Las Olas Condos 2012 Real Estate Market Report

Las Olas Condos
Real Estate Market Report
1st Quarter of 2012

Included in the Table below is information about Units purchased in Las Olas Condos within the 1st Quarter of 2012 (during the months of January, February, and March).

Las Olas Condos – Real Estate Market Report 1^st Quarter of 2012 (January 1, 2012 – March 31, 2012)
	Symphony	Nu River Landing	Las Olas River House	Waverly	Watergarden	Las Olas Grand	350 Las Olas Place
Total Units Sold	4	9	6	4	8	5	3
Sold Price Range	$232,000 – $440,000	$170,000 – $450,000	$225,000 – $1,337,500	$153,199 – $242,000	$225,000 – $577,500	$565,000 – $1,250,000	$330,000 – $345,000
Avg. Purchase Price	$348,000	$238,222	$653,750	$215,975	$395,071	$863,000	$335,550
Non-Distressed Purchases	3	6	4	1	6	5	2
Short Sales Sold	1	2	2	3	1	0	1
Foreclosures Sold	0	1	0	0	1	0	0
Total Units sold in 2011	37	55	31	31	25	20	13
Pending Sales	7	14	7	12	5	2	3
Foreclosures for Sale	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
Short Sales for Sale	0	3	0	1	0	0	0
Active Listings/ Units for Sale	11	16	6	5	8	15	6
Total # of Units in the Building	338	407	287	304	315	213	163

The numbers mostly speak for themselves, but here are some additional notes:

In all of the Buildings, there is insufficient Inventory to meet the current level of demand. It’s considered healthy when approximately 10% of the Units in a Building are listed for Sale. Each of the Buildings have less than 10% of their Units currently available for Sale. There was a time when Inventory was a lot higher and sales were a lot lower, but that’s no longer the case. In fact, 26 new Condo Towers are currently in varying stages of Development in South Florida and 5 of the 26 Buildings have already broken Ground and are under Construction with scheduled completion in 2012 and 2013.
Many deals that were previously available have already been purchased since sales began to increase significantly in 2009. Current prices are still deals in comparison to much higher prices during the previous Real Estate Boom. In this post, I’m referring specifically to Las Olas Condos, but the situation is the same in many areas that are East and Waterfront, as well as a few other areas.
As Inventory decreases, it’s becoming much less of a Buyer’s Market than it used to be. In some Buildings and some Communities, it’s no longer a Buyer’s Market at all.
Condos that were previously in trouble with high levels of distressed Inventory (Short Sales and Foreclosures) and Maintenance Fee delinquencies have sold most of their distressed and non-distressed Inventory and have become healthy through increased sales in the current Market and a majority of Cash Buyers.
Ft. Lauderdale was never Miami. We had very little new Condo Inventory in comparison to Miami and even Miami has sold the majority of their new Condos that were created several years ago.
Listings of Bank Owned Foreclosures are selling very quickly, typically within 30 days or less of being listed, and usually for purchase prices that are equal to or higher than their list prices.
Days on Market for all Properties have decreased considerably and many Properties, both Distressed and non-Distressed, are being purchased very quickly.
Sales in the Luxury price range ($500,000+) have increased significantly, however, the highest demand and fiercest competition is in the lower price range, so Buyers in the lower price range really have very, very few choices of the most desirable properties and many of them have been purchased.
Units with the largest size, best views, and highest quality Interiors command premium prices, so purchasing the lowest priced Units typically means sacrificing the aforementioned items
Approximately 80% of purchases in the local Condo Market are Cash sales, IN ALL PRICE RANGES!

Regarding location of Las Olas Condos, note the following:

The Buildings above are Waterfront Buildings located along the New River except for Waverly and 350 Las Olas Place, which are non-Waterfront.
The Condos that are located within closest walking distance to Las Olas Blvd. are Las Olas River House, Watergarden, Las Olas Grand, and 350 Las Olas Place.
Of Las Olas Condos, Las Olas Grand and Las Olas River House have the largest Units.