2142 N Bay Rd – Miami Beach, FL 33140

Listed for $4,850,000 and sold for $4,000,000 on February 15th, 2011

Another Sunset Lake subdivision home sold! On North Bay Road just East of The Sunset Islands, this home is waterfront but not the usual open bay you expect from North Bay Road.  Here we have a 1925 home with a very traditional decor and sitting on a 20,000 square foot lot with 100′ of water frontage.  It was listed for $4,850,000 in January of 2010, taking over a year to sell.  This house would be considered a “fixer upper” in today’s Miami Beach home standards.  The MLS description reads:

Tranquil setting on sought after lower North Bay Road. Classic home on a large lot bordering 100 feet of soothing Sunset Lake waters. Expanded master bedroom, formal dining room, 5 bedrooms, 5 1/2 bathrooms, 2 car garage, separate staff bedroom with bath and a unique guest room with bath. Designated service entrance and a circular driveway. Perfectly located; walking distance to Lincoln Road shops, fine dining, and South Beach.

Features:

• 5,141 square feet of living space
• 20,000 sq.ft. lot (100′ X 200′)
• 1-car garage and circular driveway
• waterfront with 100′ of water frontage
• private dock
• 5 bedrooms / 5.5 bathrooms
• built in 1925
• 2-story Mediterranean revival home

February’s second Most Expensive Miami Beach Home Sale

5240 N Bay Road – Miami Beach, FL 33140

Listed for $4,900,000 and sold for $3,862,000 on February 4th, 2011

Mid-century modern home with wide bay views on North Bay Road.    Here we have a home with quite a listing history:  listed for sale and/or rent since 2006 with a starting price of $6,250,000 and rental of up to $25,000 per month.  It was reduced several times before finally selling last month.  MLS reading,

Impressive views of wide bay w/79 feet of prime waterfront.  Tall Cathedral beamed ceilings compliment the open floor plan. Floor to ceiling glass sliding doors allows the entire house to open to the backyard & pool w/ the Miami Skyline as your backdrop. 3 large “en suite” bedrooms & baths, new kitchen, updated baths and so much more.

Features:

• 4,915 square feet of living space
• 13,455 sq.ft. lot (79′ X 170)
• waterfront – open bay location with 79′ of water frontage
• built in 1958
• 4 bedrooms / 4.5 bathrooms
• 2-car garage and circular driveway
• private dock
• renovated bathrooms and kitchen

February’s Third Most Expensive Miami Beach Home Sale

441 E Rivo Alto Dr – Miami Beach, FL 33139

Listed for $3,349,000 and sold for $2,650,000 on February 15th, 2011

One of the highest Venetian Islands Homes sold in the past six months, selling over $920/sq.ft. where the average has been $600/sq.ft.  This 1947 home was totally remodeled in 2007.  Here’s what’s interesting – it was sold for $1,800,000 in October of 2010 and placed on the market just 2 weeks later at $3,349,000 before selling.  That’s a quick $850,000! not a bad deal at all for that seller.  MLS reads,

Modern three bedroom home completely renovated in 2007 with wide bay views. Renovation included all new plumbing, electrical, impact windows, roofing, air conditioning, and top quality Travertine flooring. Stunning European kitchen, viking appliances, luxurious bathrooms. The 13,382 square foot lot is pie shape with over 100 feet of water front. Relaxing pool area and rear patio for entertaining. Dock and boat lift. Gas pool heater and generator. This turn key property is easy to show.

Features:

• 2,871 square feet of living space
• 13,382 sq.ft. lot
• built in 1947
• renovated in 2007
• waterfront with private dock and boat-lift
• pool
• marble and hardwood floors
• circle driveway
• 3 bedrooms / 3 bathrooms

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

October’s Most Expensive Miami Beach Home Sale

1 Palm Av, Miami Beach, FL  33140

Listed for $3,650,000 and sold for $3,250,000 on October 14th, 2010

This home had quite a listing history with original listing price of $5.9 Million back in August of 2006 – selling for $3.695 Million in November of 07, listed again in December of 07 for $4.495 Million – then increased and decreased several times, as well as various Realtor changes.  It does show as a Trust Sale in the county records, which explains all the changes.

The home sits on the Eastern tip of Palm Island, overlooking Star Island and MacArthur Causeway/Government Cut and the description given is:

Perfect cottage by the sea! Best value! 110ft of open bay water frontage with magnificent views of Miami Beach in the distance. 2 bedrooms/2 baths main house with open floor plan, recently renovated and tastefully furnished. 1 bedrooms/1 bathroom detached guest house, 2 car garage. Exceptional lot affords best opportunity to expand or build new.

Features:

• 3,449 square feet of living space
• built in 1957
• 2 bedrooms / 2 bathrooms in main house
• 1 bedroom / 1 bathroom detached guest house
• 2-car garage
• 17,674 square foot lot
• 110 feet of water frontage
• Palm Island location
• renovated

October’s second Most Expensive Miami Beach Home Sale

441 E Rivo Alto Dr – Miami Beach, FL 33139

Listed for $3,800,000 and sold for $1,800,000 on October 12th, 2010

Talk about an amazing buy for a beautiful location with direct Northern open bay views!  According to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), this home had been originally listed for $4.45 Million since November of 2007, with several price reductions and brokerage changes.  The property was immediately placed on the market for $3,349,000 just days after closing with no updates or changes – a perfect “FLIP JOB”.

According to the new listing agent, the purchase was a foreclosure (which doesn’t show on the MLS).  The sale price was at $627/square foot and the new listing price is $1,166/square foot.  The sold description read as follows:

This modern, tastefully renovated Venetian Island home is now available. The property sits on a huge 13,300+/- sf waterfront lot and boasts over 100 ft of waterfront and unobstructed wide bay views. The home features a great pool and includes a boat dock. The interior has a very well designed layout and the house overall is in excellent condition.

Features:

• 2,871 square feet of living space
• built in 1947
• 3 bedrooms / 3 bathrooms
• 13,382 square foot lot
• bayfront property
• Venetian Islands location
• private dock
• 100 feet of water frontage

October’s Third Most Expensive Miami Beach Home Sale

1440 W 21 St, Miami Beach, FL 33140

Listed for $1,950,000 and sold for $1,600,000 on October 22nd, 2010

This Sunset Islands IV home had been listed for $2,350,000 since April of 2009 and sold for $710 per square foot.  Many of you may know that the Southern view of this island is the least desirable from all of the Sunset Islands and has to do with condos and commercial properties across the canal.  You should keep this in mind when using W 21 street sales as comparables.

The home description read:

This original 4 BD / 3 BA home was gutted and converted into a fabulous 2 BD + den / 4 BA home, with permits.  This waterfront pied a terre on gated Sunset Island close to Lincoln Rd is the ultimate modern design and luxury. Great entertaining areas, new 40 FT pool, seawall and 20′X8′ dock to watch the sunsets with no bridges to Biscayne Bay. Philippe Starck fixtures, 36″X36″ limestone flooring, impact windows, new roof, electrical, plumbing, Miele, Wolf, Sub Zero, Duravit, Jacuzzi Tub in master.

Features:

• 2,255 square feet of living space
• Built in 1956 but completely renovated
• 3 bedrooms / 4 bathrooms
• 9,500 square foot lot
• 60′ of canal frontage
• pool
• Sunset Island 4 location

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

Miami Beach Luxury Real Estate is all about its islands – In this market report I combined Palm Island, Hibiscus Island and Star Island just because of proximity and approach – there have only been 7 sales in the 3 islands combined all year!  The highest sale was Shaq’s Star Island Home located at 26 Star Island Drive, which he sold to Vladislav Doronin (Naomi Campbell’s boyfriend) for $16,000,000 back in June.  The lowest sale was the dry-lot home located at 286 Palm Avenue, which sold for $660,000.

The price disparity has to do with location and view as well as condition of the home. The pristine and totally updated homes will obviously sell for more than the gutted ones, near a bridge or causeway that are mainly sold for land value.

The good news about these sales is that none of them are distressed sales – bad news is that the expensive inventory is not really moving – other than Shaquille O’Neal’s home (which consequently was first listed for $35 million and ultimately “gave it away” at a mere $823/square foot ** less than what he originally purchased it for)…..but we’re not criticizing here…hoping to see Naomi Campbell lounging by the pool when we go by on our boat rather than the Shaq Bobble Head.

**UPDATE** Only one sale in the month of December for Star Island, Palm Island and Hibiscus Island – for the dry-lot property located at 242 Palm Avenue, selling for $890,000 ($319 per square foot). This Palm Island home had been listed since August 2007 starting at $1,449,000….that’s a 39% discount.

This should put the Miami Beach Luxury Home Market in perspective – there have only been 10 home sales in The Venetian Islands this year – the highest sale being 28 W San Marino for $3,830,000  and lowest $900,000 for the dry-lot property located at 1480 NE 13th Ave in San Marco Island.

The average price per square foot for waterfront properties in The Venetian Islands was $673 compared to $812.11  in 2008 – one of those sales was a foreclosure (The property located at 1111 N. Venetian Drive) – if you remove that property from the average, the number goes up to $697/sq.ft which is still over $100 per square foot less than the previous year.  what I find curious about the sales in 2009 is that none of the higher priced homes sold, meaning the ones over $4 million.  I’ll modify this list if there are any further closings in the month of December.

**UPDATE** There were no sales in The Venetian Islands in the month of December which makes this real estate market report the FINAL one for 2009**

The highest sale was at Sunset Island I (the most desired of all Sunset Islands) for $9,500,000 – this house was listed since July 2008 and originally priced at $15,900,000 (that’s a discount of over 40%). The lowest sale was a dry lot property located in Sunset Island III – located at 1600 W 24 St, selling for $2,100,000 and listed on and off since September 2008 with an original price of $2,495,999. It may have been the lowest priced sale, but sold for more per square foot than the immaculate waterfront home at Sunset Island 4.

The average price per square foot this year comes down to $780.75 – please note that none of the sales were open bay homes – an appraiser would pull comparables from North Bay Road homes because of the lack of sales in The Sunset Islands. At least we saw 2 homes above the $5,000,000 range actually sell which is something we can’t say about The Venetian Islands.

The price disparity has to do with location and view as well as condition of the home. The pristine and totally updated homes will obviously sell for more than the gutted ones, near a bridge or causeway that are mainly sold for land value.

The good news about these sales is that none of them are distressed sales – bad news is that the expensive inventory is not really moving – other than Shaquille O’Neal’s home (which consequently was first listed for $35 million and ultimately “gave it away” at a mere $823/square foot ** less than what he originally purchased it for)…..but we’re not criticizing here…hoping to see Naomi Campbell lounging by the pool when we go by on our boat rather than the Shaq Bobble Head.