The local resale market hasn't been affected by economic fluctuation, said Ron Shuffield, president of Esslinger Wooten Maxwell Realtors. Activity picked up long before it actually did drop. In 1986 when they changed tax laws concerning investment real estate, it threw the market into a tailspin for 10 years. But there's probably nothing like that on the horizon. Finally, he said, in South Florida many other factors are in play that don't come into the equation nationally.
Foreign investment has the whole world focused on Miami, especially in the higher end condo market.
Anyone around the world who has wealth has Miami on their radar screen. The ratio of available homes to sales represents a 5.5-month housing supply. When the inventory drops below that, as it has over the past couple of years, it becomes a seller's market and prices begin to increase. If it gets over that balance, as it did three or four years ago, it's a buyer's market. I believe that condos will increasingly become a more desired lifestyle as people continue to be more mobile in their jobs.