers were not in town or hesitant to travel will undoubtedly have something to do with that. Although inventory is already high we do expect more product to enter the market in the months to come before the high season starts in November. With the global pandemic and economic decline we expect some owners to offload their units. Continuum units often being 2nd, 3rd or 4th homes and the stock market being bearish, offloading real estate might be the only way for some owners to get liquidity. Buyers can make really good deals this year and whomever ready to make a move can take advantage of that. In the beginning of 2020 we already saw declining prices and we can only expect this buyers market to grow stronger with additional inventory entering the market.

Condos like 321 Ocean, Portofino and Icon are seeing the highest levels of discounts on sales prices and in many condos the units stay on the market for more than half a year before being sold. Our Condo Geeks tool which we used for the graphs above show you which condos stay longest on the market, which offer the highest discounts and which one are offering the best prices!

The top sale in the last 90 days was at Continuum on South Beach (South Tower) where unit 1604 (2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and 2,292 SF) sold at $4,850,000 or $2,100 per SF.
This is a high price considering that the unit has developer finishes. The 04 line offers a beautiful wrap around terrace and has sold for a premium historically.

$5M+

The ultra-luxury market of South of Fifth is seeing a decline in the number of sales. While there were 6 sales in the last 12 months, there was only 1 sale in 2020. Also we can see that the sales price of that unit is below the average sales price of previous years. There are currently 44 units on the market with only 1 sale in the last 6 months. The market is unbalanced and there is much more supply than the market can absorb. Like mentioned before Covid-19 had an impact on this market. On the demand site, buyers were hesitant to fly into Miami or to pull the trigger. On the supply site we saw that many units hit the market during the pandemic as these condos are often second, third or fourth homes that must be taken off the books in a time like this. We expect the inventory to increase further in the months to come. This is a great market for vulture deals. Not every seller will appreciate low offers, but some might be happy to sell at a great discount.

In the last months Continuum South set the record for this price range as well with unit 3303 that sold at $8.4 M or $2,500 per SF