Two veteran luxury real estate agents discuss how a booming South Beach market is leading to migration to neighborhoods to the north as well.
Katrina Campins and Lana Bell at Unit #501N at The St. Regis Bal Harbour.
As newcomers continue to crowd the condos of Miami Beach, locals and family-oriented buyers are also heading north along Collins Avenue and Biscayne Boulevard to find alternative residences. Katrina Campins, a Miami native and luxury real estate specialist with Trump International Realty, and Lana Bell of One Sotheby’s International Realty’s Sunny Isles office explain what northern neighborhoods have to offer.
Katrina Campins: With Trump, I’m still selling Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Miami Shores, Biscayne, and it’s general real estate. You’ve always seen the international buyers coming to Miami, and more people want to be here because of the weather. You also see a lot of New Yorkers—that’s causing congestion. People are finding other places to reside because Miami Beach is becoming touristy on another level.
Lana Bell: I live in Sunny Isles because I think it’s the best, location-wise. It’s 20 minutes from South Beach; you’re 20 minutes from Fort Lauderdale. We have everything—we have parks, schools, Aventura, Bal Harbour, gorgeous beaches. My clients buy big units on the beach. In Sunny Isles, you can get much more for your money than South Beach. It’s more family-oriented [and] a quiet area—that’s what attracts people. That’s why they slide north.
A large balcony from One Bal Harbour’s Unit 1401, listed by Bell.
KC: A lot of people that were on Miami Beach for years have decided to move to the Biscayne corridor. You saw that at Bay Point, Belle Meade, and now it’s continuing to go north into Miami Shores. Sans Souci and Keystone have been there forever, but now you’re seeing people from Miami Beach making that transition to those neighborhoods. They have amazing school systems; people are moving there for that. You still see kids riding their bicycles in the neighborhood. You see couples walking with their dogs.
LB: Families who have three or four kids, plus the staff, need the space. New projects [in Sunny Isles] are spectacular. The Estates at Acqualina, which is completely sold out, is breaking all grounds price-wise because the square footage is 4,500 square feet, four bedrooms. That’s what people need. In Sunny Isles, we’re talking about $1,500 and up per square foot, which is nothing compared to South Beach. We’re waiting for our $3,000 per foot—it’s coming. It will get there because South Beach has no more space unless they demolish old buildings. Sunny Isles is going to have 17 new condominiums. We’re going to be the most expensive new city in South Florida.
The view from Unit #501N.
KC: The Shores is still very reasonable. You can get something at $300 a square foot. Families are moving there because you get more for your money—you get a pool; you get great school systems. If you look at the pending sales in Miami Shores, there are 20 sales at a time. And the Shores isn’t that big. People are getting into the area—I think it will become the next Coral Gables. Also, people in South Florida are upgrading or downgrading, depending on where they are in the cycle of life.
LB: We don’t have enough inventory, but there’s a lot of competition in Sunny Isles. Sunny Isles is going to have between two to three years where we’re going to have very high-end inventory on the market. The buildings that they’re building are very expensive, starting from $3.5 million and up. It’s 190 units, 70 units, depending on the building. There are a lot of investors who still buy, and brokers sell them. By the time they’re done, I don’t see them flipping and making another 25 or 30 percent. It’ll never happen. They’re going to have to close because they put 50 percent down, but they’re going to rent, they’re going to sell, and they’re going to drop the prices. Katrina Campins, Trump International Realty, 4400 NW 87th Ave., Miami, 786-493-5652. Lana Bell, One Sotheby’s International Realty, 3873 Sunny Isles Blvd., North Miami Beach, 305-336-0457