Fisher Island Condos: Real Estate Market Report – April 2011

There are currently 120 Fisher Island Condos for sale: (3 more than last month)

• Highest priced listing: $30,000,000 for an exclusive Oceanside 5/5.5 home with artwork and all!
• Lowest priced listing: $134,500 for a studio at Marina Village Gardens (short sale)
• Pending Sales: 5 (2 more than last month)
• Closed sales in April : 2  (same as last month)

The 2 Fisher Island Condos sold in April were the following:

• Oceanside Fisher Island– 8022 Fisher Island Dr – listed for $2,200,000 and selling for $1,999,000
• Bayside Village – 2021 Fisher Island Dr #2021– listed for $1,195,000 and selling for $900,000

13% of the current Fisher Island Condo inventory is distressed (short sales and foreclosures).  Although this number may be low for the common Miami and Miami Beach neighborhood, it’s unheard of for Fisher Island, one of the nation’s most expensive zip codes according to Forbes.com in years past.  This is great for second home owners that love fisher island for the amenities, but only need a small pie-a-terre for occasional weekends, but not so great for residents who just want normalcy on the island.

**all information obtained from the SouthEast Florida Multiple Listing Service**

Fisher Island Condos: Real Estate Market Report – March 2011

There are currently 117 Fisher Island Condos for sale: (same as last month)

• Highest priced listing: $30,000,000 for an exclusive Oceanside 5/5.5 home with artwork and all!
• Lowest priced listing: $180,000 for a one bedroom at Marina Village No2 (short sale)
• Pending Sales: 3 (2 less than last month)
• Closed sales in March : 2  (same as last month)

The 2 Fisher Island Condos sold in March were the following:

• Oceanside Fisher Island– 7755 Fisher Island Dr – listed for $3,900,000 and selling for $3,100,000
• Bayside Village – 2212 Fisher Island Dr #3102– listed for $988,000 and selling for $840,000

Fisher Island Condos are moving very slowly, but the good news is that only 9% of the inventory is distressed!!  This should be quite a relief not only for the residents and vacation owners of Fisher Island condos, but also to the The Fisher Island Hotel that was starting to get a bad rap for its hotel program because there was distressed inventory in the island!!  Soon enough that will be old news and Fisher Island will start getting its great reputation back.

**all information obtained from the SouthEast Florida Multiple Listing Service**

Fisher Island Condos: Real Estate Market Report – February 2011

There are currently 117 Fisher Island Condos for sale: (10 Less than last month)

• Highest priced listing: $30,000,000 for an exclusive Oceanside 5/5.5 home with artwork and all!
• Lowest priced listing: $180,000 for a one bedroom at Marina Village No2 (short sale)
• Pending Sales: 5 (2 more than last month)
• Closed sales in February : 2  (2 less than last month)

The 2 Fisher Island Condos sold in February were the following:

• 7400 Oceanside– 7464 Fisher Island Dr – listed for $2,990,000 and selling for $3,025,000
• Bayside Village – 2312 Fisher Island Dr #4102– listed for $785,000 and selling for $705,000

Fisher Island Condo sales have been slow and with huge disparities – with multi-million dollar properties as well as lower end properties selling.  Yes, there are lower end condos inside Fisher Island, but that’s only price….the lifestyle is still there and it remains exclusive and very desirable.  The lower price sales represent second and third homes for the purpose of vacation destinations.

**all information obtained from the SouthEast Florida Multiple Listing Service**

Fisher Island Condos: Real Estate Market Report – January 2011

There are currently 127 Fisher Island Condos for sale: (4 more than the end of 2010)

• Highest priced listing: $30,000,000 for an exclusive Oceanside 5/5.5 home with artwork and all!
• Lowest priced listing: $139,000 for a studio at Marina Village (short sale)
• Pending Sales: 3
• Closed sales in January : 4

The 4 Fisher Island Condos sold in January were the following:

• Seaside Villas – 15312 Fisher Island Dr – listed for $3,700,000 and selling for $2,400,000
• Bayview Fisher Island – 5233 Fisher Island Dr – listed for $2,300,000 and selling for $1,750,000
• Bayview Fisher Island No 2 – 5335 Fisher Island Dr – listed for $1,500,000 and selling for $1,500,000

Fisher Island is as popular as ever and people come from all over the world to stay in the hotel and enjoy the unparalleled Fisher Island Lifestyle.  Not that we need proof, but it made Businessweek’s Top 50 Small Towns in America.

**all information obtained from the SouthEast Florida Multiple Listing Service**

Fisher Island makes Businessweek’s “America’s 50 Most Expensive Small Towns 2011″

Of course we are not surprised that Fisher Island would make another “American Most Expensive Towns” list, but this time it is in Bloomberg Businessweek.  Vanessa Wong begins by telling us what we already know,

Rich people may like to travel, but like everyone else they want to keep their daily commute as short as possible. So when it comes to buying a home, they want to be close to work, and because they’re rich they can pretty much be where they like. But they also like safe neighborhoods, good schools, pretty views, and, if possible, access to beaches and country clubs.

But most importantly, it mentions that values dropped in 33 of the 50 towns with the biggest decline coming from Woodside, California at 15.7%.  Jupiter, Florida, also made the list with values dropping 11.3% from a year ago to just over $2.8 million.

Businessweek also reiterates what we’ve been telling you here in Miamism, that there have been fewer high-end sales (and this is evidenced nationwide, not just in Miami).

What makes small towns such as Sagaponack attractive is their proximity not just to natural beauty and first-class golf courses but also to other wealthy people. That’s why the most expensive small towns often cluster around major financial centers.

Agents across the country reported the following:

“Across the board, everyone brought their homes down 15 percent to 20 percent. Sellers are becoming more realistic”

- Hamptons

“Our really high-end market is almost frozen,”

- Cape Cod

Other Florida towns that made the list were Gulf Stream at 49 and Jupiter at number 2

According to Businessweek’s numbers, Fisher Island ranks number 11 in America’s 50 Most Expensive Small Towns in 2011 (from number 10 last year), has a Median home value of $1,766,928 and a population of 467.

Fisher Island in Miami-Dade County is one of the country’s wealthiest areas, with median household income exceeding $250,000, according to Census Bureau data. As no road connects to this exclusive island, it is accessible only by private boat or ferry. Once owned by William Kissam Vanderbilt II, it is known for being a private getaway for celebrities, and homeowners include Julia Roberts, Oprah Winfrey, and Andre Agassi, reports luxist.com.

Fisher Island Real Estate Market Report – November 2010

There are currently 123 Fisher Island Condos for sale: (4 less than last month)

* Highest priced listing: $30,000,000 for an exclusive Oceanside 5/5.5 home with artwork and all!
* Lowest priced listing: $139,000 for a studio at Marina Village (short sale)
* Pending Sales: 4 (2 more than last month)
* Closed sales in November : 0 (2 less than last month)

I hate seeing no sales in Fisher Island, not just because it’s boring, but because some people claim that the island is suffering. I think the biggest mistake we see from buyers today is when they make the assumption that everyone that wants to sell is because of some kind of financial distress. Maybe I should write a post about reasons why people sell and it is proven that the percentage that do is because they HAVE to.

Fisher Island Real Estate Market Report – October 2010

There are currently 127 Fisher Island Condos for sale: (4 more than last month)

• Highest priced listing: $30,000,000 for an exclusive Oceanside 5/5.5 home with artwork and all!
• Lowest priced listing: $139,000 for a studio at Marina Village (short sale)
• Pending Sales: 2 (1 less than last month)
• Closed sales in October : 2 (same as last month)

The 2 Fisher Island condo sales in the month of October were the following:

• Bayview VIII – 5274 Fisher Island Dr – listed for $1,750,000 and selling for $1,500,000
• Bayside Village – 2122 Fisher Island Dr – listed for $895,000 and selling for $725,000

I already told you last month about “Forbes Most Expensive Zip Code List” where Fisher Island moved from 33 to 37th.  You will be surprised to hear that there are 11 distressed listings in Fisher right now, including a $2 Million foreclosure at Bayview and a $2.1 Million short sale at Oceanside.  But even THAT inventory is slowly disappearing.

Fisher Island Real Estate Market Report – September 2010

There are currently 123 Fisher Island Condos for sale: (same as last month)

• Highest priced listing: $30,000,000 for an exclusive Oceanside 5/5.5 home with artwork and all!
• Lowest priced listing: $159,000 for a studio at Marina Village (short sale)
• Pending Sales: 3 (4 less than last month)
• Closed sales in September : 2 (1 more than last month)

The 2 Fisher Island condo sales in the month of September were the following:

• Palazzo del Mare – 7100 Fisher Island Dr #7121– listed for $3,700,000 and selling for $2,600,000
• Marina Village III – 42208 Fisher Island Dr – listed for $525,000 and selling for $400,000

You may have heard about the infamous “Forbes Most Expensive Zip Code List” – well….Fisher Island did it again!  going down from 1st most expensive 2 years in a row, to 33 and now 37.  The Fisher Island Luxury real estate market may seem very volatile, but the truth is that anyone that can afford Fisher Island to begin with will either be open to an offer or not – no science needed, no pressure expected, and definitely not many “I will give away because I HAVE to” deals.  If you are interested in buying in Fisher Island, know that you have the opportunity to negotiate.

**all information obtained from the SouthEast Florida Multiple Listing Service**

Fisher Island Condos drop 4 more spots in Forbes Most Expensive Zip Codes List

What’s going on with Fisher Island Condos? In 2007, Fisher Island tied with Alpine, NJ for first place in Forbes “America’s wealthiest Zip Codes“. In 2008 it was number 1 again! and all of a sudden dropped to 33 in 2009 and now to 37 in 2010. You have to admit that making the top 50 mark is no easy task, but a 32 spot drop while other small, wealthy and exclusive communities around the US are climbing, does make you think.

The good news is that Fisher Island is not the only one seeing the downward trend – other elite cities in the US are seeing similar trends.  According to Francesca Levy from Forbes.com,

The median price of America’s high-end homes continues to slide, but not as fast as it did last year.  our index of 500 high-end ZIP codes saw the average home price fall 5%, to $1.2 million, from the same time last year.  In 2009 the markets on our list saw a 7% price drop.

About 35% of the ZIP codes in our index saw median prices increase or stay flat, but that’s likely because more high-priced homes are coming to the market, while more affordable housing continues to falter.  “The year-over-year price changes we’re seeing here aren’t necessarily the change in price for your house, if you have a house in this area,” says Simonsen.  “It’s a change in the mix of homes on the active market.”

Here’s where I’m so glad Francesca went with her article and it’s something I repeat over and over again…..REAL ESTATE IS UBER LOCAL! (as to avoid the term “hyper-local” which makes a few colleagues chuckle).

Real estate trends are highly localized.  Most cities are a collection of dozens of mini housing markets, so we bore down to the granular level to find out what neighborhoods are really on the rise.

Priciest ZIPs in Devastated Markets
On the ZIP code level some housing markets contrast dramatically with their surroundings. Miami, for example, where housing prices have plummeted and foreclosures continue to mount, still contains some of the most expensive homes in the country, with four ZIPs on the list, including 33109, in the No. 37 spot. This ZIP code, for celebrity enclave Fisher Island, boasts a median home sale price of $2,295,291.

So what could be the reasons for Fisher Island Condos numbers decreasing?  Believe it or not, even speculators bought in the island a few years ago.  We know people that bought 3-4 condos hoping to make a pretty penny and are ending up short selling them or giving them away at a loss.  But please don’t assume by any means that Fisher Island is in peril and residents are jumping ship (figuratively speaking since you do get there by Ferry).  On the contrary, there have been major improvements in the last couple of years and some wealth pumped into the island’s infrastructure.  There just have been very few sales and that will always affect generalized numbers.

Fisher Island Real Estate Market Report – August 2010

There are currently 123 Fisher Island Condos for sale: (3 more than last month)

• Highest priced listing: $30,000,000 for an exclusive Oceanside 5/5.5 home with artwork and all!
• Lowest priced listing: $159,000 for a studio at Marina Village (short sale)
• Pending Sales: 7 (same as last month)
• Closed sales in August : 1 (1 less than last month)

The single Fisher Island condo sale in the month of August was the following:

• Seaside Village – 19237 Fisher Island Dr – listed for $699,000 and selling for $600,000

A client of ours called last week in disbelief about Fisher Island having distressed sales.  How in the world could someone that could afford the lavish lifestyle of a private island have to short sale or be foreclosed on?  Well…the reality is that the rich are not immune to adversity but this by no means should suggest that Fisher Island Real Estate is suffering.  When putting numbers into perspective, you will realize than only 8% of the existing Fisher Island Condo inventory is distressed, which when compared to other areas in Miami and Miami Beach, is minuscule.

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