Not many people can say they own their own island.  That rare opportunity is available  in Miami-Dade County, Florida now.

I was overjoyed to learn that The Miami Herald wrote and featured a front page story on my 8 acres island listing.

Thinking about entering the South Florida real estate market as a South Florida home buyer? I can help!

As your South Florida real estate expert, I’ll provide you with invaluable home buying tools to help you make an educated decision on the South Florida real estate market, including:

• Buyer FAQs
• Buying South Florida Real Estate Ebook
• Information on our communities, including Aventura, Golden Beach, Hallandale and Sunny Isles
• And more!

Until next time,

Scott

Brazilians are visiting and investing in South Florida in record numbers, according to a recent article in The Miami Herald.

The South Florida newspaper reported that not only are Brazilians storming the luxury South Florida real estate market, but they’re also investing in local businesses.

According to the article, the recent surge in Brazilian visitors and Brazilian home buyers in the South Florida real estate market is largely credited to Brazil’s booming economy.  In fact, the country’s economy is expected to become the fifth largest in the world by 2016.

In addition, Brazil’s currency is stronger than the dollar, which makes investing in South Florida all the more appealing for Brazilian home buyers.

More Signs that Brazilians Are Making a Huge Impact on South Florida Real Estate

Luxury  Condominiums and Properties Available Now in Aventura, Florida and other South Florida Communities

As a seasoned South Florida REALTOR, I understand the importance of remaining informed about the South Florida real estate market in order to better serve South Florida home buyers.

Whether you’re an international home buyer from Brazil or a native Floridian who is interested in relocating within the state, I can provide you with expert real estate advice and cutting-edge home buyer tools, including:

• Buying South Florida Real Estate eBook
• Buyer FAQs
• And more!

I also suggest you browse all the available listings in some of South Florida’s most beautiful communities, including Aventura, Hallandale, Hollywood and Golden Beach.

As it has become increasingly difficult to get a South Florida mortgage in recent years, more South Florida home buyers are using cash to purchase homes, according to recent real estate market data.

According to the National Association of Realtors, about 28 percent of 2010 home sales involved all-cash transactions.  This trend appears to be an increasing,  especially when one considers that in 2008, 14 percent of all real estate transactions were cash only.

In the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area, the prevalence of all-cash transactions is even more apparent.  In 2010, more than half of all transactions in the area involved cash buyers.

South Florida Home Buyers Find Getting a Mortgage Difficult

Some experts have suggested that the sluggish housing market has caused the increase in cash-only real estate transactions. Here’s why.

After the housing market bubble burst, many lenders tightened their belts and made it more difficult to get a mortgage.  According to a national survey by MortgageMatch.com:

• 70.6 percent of Americans feel like the difficulty of getting a mortgage is a serious problem.
• 32.3 percent of Americans found that understanding the mortgage process and meeting lender requirements is more difficult than getting the mortgage itself.
• 79 percent of recent home buyers said that getting a mortgage was as difficult or more difficult than they expected.
• 20.9 percent of home buyers said that it stressed them out more to wait for approval on a mortgage than to wait to hear back on a job opportunity.
• 10.8 percent of borrowers said their lender charged them a higher interest rate than they were originally quoted or expected.
• 20.7 percent of borrowers said that finding a lender that was easy to work with was a challenge.

All Cash South Florida Real Estate Deals Seen as a More Attractive Option

The recent data released on home buyers’ perceptions of getting a mortgage suggests that  the process is stressful, frustrating and upsetting.

Meanwhile, those home buyers who are opting to use cash on their real estate purchase are finding that the process is easy and even advantageous.

Home buyers who use cash only usually get 5 to 10 percent  off the asking price of a home as compared to those buyers who use a mortgage.

Many South Florida real estate experts agree that sellers prefer cash real estate transactions because they tend to be quicker.  In addition, the seller doesn’t have to worry about a bank rescinding  a mortgage deal.

Homes for Sale Available Now

Are you interested in checking out some of the properties available now in Aventura, Florida and other nearby communities such as Golden Beach and Hallandale? Then contact me, Scott Patterson, your South Florida real estate expert.

As your South Florida REALTOR, I’ll keep you up to date on more trends like this one in the Aventura real estate market as well as let you know of any Aventura homes that enter the Aventura real estate market.

443 Alamanda Drive Under Contract

Last week my listing 443 Alamanda Drive located in the gated Golden Isles Waterfront Community went under contract.  It sold for $995,000 and is a 4 Bedroom, 3.5 Bath and over 3,300 sq.ft. 1969 waterfront home.  The buyer was an international buyer from Romania.

To receive updates Subscribe to my Golden Isles, Golden Beach, Hollywood and Aventura Real Estate Blog!

Where Did The Buyers Come From??

France

Slovenia

U.S. (Miami)

U.S. (New Jersey)

Canada

Golden Isles Year In Review

Golden Isles is a gated waterfront single family home community with approximately 307 homes.  In 2008 there were a total of 10 sales in Golden Isles.  The lowest sales price was $500,000 and the highest sales price was $1,649,000.  I am very active in this community and sold 50% or 5 of the sales in this community in 2008 including the 2 sales mentioned above.  Clients often ask me “Where will the buyer for my house come from”? and although I don’t have a crystal ball, I do know where 50% of the buyers for this Golden Isles Waterfront community came from and even though this community is a small part of South Florida it is still a good representation of how international South Florida truly is.

Golden Isles Active Listings

Active Listings: 31

Highest Priced Listing: $4,999,000

Lowest Priced Listing:  $769,900

Supply & Demand Hollywood Florida

In order to assist both Buyers and Sellers in better understanding the South Florida real estate market and precisely Hollywood East including “Hollywood Lakes” I have provided a “Supply and Demand” graph of the past 5 years. The peak of the market was April 2005 when there was hardly any inventory and tons of sales creating what is called a “Sellers Market”, we had approximately as little as 2 months supply of single family homes in both Broward and Miami-Dade Counties.

Condo v.s. Single Family Homes

If we were to graph different areas throughout South Florida they would all look very similar to this graph with the exception of the “Condo Market” which is dramatically different. Although often grouped together the “Condo Market” and the “Single Family Home” market are “Apples and Oranges”. The “Single Family Home” “Waterfront Market” is in much better shape than any other sector of the real estate market. Sellers were in the drivers seat for a very long time but today the Buyers have much of the control due to the abundance of inventory and especially International Buyers that are also taking advantage of the weak dollar.

What Is A Healthy Real Estate Market?

Many of the single family home markets have anywhere from 20 to 50 months supply of inventory and some of the condo markets have up to 90 months supply, depending on the location, price range and even the development. To give you an idea of what is a “Healthy Market”, we need no more than 6 to 12 months supply, below 6 months supply is a “Sellers Market” and above 12 months supply is a “Buyers Market”.

International Influence

I could talk about supply & demand and the whole real estate market forever but let’s all be thankful we are selling and/or owning properties in South Florida (Hollywood, Golden Isles, Aventura and Golden Beach) where we have one of the largest concentration & influence of international Buyers in the US. The Aventura Mall is now one of the top grossing malls in the country mainly due to “International” shoppers. My sales so far this year are up 22% over last year, I contribute this directly to South Florida being the place the world wants to be.

International Buyers Descend on Homes for Sale in Hollywood, FL

Lately, I have really noticed an increase in international buyers interested in South Florida real estate especially buyers from Europe. I just sold this new Hollywood Beach home that closed and sold for 1.5 million dollars, it was another cash transaction!  No doubt, international buyers are taking advantage of the soft value of the US dollar versus the value of the Euro when buying homes for sale in South Florida.

International Buyers Tap into The Power of the Internet

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South Florida truly is an international melting pot, and these new Scott Patterson client’s in the video are from six different nationalities including France, Nicaragua, Canada, Greece, Italy and of course, the USA. This video was shot with our client’s friends and family while they were visiting their new waterfront property in the Hollywood Lakes area in Hollywood, FL. The other clients purchased a waterfront  Hallandale property in the Hallandale gated waterfront community of Golden Isles that they plan to totally remodel. Combined, these international buyers purchased 3 South Florida properties valued at almost $5 million.

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