Because we do specialize in Miami Beach luxury homes and waterfront homes, I will give you a summary of all the waterfront homes sold this year in Miami Beach and I will break those down by island or desirable location within Miami Beach.  You will see a lot of Mega sales (the ones above $3 Million), which is a change from 2010. (click on the graph above to download PDF of all sales to date).

Star Island Home Sales

There were only 3 Star Island homes sold so far this year ranging from $7.1 million to $25.5 million!  The average price per square foot coming in at $1,028 and the highest for all of Miami Beach.

13 Star Island was listed for $32,000,000 and sold for $25,500,000.  With 8 bedrooms / 8 bathrooms / 2 half-baths, 15,008 square feet of living space on a 100′ X 400′ lot with private dock, pool, boat lift, state of the art electronics ….yada yada yada – (everything you would expect from a 15,000 sf mansion).  What’s amazing is that this house was listed January of 2011 and sold in only 2 months!  (the monthly rental for this gem was $325,000 – higher than the average home in Dade-County!) << that’s why I love Miami.

Hibiscus Island Home Sales

There were 3 Hibiscus Island homes sold this year ranging from $2.4 Million to $9.35 Million.  The average price per square foot for the island coming in at $828.  The highest sale in Hibiscus was my all-time favorite home designed by Oppenheim at 40 South Hibiscus Drive – Miami Beach Luxury Home Pick – Hibiscus Island << click to see the photos - A – MA- ZING!!  and the lucky buyer walked away with this beauty for $9.350 Million.  The house was originally listed for $13,995,000 in June of 2010, was reduced several times and sold in May.

Venetian Islands Home Sales

The Venetian Islands are seeing quite a bit of movement in the past 2 months, and there have been 12 waterfront home sales this year with an average price per square foot of $725 – quite an increase from the average $634/sf in 2010! The highest sale was for unfinished construction at $5.5 Million back in March.

1424 N Venetian Way came in as the 2nd highest Miami Beach home sold in March of 2011.  It was originally listed at $6.5 Million in August of 2009 and finally sold for $5.5.

Sunset Islands Home Sales

The Sunset islands have seen better days with only 2 sales so far this year and average price per square foot of $717 (less than The Venetian Islands which is unheard of!).

1410 W 25 St – sold for $5,000,000 on June 7th, 2011.  Located in Sunset Island 2 – with 5,920 sf and 20,200 sf lot (inside lot, not open bay).  This house was purchased for $6.5 Million in November 2005 and took only 3 weeks to sell when they listed it for $5.499 Million in April of this year.  The Marketing description reading: screaming in all caps:

GREAT MIAMI BEACH WATERFRONT ESTATE WHERE QUIET COLORS CREATE A BOLD IMPACT YET A RELAXED SENSE OF INDULGENCE. BEST DESCRIBED AS THE HOUSE THAT BECOMES YOUR HOME, THIS BEAUTIFULLY REMODELED FIVE BEDROOM, (WITH OPTION TO USE THE STUDY AS A SIXTH BEDROOM) AND SIX AND ONE HALF BATH ISLAND OASIS, EXUDES TRANQUILITY AWASH A SEA OF WIDE-OPEN SPACES, LUSH TROPICAL LANDSCAPING AND 100 FEET OF WATERFRONT FRONTAGE.  A STONE-THROW AWAY FROM THE OPEN BAY!

North Bay Road Home Sales

I’m always curious to analyze how North Bay Road Mansions stand up against the rest of Miami Beach.  There are no private gates, but gorgeous open bay views that take your breath away.  There have been 5 North Bay Road homes sold this year, which are not a real representation of what usually sells and the average price per sq.ft. coming in at $769.  The highest sale was in our Top 3 highest Miami Beach Homes – April edition.

Pinetree Drive Home Sales

Pinetree has only had 2 waterfront home sales this year, with an average price per sq.ft. $621.  The highest Pinetree Drive Home was in our Top 3 Miami Beach Home Sales – March edition.

More Miami Beach Home Sales

In addition to the mentioned sales, there was also one sale in Allison Island for $2.45 Million (fixer upper selling at $491 / square foot), and no waterfront sales yet in La Gorce Island, Bal Harbour, Bay Harbor Islands, Indian Creek Village or Palm Island.  Normandy Island had 5 sales with an average price per square foot of $436 and we decided to add Golden Beach to the mix because we are seeing a lot of people considering the move there because of affordability factors.

Golden Beach Home Sales

There have been  7 waterfront Golden Beach homes sold this year with an average price of $621/sq.ft.  The highest sale was an oceanfront house selling at $7.7 Million

277 Ocean Blvd sold in March for $1,186 / sq.ft. – that’s higher than the Star Island home sale but then again, we are talking beach front.  A 6,495 sf house on a 20,700 sf lot with 6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms and 1 half-bath, 2-car garage, totally renovated with a monthly rental price of $42,000.  It was originally listed for $11,800,000 in 2006.  Remember that Ricky Martin is also selling his Golden Beach home – that one listed for $18.9 Million.

So there you have a brief synopsis of what has happened to the Miami Beach Waterfront Housing Market in the first half of the year.  To download the data associated with this article, please click on the button bellow.  **all information obtained from the Southeast Florida Multiple Listing Service**

January’s Most Expensive Miami Beach Home Sale

2128 N Bay Rd – Miami Beach, FL 33140

Listed for $4,950,000 and sold for $4,400,000 on January 28th, 2011

The home is located in the Sunset Lake subdivision just East of The Sunset Islands (not a bay-front property), and was originally listed for $6,950,000 in February of 2008.  It had several price reductions, REALTOR change and finally closed after almost 3 years.

My favorite part of the listing description is one photo of the view that reads “Wide Views, moments to open bay”.  The MLS description reads as follows:

Owner financing available….Med Contemporary, 100′ wide, secured waters, moments to open bay. Double docks, suitable for 40′ to 75′ vessel, boat lift. Elegant entrance to paved courtyard, pond, great outdoor living beautifully landscaped, marble floors, formal dining/living rms. Sunny display throughout, grand family room, French doors to pool. Master suite w/walk-in closet, open terraces, balconies, eat-in kitchen with water views, 3-car garage, no fixed bridges.

Features:

• 5,682 square feet of living space
• built in 1990
• 5 bedrooms / 5 bathrooms / 2 half baths
• 3-car garage
• 20,000 square foot lot
• waterfront
• 100 feet of water frontage
• double docks for 40’ to 75’ vessels with boat lifts.
• North Bay Road Location within Sunset Lake

January’s second Most Expensive Miami Beach Home Sale

6675 Sheffield Ln – Miami Beach, FL 33141

Listed for $2,990,000 and sold for $2,700,000 on January 10th, 2011

This La Gorce Island home is not waterfront and was listed since March of 2010 with a starting price of $3.5 Million.  It was bought for $3.2 Million in March of 2007, so the sellers did suffer a loss, which is not uncommon in Miami Beach’s Luxury real estate market, especially if you bought in the height of the market.  The MLS reads:

Elegant home on prestigious and beautiful La Gorce Island. Magnificent layout with 5 bedrooms and 4 1/2 baths. Top-of-the-line gourmet kitchen with stainless steel appliances, custom cabinetry and mink-chinchilla marble countertops. Web-server video security, indoor/outdoor Bang & Olufsen entertainment system, two-car garage. Beautifully manicured french garden with couture outdoor furniture. Stunningly landscaped outdoor area includes gazebo and high-end bbq station.

Features:

• 3,971 square feet of living space
• built in 1958
• 5 bedrooms / 4 bathrooms / 1 half bath
• 13,125 square foot lot
• La Gorce Island
• pool
• 2-car garage
• gourmet kitchen

January’s Third Most Expensive Miami Beach Home Sale

1155 N Shore Dr – Miami Beach, FL 33141

Listed for $1,990,000 and sold for $1,560,000 on January 11th, 2011

This Open Bay Normandy Island home is completely renovated to its Mid-Century Modern Character and had quite a listing history.  On and off the market since 2007 with a starting price of $2,795,00, several price reductions and REALTOR changes, was also listed for rent for $9,500, $8,500 and $6,500/month.  The home appears as purchased in 2004 for $1.1M, so depending on the cost of renovations, the seller did not do that badly.

The home description screams in all caps:

NOT a sh.sale! OWNER MOTIVATED.BRING YOUR OFFER…SPECTACULAR ENDLESS BAY VIEWS FROM THE MOMENT YOU ENTER THIS RENOVATED MIMO STYLE HOME IN GATED COMMUNITY ON MIAMI BEACH. WIDE OPEN LIVING AREA WITH FLOOR TO CEILING GLASS UNITE THE INTERIOR WITH THE SPARKLING WATERS OF BISCAYNE BAY. 3/2 IN THE MAIN HOUSE AND DETACHED 1/1 GUEST QRTRS PLUS SPACIOUS OFFICE.THE BAYFRONT POOL IS PRIVATE AND SURROUNDED BY OVER 14OOO SF OF LUXURIOUS GARDEN. LOT HAS ABOUT 90 FT OF BISCAYNE BAY WATERFRONT.

Features:

• 2,791 square feet of living space
• Built in 1950 but completely renovated
• 4 bedrooms / 4 bathrooms
• 14,000 square foot lot
• 84′ of water frontage
• open bay location on North Normandy Island

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

La Gorce Island homes are known for their scale and “wow” factor. It is a guard-gated community in Miami Beach with some of the nicest landscaped streets you will see anywhere in South Florida and with large, luxurious homes. As for real estate sales in 2009, only 3 and none of them are waterfront.  There are currently 10 homes listed for sale at La Gorce Island ranging in price between $19,500,000 and $1,600,000 – which is again evidence that the high-end Luxury inventory is not moving. Six of the 10 homes currently listed are above $5 million, all except one listed for sale for quite some time.

The good news about La Gorce is that the average price per square foot is high for homes on dry-lots (non-waterfront homes) – putting the price per square foot based on those 3 sales at $349.  I’m curious to see what happens with the Mega-home inventory in Miami Beach – will it start moving in 2010?  I’m sure a lot of those home owners hope so.

**UPDATE** There were no additional sales in the month of December in La Gorce Island which makes this real estate market report the FINAL one for 2009.

Make sure you take a look at the 2008 South Beach Condo Real Estate Market Report – (SoFi Luxury Condos) that I completed in January to be able to see the disparities.

• The average listing price in 2008 was $1,238,498 where in 2009 it’s $1,099,077

• The average sale price in 2008 was $1,110,344 whereas it’s $973,574 in 2009 (that’s over $130,000 difference)

• The average price per square foot decreased from $651.67 to $607.12

Because I sound like a broken record at times and tell you that real estate is “local” and it doesn’t do you any good to use general numbers.  I am also comparing averages in 5 different South Beach Condos that I scrutinized back in January.

• Apogee South Beach – The average price per square foot in 2008 was $1,359 and although only one sale shows on the MLS in 2009 – it’s for $1330 per square foot (not much of a drop)

• Continuum South – went from $1,072 per square foot to $1,040 (also pretty strong)

• Continuum North – from $845 to $824 per square foot (not bad)

• Icon South Beach – from $725 to $716 per square foot

• Yacht Club at Portofino – stays exactly the same (big surprise for this one, since it’s the lease desirable of all the buildings in my opinion)

• Murano Grande – goes from $626 to $604 per square foot (no remarkable change)

I am beyond curious to see what the second half of 2009 brings us – now that we are seeing a decrease in inventory and less distress sales.  I just wish the calls would stop for people wanting a 3 bedroom / 2 bathroom condo in a South Beach Luxury Condo for $250,000 ….PEOPLE!!! That’s only in fantasy land!