Miami Beach homes certainly have their appeal but they still don’t match the luxury and privacy of those on neighboring Fisher Island.  If you live in Miami Beach you may have seen or read about Fisher Island’s $60 million upgrade initiative to upgrade its popular Fisher Island Club, originally announced way back in 2007.  Four years later, the first phase is now complete.

The new upgrades at the Fisher Island Club include brand new restaurants and bars as well aesthetic enhancements like further landscaping and an extension of the beach area.  These upgrades are at least partially meant as a means of keeping the club competitive with other popular spots on the island and those that are you near Miami Beach homes on Miami Beach itself.

Keep in mind that if you want to get a taste of what it’s like to stay in the Fisher Island Club, you can enjoy a similar experience without having to venture too far from your Miami Beach homes onto the famous island.  Condominiums like the posh Setai also belong to The Leading Hotels of the World luxury accommodation designation.
 

Depending on how long you’ve lived in Miami Beach homes and how closely you follow the ups and downs of real estate, you might’ve read and/or heard a blurb or two about Biscayne Landing, the next great condominium project set to open in the North Miami area where the Superfund once existed.  Well, that ambitious project failed to take off and the idea of a condo has been scrapped for something completely different.

Instead of a condominium, the site where Biscayne Landing would have existed may now be turned into a state of the art entertainment park comprised primarily of an indoor ski slope and playground all themed around the winter season and powered mostly by renewable energy.  Considering that the closest thing Miami-Dade County has to a winter park is an indoor skating rink, the project may actually be worthwhile if people decide to head out from their Miami Beach homes to take their kids to the park over a weekend in order to experience winter in Miami.

Does this new project seem feasible?  So far the site where the park is being planned has seen several ambitious projects that never took off, Biscayne Landing being one of them.  Would you be intrigued enough to visit the winter park a little further from your Miami Beach homes instead of just hitting the beach itself?

First, let's start some with good news.  Florida's economy is slowly making its way back up after tumbling dramatically nearly a year ago, at least if recent reports from major lending institutions are to be believed.  The bad news is that this slow recovery will continue to affect the unemployment rate for some time.  Now that those two things are out of the way, how are Miami Beach homes doing?

While we can't speak for Miami Beach homes specifically, the housing market in Florida is still seeing prices come down even as recent reports mention a rise in home sales. However on a positive note, many market analysts have said there are strong signs that the housing bottom has been or will soon be reached so prices may actually start to increase sooner than anticipated.

On that note, consumer confidence actually increased by more than seventy points this month, that's actually the highest it's ever been since October of 2007.  If consumer confidence continues to improve then the odds are good that so will sales of Miami Beach homes.

Florida is on an uphill climb but things are looking up, at least for the most part.

Last week some news regarding strong indicators of a housing market recovery made waves, and now there’s another bit of good news to report.  After four straight months of declines and new lows that managed to set records, the month of March actually proved to be a good one for property like Miami Beach homes and homes around the country.

Newly built homes saw sales increase by a considerable 27 percent compared to the month of February.  That number also marks a 24 percent increase when compared to March of 2009.  The upswing mirrors that of sales for used Miami Beach homes which also saw a healthy boost during the month of June.  If there’s a group of people pleased to hear such news, it’s definitely builders.

These recent increases are attributed to the introduction of the spring buying season which is typically active plus, as always, the buying tax credit which is ending in just a few more days.  Will Miami Beach homes continue this surge once the spring season is over?  Summer is right around the corner and that’s typically when many people flock to the sunny beaches of South Florida.

Regardless of how long you’ve lived in Miami Beach homes, chances are you’re quite familiar with both the Miami Beach Convention Center as well as The Fillmore Miami Beach at the classic Jackie Gleason Theater.   The former frequently hosts large scale events while the latter often plays hosts to a variety of musical acts.  If things go according to plan however, The Fillmore may not be around much longer.

Currently, a new plan is being devised by well known firm Arquitectonica that will see the Miami Beach Convention Center receive a huge expansion, requiring demolishing The Fillmore in order to convert the site into a 1,000 room convention hotel.  However, there is some concern among those living in neighboring Miami Beach homes and the general public about the loss of the popular music venue and the site where Jackie Gleason once filmed his popular television show.

If you’re interested in learning more about the project, a community workshop is being held on May 13 at the convention center.  A hotel could potentially boost the value of existing Miami Beach homes near the building as well as improve tourism but for some, that still may not be worth the loss of The Fillmore.  What are your thoughts?

Are you among the thousands of people who took the time last week to try and work out a new solution towards paying the mortgage for their property like Miami Beach homes?  If you missed out on attending the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America's five day Save the Dream tour, you may have missed an incredible opportunity to significantly reduce your mortgage payments.

The Save the Dream tour had already experienced lots of success when it was initially held over in Palm Beach County and the second tour held at the Miami Beach Convention Center also proved to be a huge success.  Nearly 15,000 people were able to sit down with a counselor and receive a loan modification for their Miami Beach homes.  That number doesn’t take into account the applications that are still pending, considering that over 40,000 people attended the event that was open around the clock.

Were you among the many people who attended the Save a Dream tour?  If so, were you able to work out a new solution that works with your current financial and/or employment situation?  We’d love to hear your stories.