ADI ZILBERBERG | EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF LUXURY SALES

New Yorkers abandon Big Apple to buy in the Sunshine State

The choice between New York and Miami requires time and I understand. I would just say that New Yorkers end up in Miami eventually for so many reasons that go from lifestyle, weather to no state income tax, price per sqft, resale value. Our clients’ happiness is the most important always. Count on me should you decide to choose Miami. It would be my pleasure to assist him with owning a residence in Miami.

Sao Paulo. Caracas. Mexico City. Toronto. Buyers from cities like those have been driving Miami’s residential market since the worst of the condominium bust. And although it was largely overshadowed in the foreign buyer shuffle, New York City residents are heading back to Florida with money in hand.

[New York buyers] are very, very real and very active, It’s tangible, and it’s happening at properties across the board.

Part of the drive was coming from the fact that buyers in New York and the northeast are beginning to change their perception of Miami’s real estate market and acknowledge its rapidly shrinking inventory.

As of 2011, we see a pickup from New York, and particularly in the last two or three months. The return has been due to several factors: one, many New York buyers are beginning to realize they may have missed the bottom of the market, and even more are fleeing New York for Florida’s favorable tax environment.

When things were booming a bit, maybe they were able to stomach the city and state income tax [in New York], but now it seems like more and more people are establishing residency, moving their business to Florida and taking advantage of no income tax and the homestead protection.

The weather, too, continues to draw New York snowbirds down to Miami, despite an unusually balmy winter up north.

They’re also looking to Miami for the same reasons as many of the now-famous foreign buyers: investment.

One New York investor who was interested in Miami Beach: “He’s seeing a lot of upside in the very near future, in the next year to three years. Originally, the thinking was that it was going to be three to seven years,” he said. “His timeline has now shortened because he’s seeing much greater appreciation.”

It’s not to say that New York buyers haven’t had a presence in Miami during the downturn, however, They never went away entirely. There was a little bit of a slowdown, but certainly, in areas like Miami Beach, we still had some New York buyers. But it’s certainly picked up this year.

Indeed, as the Miami market in the top of its game, some New York buyers began to rent homes and condominiums in Miami Beach, with some looking to begin establishing residency.

The foreign contingent remains Miami’s strongest source of buyers, though, and a number of other South American demographics, like Mexicans and Venezuelans, are beginning to picking up steam.

New Yorkers are definitely here — especially this time of year. “It’s not necessarily just from New York, they’re really from everywhere.”

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