The Related Group has sold two penthouses on the exclusive Fisher Island enclave in Miami for more than $150 million, a sign that the eye-popping valuations driven by newcomers to the city are set to rage on.
The properties, which are under construction on the island just south of Miami Beach and east of downtown, won’t close until they’re handed over to the owners but would represent two of the most expensive condos sold in the metro area. A spokesman for Related declined to provide details on how much each penthouse cost or who bought them.
Billionaire Jorge Perez, the Related Group founder who has been dubbed the Condo King because of his outsized influence in the Miami market over decades, said the influx of new residents and companies is bringing “serious, serious money.” That’s pushing prices ever higher, exacerbating a sense of scarcity for high-end properties.
“We’re seeing a great exodus that is coming to Miami, not just to buy real estate but for the companies to make Miami their base,” Perez, 74, said in an interview in Sao Paulo, where he was inaugurating a project. “And that’s bringing the very high-end employment that is going to afford the condominiums.”
While Miami has long been a destination for wealthy families to invest in properties, including many from Latin America, the new reality is being fueled by Americans moving there for the weather, low taxes and lifestyle.
The median sales price of the five Fisher Island condos that closed in the fourth quarter of 2023 was $4.3 million, according to appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and the brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate. A year earlier, the median was $9.8 million for six closings. The most expensive sale to close on Fisher Island, where there are about 800 homes, was a $40 million penthouse, according to the brokerage Compass.
Read More: Billionaire buys last Major tract on Florida’s Fisher Island
The sales are part of an emerging category in the Miami housing market: the $100 million-plus condo. The Ritz Carlton, South Beach Residences, which is under construction, includes a sprawling $125 million penthouse. A few blocks to the north, at another project in the works, the Shore Club Private Collection, a 10,500 -quare-foot (975-square-meter) penthouse with a private rooftop pool is in contract for more than $120 million, The Wall Street Journal reported in March.
All three homes are sharply more expensive than any other condos that have sold in the Miami area. Citadel’s Ken Griffin set a record in 2015 when he paid $60 million for a pair of penthouses at the Faena House in Miami Beach. After making Miami his primary home and buying multiple houses in the area, he sold the units.
Griffin also holds the record for the most expensive single-family home ever purchased in Miami-Dade County, paying about $107 million for a Coconut Grove estate.
Perez said local residents now represent about half of buyers. In previous years, locals represented roughly 20% to 25%, with the rest being foreigners, often from Latin America.
“Miami has become a very serious city,” Perez said. “Before, it was a tourist city. Fun and sun.”
Related and other developers are knocking on the doors of owners in old condominium towers to try to buy them out as one of the only ways to secure new space in one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S.
With the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Everglades on the other, the scarcity issue will keep pushing up prices, Perez said. Beyond Fisher Island, Related is currently developing luxury projects in Bal Harbor and Brickell.
While the U.S. and South Florida in particular remain the focus for the developer, a joint venture in Mexico is doing “very well,” with new projects in Cancun and Tulum attracting U.S. buyers, Perez said.
After a decade, the group’s bet on a minicity inside Sao Paulo called Parque Global is finally paying off. Perez was in town to hand out the first apartments in what will feature five towers along with amenities like a bowling alley, future hospital and shopping mall. The total investment will be about 14 billion reais ($2.8 billion), which includes local partners.
The construction was halted for four years and deposits returned to early buyers while environmental issues were resolved in the Supreme Court. The currency declined sharply during that time from the initial investment, eating into profits.
Despite that, Perez said he’s open to new opportunities in the Brazilian megacity of 20 million as he sees property prices below global peers for luxury real estate.
Part of his time in Sao Paulo was to pitch his Miami properties to prospective Brazilian buyers — as well as to shop for new artwork.
“The way the Latin American market reacts to Miami is always good,” he said. “When there’s political turmoil and economic dislocations we, have a lot of people that invest in Miami to obtain security. And when the economies in these countries are doing really well, there’s a lot of excess capital that also puts it in Miami.”