Real estate entra em nova fase com pandemia e empresas de tecnologia em Miami

For Mariana Niro, executive director of sales and realtor associate at Douglas Elliman, local buyers are giving new impetus and stability to the market

The arrival of technology companies and Americans from other parts of the country, especially during the pandemic, is radically changing the landscape of the Miami real estate market.

If before the city was seen as a vacation destination, mainly by Latin Americans, today it is seen as a new frontier by tech companies and a tropical refuge for Americans from other states.

This assessment was made by Mariana Niro, one of the most experienced real estate professionals in the city and the executive director of sales at Douglas Elliman Real State.

“People ask me if there is a risk of a housing bubble. And I say no. Because before, the market was very dependent on investors from Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia and the exchange rate fluctuation happening in these countries,” she says. “Americans are paying in their own currency. The exchange does not bring the market down. And as they relocate, more jobs are created.”

According to Mariana, Miami has been growing and becoming a lot more sophisticated in recent years. But it wasn’t until the pandemic that most Americans eyed the city as a place capable of offering the same level of luxury, glamour, service, and gastronomy options like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Chicago, for example.

Quarantine, however, led many to flee the cold and discover a city they did not know.

“Now the secret is out,” she says. “And it is a movement that also follows two other logics. The first is lower taxes for tech companies than in most parts of the country. The second is the lower prices compared to large American cities. A million dollars in New York buys you a property that is quite old. In Miami, you buy a new apartment near the sand.”

Mariana affirms that she hasn’t stopped since the first day of the pandemic. Barred from traveling, Brazilians and other Latin Americans, have taken advantage of the currency exchange rate to sell. Americans, who had been forced to work from home, were and still are eager to buy.

In the face of increased demand, prices are rising fast. According to Douglas Elliman’s Elliman Report, the average value of an apartment in Miami went from $356 thousand to $488,000 when compared to the second quarter of 2021 and the same period in the previous year. That means an increase of 37%. Over the same period, the average home price increase was 63 percent, from $629k to $1,027k.

To meet the demand and work in quarantine, Mariana hired four assistants while also having to adhere to new health guidelines such as masks, hand sanitizers, and foot protectors during in-person visits.

Remote sales became a part of her daily life. She used her cell phone to make video calls, Instagram as a marketing tool, and apps to sign contracts from afar.

With the slowdown of the pandemic and the return of international travel, Mariana believes that the market will heat up even more. “Americans should arrive in greater numbers. And Latin American buyers will go back to buying in the city. And make no mistake. Prices will continue to rise.”