Miami New Construction Show to draw thousands for condo convention
Thousands of condo sellers, buyers and brokers will come to the Miami Beach Convention Center this week for the Miami New Construction Show.
The organizers of the Oct. 22-25 event say it’s expected to attract 25,000 visitors and 300 exhibitors. This is its second year, as it was founded in 2014 by Anita Funtek. The idea is to give buyers a broad view of the latest condo projects in South Florida, and help them learn about the market by listening to over 500 hours of presentations, panel discussions and speakers.
The event is happening at a crucial time for the condo industry in South Florida. The pace of sales has slowed as foreign currencies in key countries such as Brazil, Venezuela and Russia have weakened against the U.S. dollar. That makes purchasing real estate in the U.S. more expensive, but the economic instability in those countries provides plenty of urgency for investors to move their money overseas.
Because of those long-term trends, developers are filling up their pipelines with new applications. According to CraneSpotters, there are 111 condo towers proposed without approval, 101 planned with approval, 193 in presales and 117 under construction in eastern South Florida. Most of them are requesting 50 percent deposits, although some developers allow a lower amount when a building is nearly sold out.
The question is how many of those will gain enough traction with buyers to get constructed. Events like the Miami New Construction Show offer a chance for developers to nail down buyers, or simply test the market’s appetite for their product.
I will be speaking at the Market Review on Thursday, which takes place from 3:30 to 6 p.m. It also features Ron Shuffield of EWM Realty, Michael Corcelli of Alexander Alternative Capital, Cyril Bijaoui of WEA Miami and Orlando Montiel of the Montiel Organization.