Refugees from the usual Northeast cities aren’t the only buyers, brokers and analysts say.
The pace and volume of home and condo sales for the first quarter of 2021 have stunned veteran brokers.
High-end single-family sales rose from 826 in the first quarter of 2020 to 1,786 this year, with the average sales prices increasing by 20.1%, from $2.55 million to $3.06 million.
Bunnett, a company CEO from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is buying a waterfront condo at 160 Marina Bay in Las Olas Isles, a 16-unit project now under construction and scheduled for occupancy next year.
Joanne Intrieri and her husband, a retired Wall Street executive, are now living in Miami waiting for their luxury condo at the Four Seasons Private Residences Fort Lauderdale to be completed at the end of this year.
A real estate broker who once ran her own construction firm in New York, Intrieri said there was no reason to remain and pay New York’s higher taxes after her spouse became semi-retired and didn’t need to work in an office.
“Getting in on the first end of it, we figured it would go up in value compared to buying something else in another building in Fort Lauderdale that was either new or already existing,” she said.
“We’re going to be popping down to the Keys and going to the Bahamas,” she said.
Under the guidance of Keyes broker Les Waites, they hit more than 20 homes — most of them under contract — before deciding on their luxury house in North Miami-Dade.
They want kitchens where they really can cook, where the family can gather, where they can make chocolate chip cookies and play chess and checkers.
Nonetheless, they also want outdoor space.
Down the road on A1A, Kolter’s 26-story, twin-tower Selene Oceanfront Residents project launched sales of 204 residences starting at $900,000.
Ron Krongold, managing co-partner of Gold Krown Investments, the developer, said out-of-state buyers like Bunnett are seeking large units.
George Ratiu, senior economist at realtor.com, sees a tight supply running into 2022 as buyers use real estate as a hedge against a potential rise in inflation and builders fight to close a U.S.
Laura Brady, CEO of Concierge Auctions, the national firm that helped sell the Fort Lauderdale estate of the late billionaire H.