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U.S. NEWSWednesday 20 January 2016

American Living:

As wealthy Brazilians snap up Miami real estate, few benefit

JOSH BOAK No American skyline has efits of that income being Alicia Cervera Lamadrid, a ployment rate is 5.5 per-
JENNIFER KAY undergone a more dras- disposed of in the local developer who is leading cent, compared with 5
Associated Press tic face-lift from foreign economy,” said Ned Mur- sales efforts for the planned percent nationally. Aver-
MIAMI (AP) — Facing a cash in the past decade: ray, associate director of 57-story Elysee, with condo age hourly earnings have
teetering economy at Luxury condo towers and Florida International Univer- units starting at $1.65 million dipped 0.4 percent to
home, wealthy Brazilians swanky retailers crowd a sity’s Metropolitan Center. and personal wine storage $22.57 from a year ago. By
have been pouring money downtown once marred “That impacts local busi- available for residents. contrast, the national aver-
into what they increasingly by empty lots. nesses, and we’re losing No fewer than 126 residen- age wage has risen more
see as the safest place to And almost no developer opportunities to create tial towers are planned for than 2 percent in that time.
construction in South Flori- Census Bureau data show
Carlos Rosso, president of the condominium division at The Related Group, poses for a photo at his da. One sign of the scale of that high rents burden 66
office in Miami. Wealthy expats fleeing financial and political turmoil have poured their fortunes wealth from abroad is that percent of Miami tenants,
into glass and steel condo towers for years. The buying frenzy out of Brazil paused briefly this year, the majority of foreign pur- compared with 52 percent
when its currency weakened in value against the dollar, but as the situation worsens in Brazil, real chases are being funded nationwide.
estate developers say sales are picking up again in Miami. with cash, not debt. Regardless of wealth, ev-
Last year, foreigners spent eryone in South Florida
(AP Photo/Alan Diaz) $6.1 billion on Miami-area faces the potentially dire
real estate — 36 percent consequences of climate
invest: South Florida real es- expects the demand to year-round housing for our of all such investment, ac- change. Experts warn that
tate. stop. workers. They’re moving cording to the Miami Asso- as the seas rise further,
So are Argentinians, Co- Yet Miamians as a whole out.” But with its glamorous ciation of Realtors. Nation- flooding may become per-
lombians, Mexicans, Ven- have scarcely benefited locale and easy access, ally, foreigners account for manent, turning streets into
ezuelans, French and Turks from the glitz. Wages have Miami real estate offers just 8 percent of sales. canals, endangering ac-
— almost anyone with actually dropped for Mi- an asset that’s appreciat- The influx has been sud- cess to drinking water and
money to shelter, a direct ami workers in the past ing at a time when other den enough that the fed- eroding the man-made
flight to Miami and a shaky year. Area unemployment investments have shrunk or eral government has an- beaches that have long
economy to flee. tops the national average. turned frighteningly vola- nounced plans to monitor drawn people to Miami.
Their cash has helped drive Miami contains the larg- tile. That’s despite being on home purchases exceed- “There is a disconnect
the latest twist in Miami’s est share of renters in the a stretch of land prone to ing $3 million in Miami and — there’s a real estate
ever-evolving transforma- country who devote over natural disasters. New York City. Starting in bubble, and then there’s
tion — from a 19th century 30 percent of their pay to “All of the insecurity around March, the government where we see sea level rise
rail stop to a tourist-and- housing — the level the the rest of the world only will temporarily require title going,” said Henry Briceno,
retiree hub to a haven for government deems bur- reminds people how im- companies to identify buy- who studies the effects of
Cuban refugees to now a densome. portant it is to have assets ers of property. Authorities rising sea levels through the
harbor for global investors. “We’re not seeing the ben- in the United States,” said have grown concerned Southeast Environmental
that money launderers Research Center at Flori-
may be using anonymous da International University.
holding companies to stash “That’s what really worries
money in high-end real es- me: The rush to make mon-
tate. ey right away without think-
The average luxury condo ing of the future and who is
price in Miami Beach has going to pay.”
surged 35 percent from a Yet to many wealthy inter-
year ago to $3.7 million, ac- national buyers, the op-
cording to the real estate portunities appear to out-
brokerage Douglas Elliman. weigh those risks.
Downtown Miami is similarly Because so many of her
“beginning to shift, but the clients now own Miami
question is, to whose ben- property, Sao Paulo-based
efit?” said Arden Shank, ex- interior designer Brunete
ecutive director of Neigh- Fraccaroli recently bought
borhood Housing Services a condo at One Paraiso, a
of South Florida. “It doesn’t 53-story tower with a beach
benefit the people who club slated to be finished
have been there for a long next year. She expects her
time.” Florida clientele to grow as
The metro area’s unem- Brazil’s plight intensifies.q