South Florida has always held a unique luxury real estate market, affected by a variety of factors including the diversity of locales and the wide spread of buyers. Within the past year, a variety of influences have had a positive trend on the luxury housing market, showing prices, purchasing, and optimism soaring to record heights. Stephann Cotton, founder and CEO of real estate marketing agency Cotton & Company, should know. From his years of work in the home buying and selling market, he’s garnered a few signs that indicate where a market will go throughout the year, including QTL and buyer trust. “I would predict that 2019 will be a medium to medium-good market for the luxury segment…I do believe that the market is still in a good shape with fairly low inventories with the cost of labor, commodities rising rapidly. People are also coming to Florida in search of its tax advantages,” he shares.
While fairly low inventory and high labor prices are to be expected, buyers are feeling more confident in the market. Cotton attributes this to the QTL factor, meaning ‘quality time left’. “When people have money, and feel that their money is appreciating,” Cotton says. “Their real estate is appreciating, their businesses are doing well, they get to a point of saying ‘I want to take some of this wealth and use it for family, fun, and lifestyle.”This suggests a positive route for 2019 to take.
The sunshine state has long been established as the reigning ruler of the luxury housing market-Sarasota’s rapid-fire market is proof of that. Overall, Florida’s luxury housing market is facing record highs in both prices and sales-Market Insider reports that Miami’s luxury home sales may break past the $1 million mark by the end of this fall. With sales rising to roughly 2.2% year after year, those numbers add up quickly. Cotton told us that Florida’s many benefits helps in its rise in residents. “Florida has an extreme amount of coastline, lakes. They have warm weather year-round; they have great restaurants, great transportation, many ports that’ll take you to any place in the world, airports that connect with the rest of the world. Most importantly, it is a place that people will save on taxes.” Who could turn all of that down?
While luxury housing markets in different states have been active recently, South Florida’s market has shown some particularly interesting trends. The Miami Herald reports on South Florida receiving a population boom and the creation of new households at roughly 1.8 million per year, with the number expected to rise. With the area increasing in technology jobs and c-level positions, along with offering the lure of beautiful beaches and natural areas, luxury homebuyers are feeling especially confident.
So how do real estate developers stand out? Cotton advises these few tips: “The best developers are going to be recognizing who is coming to Florida, where people are moving around in Florida…”. Different people pick different places, but follow certain trends. They’ll also recognize what their area has to offer. Sarasota is recognized as a great cultural city, West Palm Beach is known for being a luxury living town, and North Palm Beach has great beaches.If they want to be near work or far from it, it can be accounted for. If the buyer wants something styled in the Mediterranean designs that dominate Florida’s landscape, that can be arranged. Whether buyers want to be in the city, in the forests, or by the beach, both Florida’s market and Florida’s landscape can accommodate.
The one thing that is constant in the world of digital marketing is change, and Cotton & Company is dedicated to staying on the leading edge as it continues to evolve. An invitation to the developer conference recognizes Team Cotton’s unique position as industry experts in a highly competitive environment.
Foreseeing future technology, allows us to lay the groundwork for these changes in advance of implementation, eliminating the learning curve.
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