Miami condominiums are selling at a record speed, according to recent market reports, and the New York Post point to the most luxurious projects in the city.

Summer was hardly a vacation for those in the business of selling Miami real estate.  According to the recent article in New York Post forecast looks sunny again for Miami condo http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/realestate.

“I didn’t go to St. Tropez because of this,” says developer Gil Dezer, whose Sunny Isles Beach condo projects include the 384-unit Trump Royale and the three-building, 813-unit Trump Towers.  Dezer reports that he sold more than $100 million in Trump units during June, July and August ($50 million alone in August, including a $29 million, 34-unit bulk deal). He’s closed more than $1 billion in Trump condos overall and has only about 75 units left.

The three-building Trump Towers in Sunny Isles Beach

has sold about $800 million worth of condos

Recent Trump sales have been priced at about $525 per square foot and this is excellent price for Sunny Isles Real Estate, which mostly represented by luxury condos right on the beach. That’s significantly less than the $1,000-per-square-foot contracts buyers walked away from in 2009 after the financial crisis hit, but Dezer, who’s paid off the construction loans for all four buildings, seems satisfied. (Donald Trump participated in a ceremonial Trump Royale mortgage-burning ritual, lighting the document on fire himself, in January.)

The downturn “made the job challenging,” Dezer says. “Every day was a battle. But when you’re winning, it’s fun.”

Winning could also be used to describe the situation at Icon Brickell. That nearly 1,800-unit downtown colossus, built by the Related Group with designs by Philippe Starck, seemed to be in peril not long ago, and two of its three towers were deeded back to its lenders in May 2010. But Icon Brickell, which considered to be on the most luxurious condo in Miami,  now nearly sold out, with more than 1,500 units closing for a total of more than $700 million. When you factor in units in contract, only about 30 condos remain.

The Philippe Starck-designed Icon Brickell includes a spa.

“I think the market has consumed the inventory in a much more rapid way than I and probably everybody thought,” says Related Group chairman and CEO Jorge Perez, who adds that most buyers have been foreign. “The Latin American economy has been strong.”

“The forecast was that we would sell all the units in three years at an average price of $350 per square foot,” says Edgardo Defortuna, president of Fortune International Realty, which started selling Icon Brickell in June 2010.

Located just steps from the beach in the heart of South Beach  W South Beach Residences has closed about $260 million in condos at an average of $1,700-plus per square foot, developer David Edelstein  says. The W sold more than $50 million during the summer.

“One penthouse went for $7.7 million, north of $3,000 per square foot, said David.

W South Beach sells 23 units in three months

As with much of Miami, foreign buyers have been key at the W. From May through September, about 65 percent of Edelstein’s purchasers were foreign, and about half of those were from Brazil, who very actively investing in Miami Beach Real Estate.

The allure of the W has helped nearby condo buildings lure in buyers, including those from New York.

According to Bloomberg.com “Brazilians Buy Miami Condos at Bargain Prices. Frederico Azevedo went to Florida looking for a second home. He left with three, paying $300,000 and $500,000 for condos in two Miami towers, and $1 million for a unit at the Trump International resort in nearby Sunny Isles.” The Trump International or Miami Trump Towers in Sunny Isles Beach are the fastest selling condos at bargain price. “I bought one to use as a vacation home and the other two as investments,” Azevedo, 39, president of Construtora Altana Ltda, a housing-development company, said in a telephone interview from his office in Sao Paulo. “It’s actually very cheap in Miami compared to here.” Investors are once again are here and looking for deals and bargains all over the city, which became a real three hundred and sixty five days a year kind of  vacation destination, no one even remembers, that it once was a snow birds only place from October to March. The families with kids, honeymooners, students on the spring break, they all hear all year long.  Now the Brazilians discovered the paradise of the sun, water, Miami Luxury Condos Market at bargain prices. “Surging real estate prices in Brazil and the currency’s 45 percent gain against the U.S. dollar since 2008 are sending Brazilians to South Florida in search of bargain vacation homes and property investments. That’s helping bolster Miami’s condo market, with total sales increasing 79 percent in the first five months of 2011 from a year earlier, according to data from the Florida Association of Realtors released today.” Miami’s condo market is on the rise.  “In the Miami area, Brazilians bought 9 percent of homes and apartments sold to international buyers in the 12 months through March 2010, behind only Canadians and Venezuelans, according to the Miami Association of Realtors. Since then, “anecdotal evidence certainly points to a significant increase,” said Lynda Fernandez, a spokeswoman for the group. In May, international clients bought about 60 percent of existing houses and condos and 90 percent of newly built homes, the association reported today. As many as half of the downtown Miami condos that have been sold to foreigners for more than $500,000 since January were purchased by Brazilians” Downtown Miami Condos is one of the favorites among the investors and buyer from Brazil and South America. “The fastest economic growth in two decades last year and accelerating inflation made Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia more expensive than any U.S. city, according to a survey by ECA International, a London-based human-resources company.”

Be part of the dream with a luxury condo in one of The Trump Towers Sunny Isles, three sophisticate designed 45 story sky rises that offer opulence on the Atlantic Ocean. Own a piece of heaven in one of the buildings, filled with amenities and sumptuousness service to furnish to your every whim. Surrounded by magnificent views of the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway, this elite location embodies a new definition of luxury, ease, and convenience. Two and a half miles of gorgeous sandy beach are your backyard, and the most stylish restaurants and nightspots in the world as your playground. Trump Sunny Isles offers something truly unique, a chance to invest in a lifestyle that you yourself can articulate. The concierge is always ready to serve you, the pool boys will bring your towels, and you will feel royal in your own setting on your own terms. This is the setting for a new kind of lifestyle, where your options extend as the ocean views outside your windows. Located between chic condos of Bal Harbour and elegant Aventura lies the intimate seaside community of Sunny Isles Beach, South Florida’s new address for Trump Luxury. Indulge in one the finest and most recognized high-end shopping destinations in the world, gourmet dining, exclusive nightspots, as well as world-class art galleries and museums. This private oceanfront bliss in conveniently located thirty minutes away from Miami International and 15 minutes from Fort Lauderdale Airports.

Jade Ocean Sunny Isles

JADE Ocean Sunny Isles, a brilliant new building defined by cutting edge technology and modern design is the newest addition to Sunny Isles. Inspired by the 600 feet vast pristine shoreline spanning JADE Ocean. Carlos Ott, the renowned architect thought of the best way to “create a luxury building while still keeping it homogeneous with the natural environment”.  The 52 story tower with 250 luxury residences and embraces its residents with unmatched design, sophistication, glamor, and state of the art building with SMART technology. The striking entrance to the building has a cascading waterfall that leads to a beautiful 6 story drop off at the very front of the JADE Ocean Tower. The charming pool appears to flow throughout the middle of JADE Ocean from the Atlantic coast to Collins Avenue and whether you prefer sunshine or shade it is different than anything we’ve seen
in South Florida. Once inside, there’s concierge service available and an extensive list of luxury amenities awaiting you. Building features & amenities include floor to ceiling glass walls, comfortable floor plans, Spa, steam & health club, theater room, business center, conference room plus state of the art home panel technology making JADE Ocean a sophisticated smart building with computerized personal controls monitoring your residence and serving as a virtual butler. Located in magnificent in Sunny Isles, in between Miami and Fort Lauderdale the location of the building makes it an alluring place to live. Endless stores and restaurants are footsteps away along with access to a beautiful beach. Investing in a primary home or second residence at JADE is a truly unique experience for those that are ready for the new revolution in beautiful architecture, technology and ocean living.

United States Housing Market has risen in the month of January 2011 more than any experts or analytical parties expected. According to Commerce Department national housing market jumped about 15%. Economists are baffled, but very optimistic about the nearest future. None other place can feel this jump more than others is Miami Condo Market which can proudly report a diminishing condo inventory for the first time in couple of years. Miami Beach Condos, Downtown, South Beach, Sunny Isles Beach Condo sales are on the uphill. Investors and buyer are starting realize of the great opportunities Miami Condo Market have to offer with the prices being at its best. Investors mostly rent out the units they buy and the rent prices are very affordable in some of the most popular areas, like Brickell Miami, where you can rent a 1bedroom for about $2100 or 2 bedrooms for around $3000 apartment in the new Icon Brickell or South Beach pride and joy Continuum North and Continuum South. A lot of out of town investors love South Beach Condo Market because it gives them an opportunity to be where the action is, but like everything else in life it comes with the prices, sometimes a very high one, but the Atlantic Ocean and sandy beaches of Miami are hard to resist, that’s why the investors go a bit north, to a small paradise town of Sunny Isles Beach, just 20 minutes away from South Beach, but where condo buildings are as spectacular, if not more. As you enter Sunny Isles Beach you come upon 3 towers just finished by developers, Trump Towers, then you have an astonishing Turnberry Ocean Colony, which loved by investors like nothing else, and last but not list worth mentioning is a beauty Aqcualina, the newest members of the prestige club of Sunny Isles Beach Condo Market is newly finished by developers Jade Beach and Jade Ocean. According to released reports almost 85% of the Miami Condo inventory have been sold, this information is based on the condominiums been build since the boom, the building boom, which began in 2002 or as they more known developers golden years, when people where lining up at night to buy a Miami Condo. Real Estate experts, buyer  and seller knows that the golden age passed, but this time can defiantly be called a golden opportunity, condo prices are as low as they can go, inventory is askew  and the sun will always shine on Miami, no matter the price and condo inventory. It’s February 16 and it is 75 degrees, cannot get better than that.

Despite the headlines about “The Meltdown” of the Miami Real Estate Market, the luxury condo market still holds up high. Take Sunny Isles Beach, the City of Sun and Sea, it is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway, on east and west accordingly, Golden Beach is on the north and Bal Harbour is the south side. Sunny Isles Beach is directly in the middle between Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale, about 20 min ride and it has an easy access to restaurants, entertainment, business centers, sports, tourist attractions and recreational facilities. Sunny Isles Beach almost one million vacationers every year enjoy 2 ½ mile long white sand beach, water sports, fishing, tennis, water sports, shopping in Aventura Mall or Bal Harbour Shops. One of the stars of Sunny Isles Beach is Jade Ocean, an absolute amazing, magnificent 51 story masterpiece, overlooking most pristine beach in South Florida. Jade Ocean is an art form with it cascading fountains, reflecting pools and lush landscaping, three story lobby with breathtaking views of the ocean and infinity pool. Jade Ocean Sunny Isle Beach provides an array of amenities that is as unique as it building itself, Smart Living, multimedia network with high speed, everything in this tower created in order to cater to residences every whim and secret desire. Simply put it, Jade Ocean is a resort style living at your fingertips with it distinctive glass tower by renowned designer Carlos Ott.  Spa offers an array of treatments, massages, lounge area, stem rooms and so much more. Jade Ocean have one of the most advanced Techno Gyms exist, children have their own private room for fun and games and adults a private cinema. The units have unobstructed ocean and Intercoastal views, downtown Miami, not to mention modern kitchens with every high end appliance conceivable, smart home technology. The 2 Story Penthouse has an oversize master bedroom with separate bathroom for him and her and a maid quarters.  Jade Ocean Sunny Isles Beach have an amazing array of neighbors to south and north that is stars on its own like its constant companion Jade Beach, magnificent Aqcualina, a pride of Sunny Isles Beach Real Estate Trump Royale, Trump Palace and  Trump Towers. The new star on the beach is Jade Ocean with it extraordinary views of Atlantic Ocean, sunrise and sunset infinity pools, state of the art gym, high speed technology, personal identity fingerprint touch screen in the unit to access any service that Jade Ocean have to offer, luxurious spa, massage. Life in the Jade Ocean is simply richer, luxurious, easy and fun.

Bal Harbour is synonymous with luxury shopping, boasting brands like Cartier, Louis Vuitton and Prada at the family-owned Bal Harbour Shops, which opened in 1965.

That association is hardly a bad thing, but the tiny village north of Miami Beach wants to stand for more than just a high-fashion mall. Tourism director Carolyn Travis, who has a $1.8 million budget funded by resort taxes to promote the destination, is seeking to add more substance to the area’s style.

“People want experiences,” she said.  “Our goal was to be able to build more of that within our community.” Since the beginning of 2010, the village has added a children’s camp run by the Miami Children’s Museum at the Sea View Hotel to reach family travelers. It also introduced free yoga and Pilates classes on the beach for locals and hotel guests.

In October, Bal Harbour is starting a culture series that will include movies on the sand once a month, outdoor music performances every month and art nights at the shops, featuring the brands’ own art collections and exhibitions from local galleries and museums like North Miami’s Museum of Contemporary Arts.

The Bal Harbour village has contracted with sales and public relations staff in New York, Latin America and Europe; promotes itself at high-end travel trade shows and advertises in magazines like Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler and Departures.

A new St. Regis Bal Harbour on the beach is scheduled to open in June of 2012, will be the most privileged condo and condo/hotel in Bal Harbour Real Estate, bringing the number of hotels to three with just under 1,000 rooms. The former Regent Bal Harbour opened as One Bal Harbour in 2009, joining the 1950′s-era Sea View Hotel.

One Bal Harbor is perfectly designed 26-story luxury oceanfront condo, which was built in Bal Harbour in years, and One Bal Harbour Resort and Spa is a five star luxury boutique hotel with room service, concierge assistance and valet parking. There is also the fine waterfront dining and a world-class spa located within the hotel. One Bal Harbour considered to be one of the most elite projects in South Florida Real Estate.

One Bal Harbour Resort and Spa general manager Florent Gateau said he sees visitors, especially large family groups, from the Northeast, Europe and South America. Their main draw is the shops, he said, and the surrounding hot spots like South Beach. He said the guests are still coming back to the hotel with shopping bags — but they’re not going crazy.

“The spending pattern is still there, but people are being more cautious,” he said. They want to use their money for “something of real significance.”

Travis said the village wants people to stay in the hotels — but is also happy to have visitors who are staying elsewhere. This summer, shuttle service started on Collins Avenue as far south as Lincoln Road in South Beach, well-known for Art Deco elegance, boutique hotels, night clubs, shopping and luxury waterfront South Beach Real Estate, specifically in exclusive SoFi (South of Fifth) area.

The Bal Harbor village doesn’t shy away from placing itself in the larger context of South Florida, even if it means dropping some names. On Bal Harbour’s website, the greeting says: “Miami Beach to the south of us, city of Sunny Isles Beach (famous for most exclusive Sunny Isles Real Estate with luxury oceanfront condos like Trump Towers Miami, Jade Beach and Jade Ocean and beautiful beaches, bound by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Intracoastal Waterway) to the north, not a single destination above us.”  You can read original article by Hanna Sampson at Miami Herald: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/22/1785467/bal-harbour-more-than-a-luxury.html#ixzz0xRfEBC65.

Sunny Isles Real Estate offers a variety of luxurious oceanfront condos at discount prices which are reduced up to 50% of compare pre-construction prices. Below are some of the best deals in the area:

Trump Towers Miami

These three luxury Miami waterfront towers have a privileged location among all the other Sunny Isles condos. The condos are located across to the Oleta River Park, and if you are looking west from Trump Towers you can see beautiful park, canals and downtown Miami. Trump Tower I is completely sold out, Trump Tower II is about 85% sold out and Trump Tower III is scheduled to start the sell in the middle of September. The prices will fluctuate between $360/SF to just over $400/SF, so if you’re looking to buy a Sunny Isles Beach condo now it’s a perfect time to do it.

Jade Ocean Sunny Isles Beach

Jade Ocean is an amazing ultramodern oceanfront tower made almost entirely of impact glass. Jade Ocean condo residences are enjoying lavish beachfront lifestyle every day in every possible way. Floor to ceiling impact glass walls and open terraces offering expansive views of Sunny Isles Beach, Miami Beach and endless torques blue ocean views. Jade Ocean residences are available for as low as $550 per foot, down almost 50% off original preconstruction price.

Trump Royale Sunny Isles Beach

This luxurious oceanfront condominium, located next to it’s sister tower Trump Palace now is ready for the new owners. With over 380 units, Trump Royale has become one of the most prestigious addresses in Sunny Isles Beach. Featuring unparalleled uninterrupted views of the Atlantic Ocean and Intracoastal Waterway, no expense has been spared in the design and superb obsession to detail in the generously apportioned interiors and perfect craftsmanship. Trump Royale is incomparable with its offering of personal service and amenities is the most luxurious residence in South Florida. Prices have down almost 40% off original pre-construction prices, so if you are looking for deal in Miami Beach, residence at the Trump Royal will be an excellent choice for Sunny Isles Beach luxury condo at perfect price.

This was published in NYPost on July 8, 2010. This article was written By K. Dykstra

The South Florida Real Estate ride has been a harrowing one. Back in 2004 and 2005, when money was cheap and easy, condos changed hands as fast as developers could conceive of them. Apartments were flipped again and again, long before the buildings were even built. Prices hit inconceivable heights — $1,000 per square foot for Miami!

Of course, many of these units lost about half their value during the downturn, and buildings struggled to stay afloat after buyers bailed on their contracts. But now, after some major price adjustments, things are looking sunnier — at least in one beach community.

After early buyers walked away from contracts, Jade Beach and Jade Ocean are making a comeback. The first building has just one unit left, and the second is 55 percent closed. Prices, not surprisingly, have been lowered. Sunny Isles Beach Real Estate — situated next to tony Golden Beach on the north, Bal Harbour Real Estate on the south and Aventura Real Estate on the west — is home to a three-building, 813-unit Trump Towers complex on Collins Avenue that has sold more than $100 million in condos this year. Even more important, more than $60 million of these deals have actually closed.

Just north on Collins Avenue, the 256-residence Jade Ocean development has sold about 10 units per month this year, with prices averaging $1.4 million. Fifty-five percent of the building has closed.

Make no mistake, this is all happening at a big discount. “We really set the floor for pricing in Miami,” Gil Dezer, president of Dezer Properties, says of  Trump Towers. “Here we are in a Trump building, selling at $450 a foot on the ocean. People are waiting for the bottom, and I think we hit the floor.”

Dezer is also in charge of the nearby Trump Grande, another three-tower development on Collins Avenue. That complex includes the Trump International hotel and two residential towers with 669 condos combined. “We were averaging $1,000 a foot before [the downturn], and now we’re getting about $550 a foot; we’re down literally 45 percent,” Dezer says of Trump Grande.

The story is similar over at Jade Ocean, which is fetching about $625 per square foot, down from $840 per square foot at its peak. “We sold [Jade Beach] at an average of $540 a square foot; the resales went up to $750 a square foot,” says Edgardo Defortuna, president and CEO of Fortune International Development, which developed this 51-story sister property of Jade Ocean. “But some of those buyers didn’t close, and we ended up taking those units back.”

But in the last six months, Defortuna has managed to resell the remainder of Jade Beach’s 248 units — save one, which is available for $2.3 million. Next door at Jade Ocean, “We’ve been selling eight to 12 units per month since late 2009,” he says. Over at Trump Grande, Dezer “started closings in January of 2009, right in the middle of the whole mess. We were totally sold out, and then a lot of people elected not to close because they couldn’t get financing or their situations had changed; I heard every situation in the book.”

But he’s managed to completely resell one Trump Grande building and is 65 percent through the other. In January, Dezer Development decided to bet even bigger on Sunny Isles Real Estate by assuming a $265 million loan from a development partnership that included the Related Group in order to take over sales of Trump Towers. Since then, Dezer has sold about 285 apartments at Trump Towers at an average of around $420 per square foot. Part of this success is thanks to Sunny Isles’ beach location surrounded by wealthy enclaves. Golden Beach Real Estate, full of multimillion-dollar mansions (Ricky Martin has one), recently completed a $30 million civic improvement project that included landscaping and an eco-friendly storm-water drainage system.

“The projects that typically felt the bust a little stronger or a little more harshly were because the investors would make decisions based on the numbers, but the emotional purchaser and the end user are always the stronger buyers,” says area broker Jodi Macken, president of Macken Realty. “Thankfully, Golden Beach has sustained itself because it caters toward an end user.” Nearby Bal Harbour is a shopping destination that rivals Madison Avenue or Rodeo Drive. And Aventura is a quiet golf and beach destination favored by Michael Jordan and a sharp set who can’t stand the bustle of South Beach Real Estate. “People bring their friends, they go shopping at Bal Harbour,” says Defortuna. “The Sunny Isles Real Estate market has become very attractive.”

According to the article in “Miami  Helard” Dezer Properties takes stake in Sunny Isles Beach Trump Towers. Here  are the highlights of the article: As the Related Group unwinds projects, Dezer Properties has taken over the Miami mega-condo developer’s ownership stake at Trump Towers in Sunny Isles Beach and is assuming the remaining debt on the property. “Condominium prices are being cut by at least 30 percent at the newly built skyscrapers”, said Dezer Properties President Gil Dezer, as the company tries to unload hundreds of unsold units amid a troubled real-estate market. Real-estate experts say the prices now rank below competing new oceanfront properties countywide.
“Trump Towers is 813-unit oceanfront condominium in Sunny Isles Beach project at 16001 Collins Ave. was co-developed by Related and Dezer with Related responsible for construction and financing and Dezer in charge of sales and marketing”, Dezer said. The towers derived their name through a licensing deal with NY real-estate mogul Donald Trump. Following three months of negotiations with lenders, Dezer said his company assumed the former partnership’s $265 million loan on Dec. 31, 2009. He declined to comment on other financial aspects of the deal with Related, but said it was “an amicable split.” “It was a matter of [Related CEO] Jorge [Perez] having a lot on his hands and us being in the Sunny Isles market and being the best fit to handle this,” Dezer said. The Dezer family-owned business holds 45 acres of oceanfront land in Sunny Isles Beach, with sites for eight more buildings, he said.

Trump Towers is not the first project that Related, among the most aggressive developers during the real-estate boom, has exited. And the company has been negotiating for months with lenders regarding its $1 billion ICON Brickell project, a three-tower, 1,800-unit luxury development in the 400 block of Brickell Avenue in Miami. With the prices slashed to $265 per square foot, it’s a great deal for luxury new condo. “We plan to do more projects together,” Dezer said of Related, declining to discuss specifics, but adding that an architect for a new project had just left his office. “I will take Jorge as a partner any day of the week because he is a great partner.”
The Dezers, Gil and father Michael Dezer, also developed Trump Grande in Sunny Isles Beach, a three-building oceanfront enclave that includes the Trump International Beach Resort, built in 2003; Trump Palace, completed in 2006 and sold out; and Trump Royale, which was finished in 2008 and is 60 percent sold out. In addition to their South Florida properties, the Dezers’ holdings include 27 buildings in New York.
CHANGING MARKET
For Trump Towers, Wells Fargo, the lead agent of a syndicate of 11 banks, extended financing for four more years, giving the company time to sell the remaining 435 unsold units, Dezer said. Prices now range from $350 per square foot for most units to $600 a square foot for penthouses, he said. “It’s like a relaunch. What we originally sold was preconstruction with 20 percent down, and we had almost 900 units spoken for,” Dezer said. “Then the crisis hit as we called for closings, and many buyers had their situations changed. So we’re selling the units back in inventory.”
“Each of the three 45-story towers has 271 units. Tower I has 260 units sold, and Tower II is about 40 percent sold with 105 sold, he said. During the next two to three months, Dezer will send out closing notices to those who put down deposits on Tower III, and give them the option to move over at a reduced price to Tower II. Tower III was sold out at an average price of $720 per square foot, with some sales at more than $1,000 a square foot”, Dezer said. During preconstruction sales a few years ago, Trump prices began at $600 to $700 a square foot, said Craig Studnicky, president of International Sales Group, an Aventura-based real-estate sales and marketing firm that specializes in Sunny Isles Beach Real Estate and Aventura Real Estate. At $350 a square foot, the price now is even below replacement cost, Studnicky said. “If they went to build today, it would cost $400 to $450 a square foot, including land.” “However, Trump Towers’ new prices reflect the current glut of unsold units”, said real-estate analyst David Dabby.