Tonight I attended the auction for the 20 remaining developer units of the Platinum Condominium located at 480 NE 30 St., north of Downtown Miami.
About the crowd...I would guess there were between 300 -400 people there. The media was well represented with reporters and TV crews. CNBC filmed the entire night. Before the auction started the CNBC producer was quizzing the crowd asking if anyone could give a name of a buyer who had either walked away from their deposit on a condo unit or was about to not close. At the start of the auction, she still had no takers. I recognized a developer or two and ,of course, there were more than a few real estate brokers.
The atmosphere was lively. There was a cash bar and a DJ – not quite the caliber of the grand kick off parties back in the day, but still there was quite an upbeat feeling.
The auction… began with the 8 units that were being sold at “absolute” auction… in other words the highest bidder gets a unit regardless of the price. Units were auctioned off in blocks. The bidding was not for any specific unit in the block, but the winning bidder could select from the available units. Here are the results of the absolute units only. The subsequent sales that were not “absolute” were all sold subject to developer approval so their end price could not be verified.
The Floor Plans
Tonight’s Sales
Are these prices a good deal? You be the judge… here is what was available in the MLS just before the auction…
A quick perusal of the Miami-Dade tax records shows that the price per square foot when the buildings started to close in May 2007 was from about $300 a foot to just below $500 a foot. So it does seem to me that tonight’s buyers did get a good deal.
Will this set a new benchmark for condo prices in Downtown Miami? It’s hard to say. Platinum is in a sub-par location as compared to many of the new condo buildings to come. There are not a lot of things to do within easy walking distance. The building is not waterfront, but some of the units do have water views. Like many buildings sold at the height of the market, some of those prices reached an unrealistically high level. Good or bad, buildings all seemed to sell within the same vicinity. Tonight’s sales could be indicative of what the “lesser” building benchmark should be… leaving higher prices for better buildings in better locations.