Miami Real Estate Sales Statistics

Recent statistics reported by the Realtor Association of Miami-Dade County clearly point to a depressed real estate market in the Miami area. In December 2007, there were a total of 1,154 sales of single family homes in Dade County, with a median sales price of $305,000. In December 2006, there were 2,818 homes sold in Dade, with a median sales price of $335,000. In November 2007, there were a total of 1,004 sales of single family homes in Dade County, with a median sales price of $315,000. In November 2006, there were 2,444 homes sold in Dade, with a median sales price of $335,000.

With respect to condo sales, the results were similar. In December 2007, there were 1,690 condo sales in Dade, with a median sales price of $248,000. Twelve months earlier, 3,548 condos sold, with a median sales price of $250,000. In November 2007, there were 1,415 condo sales in Dade, with a median sales price of $240,000. In November 2006, there were 3,250 condo sales in Dade, with a median sales price of $242,950.

Spring is here...and so is the Feb Bazaar!

Ta da dum di da dum dum da

If there's anything that you want

If there's anything I can do...

Just click on the link...

And the bazaar will send it along

with love from me to you!

'Inspired' by beatles ;-)

Happiness! As spring is almost here. And loads of happiness as An Indian Summer Bazaar just opened again for Feb-March, with a very different collection of hand picked goodies

Click on the images below to go straight to the collection!

India Contemporary

India Traditional

Happy Shopping!

[while I catch up on my sleep! :-)]

Miami Beach Homes Listed Too High For Sales

Miami is different than most other cities in the US, in that there is an international clientele for real estate and luxury homes. Moreover, Miami real estate is undervalued when compared to cities like Malibu, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and Las Vegas, as well as some of our Northeast cities, like Boston and New York, Stamford, and Greenwich.

There is a problem, however. Miami Beach homes for sale are still listed far too high for a significant number of sales to take place. Sellers are still more or less oblivious of the value of their homes in this market, and are still listing their properties well above market value. This is especially true of luxury homes being listed in the Miami area.

In Miami Beach alone, including zip codes 33139 through 33154, there are a total of 165 luxury waterfront homes listed for sale, each with an asking price of $2,000,000 or more. In the same zip codes, there were a meager 32 listed waterfront homes sold in the past 12 months for $2,000,000 or more.

People who want to buy property are waiting for the market to go down some more before making a purchase, and that includes Europeans who have been coming here this winter. They have been shopping because everything is so cheap with respect to the Euro, but they have not been purchasing homes and condos. Homeowners who want to sell are going to have to come to grips with the present.

Quick Peek into the bazaar!

Scheduled to launch in another 2 days, An Indian Summer Bazaar has an unique flavor this time. The bazaar will celebrate metal and wood, under two distinct categories - India Contemporary and India Traditional




India Contemporary will feature the premiere international launch of some great products from Aline Design. India Traditional will feature some antique and some restored products that are earthy and rustic, but have rapidly gained ground as part of urban home decor.

Hope you are as excited about the second month's opening of the bazaar as I am! :-)

Miniature paintings in a new avtaar

Olaf Van Cleef describes himself as a traveller, an artist and an author. He is the scion of Van Cleef dynasty and is a counselor on high range jewellery at Cartier since 1982. Olaf first visited India, to present the Cartiers of Paris as a group that cherished its Indian connection and the Indian heritage, and was so enthralled by this culturally rich vivacious country that he returned to the sub-continent time and again ... and again...
For, Olaf Van Cleef was seeking sustenance for his personal philosophy of oneness with the fellowmen and discovered, in India, decisive faith: that in the rich cultural soul of this country he would find the wherewithal to satisfy his soul.

Presenting some of his paintings inspired by India and the art of miniature paintings below. Mythology and Indian iconography have been beautifully portrayed by Olaf using his style of painting using abstract pointillism and tachisme

More of Olaf 's work in mosaics can be found here

10...9...8...7...6...

Hello! Doing a quick post to share some updates with you..the great news and well, not that great (but not that bad either!) news

The great news is that over the last some days, very interesting developments are happening on the bazaar front. An Indian Summer Bazaar will be the launch pad in the international market, for an upcoming designer from NID, who is already making waves in the Indian contemporary decor segment! I personally love his designs and products, and am very excited at the opportunity to be able to bring them to you through the bazaar. Will share more details on Thursday...

The not so great (but not that bad either!) news is that given the above developments, I will need to postpone the Feb bazaar to 'end of Feb'. The bazaar will now open on Feb 29th! I know, you have been eagerly waiting for the 20th launch...but trust me, you will be glad that we waited and included the awesome products in the bazaar.

In the meantime, sharing with you some more warmth as we bid goodbye to winter (hopefully!)...

P.S: Thanks for your continuing interest in the products from the Jan bazaar! As mentioned on the bazaar site, you can look through the products at my flickr site, and drop me an email in case you are keen on purchasing something, or would like me to source something for you from India!

Ricky Martin's Miami Homes For Sale

Two ultra-luxury Miami homes owned by celebrity singer Ricky Martin are listed for sale. One of the homes is located on Miami Beach, and the other in Golden Beach. The Miami Beach home, located at 5130 North Bay Road, seen above, is a Mediterranean masterpiece with breath taking open bay views from every room. The mansion sits on a 19,320 square feet lot, with 105 linear feet of bayfront. Boasting 7 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms, with 9,491 square feet of living space, the gorgeous house is impeccably finished with travertine marble throughout, a gourmet kitchen, a state of the art media room, and solid mahogany doors. The asking price...$19,500,000.



Ricky Martin's Golden Beach Mansion is for sale $22,500,000

The Golden Beach Mansion is situated on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean in beautiful Golden Beach, just a few minutes north of Miami Beach. The 9,882 square feet luxury mansion sits on a 29,088 square feet lot, with a marvelous 101 feet of private ocean front. With 5 bedrooms and 7.5 bathrooms this 2 story mediterranean estate is a dream home well suited for both international buyers and celebrities. The asking price...$22,500,000.

Miami Beach Home Sold Above Market Price

101 E Dilido Drive, Miami Beach, Florida recently sold for $2,750,000

Homes are still selling on Miami Beach, albeit at a snails pace in comparison to home sales just a few years ago. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, however, and the recent sale of a very quaint Miami Beach home located on Dilido Island should be very inspiring to sellers who want to be reasonable, and who are willing to ask a fair price for their home.

The phenomenon known as 'asking a fair price for your home' has been absent from the Miami real estate market for a number of years. What is happening now in the market place is just more evidence that Sir Isaac Newton was a genius, when he discovered the natural law of science which basically states that what goes up must come down. He didn't invent that law. He just discovered it.

The waterfront property located at 101 E. Dilido Drive, recently sold for $2,750,000. The 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom home is situated in one of the very best areas of Miami Beach, and is set on a 10,500 square feet lot, with 2,669 square feet of living space in the house. The sale is one of the best that has taken place in this depressed real estate market, with regards to price per square foot, because the home closed for more than $1000 per square foot, when other similar luxury homes are selling for much less.

Mortgage Relief For Stressed Homeowners

Mortgage relief for stressed homeowners is finally on the horizon. Project Lifeline is a mortgage relief plan instituted by the Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The plan is designed specifically to allow homeowners who are seriously in arrears on their mortgage payments, to suspend foreclosure on their home for a period of 30 days, while mortgage lenders try to work out payments which are more affordable. Six major lenders are involved, including the Bank of America, Citigroup, Inc., Countrywide Financial Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Washington Mutual Inc., and Wells Fargo & Co.

The plan is designed for homeowners who are seriously in debt, specifically those who are at least 90 days behind in their mortgage payments. The lenders will send a letter to delinquent mortgagors, asking them to call. The delinquent borrowers who call, will be asked if the want to continue living in their home, and if they do, they will be offered financial counseling.

Indian Kitsch!

Unadulterated, unapologetic and fun collage, attempting to capture the essence of India! Multiple contributors have added to this collage, using images, tassels, sepia photographs, textile, product labels from daily life, jewelry, icons, mirrors, lace and a lot more of Indian kitsch. To be found at the very creative site Art-e-zine

Once you get over the blast of color that hits you, take a deeper look and you will find a good sample of Indian kitsch

And, what pleased me quite a bit, is that the collage is called Indian Summer!

Anything for a good photographer

I am still laptop bereft, and am trying my best to keep up with blogging via my husband's laptop. His laptop is not 'me' friendly...i.e. it has applications that can show me live stock prices from Wall Street and Dalal Street (India's stock exchange), but can not do a pixel of good for an image!

But when I came across Tim Beddow's stunning photography, I had to share it with you...even if it meant working on a non-creative laptop of an investment banker!

So without much ado, here are some of my favorite images from Tim's 'exotic' and 'safari' collection...

Isn't the door gorgeous? Though I am not too fond of lizards and like, I guess I can live with them if hard carved in wood! The metal figurines are so like the bastar art form from India..

Reminds me of my days of poetry and hookah ...

The days as in daydreams... ;-)

I adore planter chairs! But I have a sneaking suspicion that the planter chair designers thought that planters could only be men, and hence they designed the chair such...


Like the colors of this photograph. The bedspread seems to be of batik print..

I can't tell you how desirable this room is right now...all that sun and warm colors..

Eclectic! The painting, chairs, Surahi, and ofcourse the tree...different styles and eras, but seem so right all thrown in together

Umm..safari evenings!


And, my absolute favorite....

I will come back with a very different genre of Tim's interior photography in a couple of days...

Miami Beach Median Home Price $1.64 Million

Miami Skyline as seen from Miami Beach

Miami Beach is one of the most lucrative neighborhoods in the US, according to a report by Forbes. Since 1990, property prices on the central part of Miami Beach have appreciated exponentially in value by a whopping 1,532%. Miami Beach has become a very pricey area to live in, with the median home price at $1.64 million in 2006.

Forbes further states that price appreciation in central Miami Beach, has been among the fastest in the nation, and so far, Miami Beach has weathered the storm, even with the steep 15.1 percent downturn in home prices in the Miami real estate market. All of the realtors know that sales are slow, and it will be interesting to see if the market is nearing the bottom.

There are a large number of waterfront homes for sale on Miami Beach. The Venetian Islands alone have 33 luxury waterfront properties listed in the MLS. In the heart of Miami Beach, there are a total of 116 waterfront homes for sale. The non-waterfront luxury homes for sale far outnumber the waterfront properties.

Ammendment One Helps Miami Homeowners

Florida voters approved Amendment One, a constitutional amendment of the Florida property tax system, which will bring sorely needed relief to homeowners in the Miami area. Many property owners have been feeling imprisoned in their homes, and unable to move because rising property taxes made it either impractical, or impossible to move from one home to another. With the passing of Amendment One, Miami area homeowners will no longer be as oppressed by their local government as they have been for years.

In short, here is what the amendment does for homeowners:
1.It doubles the existing homestead exemption from $25,000 to $50,000.
2.Up to $500,000 of value can be exempted from property taxes, when a homeowner transfers from one homestead to another of greater value.
3. Gives a tax benefit to homeowners who are downsizing from a higher priced home to a lower priced home.
4.Puts a cap of 10% per year on how much a non-homestead property can increase in assessed value.

What to do over the weekend?

Me:
1. Twiddle my thumbs as I wait impatiently for my new laptop to arrive

1.a. Call the laptop sales guy 63rd time to ask him intelligent questions about laptop configuration and stuff. Most of the times, I forget what is bigger and better - MB or GB (and to think that technology is supposed to make our lives simpler!)

[flickr image from Daveblog]

2. Get some therapy

2.a. I meant retail therapy :D. Afterall, I have the Feb bazaar to launch on the 15th!

3. Steal my husband's laptop to 'talk' to you, while he sleeps ;)

You:
1. It's the weekend! Have fun!!

2. The Jan bazaar closes on Feb 3rd (Sunday) at 6p India time. So go ahead and shop to your heart's content before it closes!