March 2021
South Florida’s wealthy condo buyers are demanding more space, and this dramatic departure from past trends is shaking up projects across the region.
Buyers, mostly from high-tax states in the Northeast and California, have surpassed foreign purchasers as the primary source for condo sales during the Covid-19 pandemic. As people move down with their families, and often work from home, they increasingly seek more than one or two bedrooms. However, the local supply of three-bedroom condo units and apartments in new buildings is limited, as the prior trend was to build smaller units.
“We definitely had a shortage of larger inventory [condos] because, as Miami, Palm Beach and Broward have attracted more affluent people, there was more of a demand for luxurious, larger inventory,” said Alicia Cervera Lamadrid, managing partner of Miami-based Cervera Real Estate. “They are thinking of spending more time in Miami and moving here permanently.”