Written by: Frank DeValdivielso • January 10, 2019• Real Estate

Belt tightening in January and start your engines!

The December spending spree is over, thank goodness. January is the time of year to refocus on our short- and long-term goals. Your real estate markets continue to perform well. Jump in, the water is perfect!

Companies transfer employees in the first quarter in and out of our area. Transferees are highly motivated to buy or sell. This injects new momentum into the marketplace.

Single family homes’ pricing is stable and competitive. There are sixty-seven homes under contract to sell and another 38 have closed in the last 30 days, leading into Christmas. For sale, there are 344 homes in Palmetto Bay and Pinecrest combined. The absorption rate is just over 11 percent.

Condos are still available at a bargain throughout Miami-Dade. If you’re up north, don’t hate, relocate! The area of Brickell combined with Coral Gables and Coconut Grove has 2,958 listings for sale. In the last 30 days 135 have sold, a 4.5 percent absorption rate. Currently there are 232 under contract, which shows buyers are taking advantage of the opportunities.

The inventory is awesome, and there’s plenty to choose from. Sellers are doing what it takes to bring the home to its bestselling condition. The investments made into the home are paying off, in most cases.

In Miami we continue to benefit from foreign nationals and domestic buyers looking for sunnier days. We’ve had buyers from Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Haiti, Kenya and Argentina to name a few. From the US, we’ve had buyers from California, Washington DC and New York this past month. All in all, we’ve received very positive feedback as to the condition of the homes. Still, some have not pulled the trigger on buying, waiting for the right timing. Some say, time in the market beats timing the market. With very favorable interest rates and an attractive inventory to choose from, now is a good time to get in. As we locals know, time in the South Florida market yields very good results.

If not now, when? This market is good, yet, has not reached the prices of 2006. In this growth cycle we’ve managed to avoid the mistakes that hurt so much in the past cycle. The market will one day begin its contraction cycle. The slowdown that we experienced in 2018 may be a preview to 2019. My crystal ball is broken, so I’ll go with my gut. 2019 will be a very good market for sellers that are motivated to sell and not fishing for high prices. It’s always about the pricing and exposure folks!

In 2019 you will see a change in our Real Estate team. Our son Michael has found his passion in the culinary arts and will graduate from Johnson & Wales at year’s end. In the meantime, he’s working at Zuma Miami, acquiring skills and knowledge. Jonathan has joined the US Navy, thankfully as his dad, not the Seals. By the time this goes to print he will be in bootcamp at the Great Lakes. He has been accepted to work in Information Technology starting in Pensacola, where he plans on practicing real estate on his days off. He is the first in our family from his generation to join the US Armed services. Our daughter Jacqueline has found her passion in political science and will graduate from FAU in the next year, depending on internships.

We are beaming with gratitude to you, our community and customers, for the blessing of raising our kids in this environment because of your support to our business. May 2019 bring you good health and love.

Frank DeValdivielso, a member the Miami FL Team and The Keyes Company, is based out of 2423 Le Jeune Road, Coral Gables, FL 33134. For more information you can reach Frank at his office, 786 378 8450, or cell, 786 273 8507. You can also email him at RealEstate@MiamiFLTeam.com and please be sure to visit www.MiamiFLTeam.com for the latest listing and news regarding real estate. Call to sign up for a free monthly market report of your zip code.

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