One of the Miami Design District’s major highlights is its annual Design Miami, a showcase of furniture and interior design that most people living in Miami Beach homes have visited or heard about at some point.  If things go as expected however, Design Miami may soon be moving from its original home to Miami Beach in order to coincide with the ultra popular Art Basel event.

Before you start worrying about the move, nothing has yet to be finalized but Miami Beach commissioners are already in the process of potentially approving a three year lease that will see Design Miami take place in a parking lot right across from the Miami Beach Convention Center.  The move is meant as a means of solidifying Design Miami’s ties to Art Basel but it will mean that the Miami Design District loses its biggest event.

If you’re a fan of both however, the Design Miami move means you’ll likely be able to walk from your Miami Beach homes to either or both events.  Does this seem like the right thing to do or will the move come at a cost to the popularity of the Miami Design District?  We’ll know the official design on Wednesday.

As absurd and far fetched as it may sound, at least one of the problems affecting the housing market is…a lack of homes for sale?  While Miami Beach homes may not be one of the specifically affected markets, a number of real estate agents are saying that there aren’t enough homes to go around that are for sale.  How can that be?

To look at the broader picture, there is currently an eight month backlog of homes up for sale on the market, which essentially means that selling off all of those homes would take that same amount of time.  March numbers show that existing home inventory has dropped by two percent from the same time last year.  As a result, bidding is becoming increasingly fierce and it’s getting tougher to find worthwhile bargains for mid-priced homes.  Pricier luxury homes are still available in large quantities which might explain why the Miami Beach homes supply remains relatively high.

Another reason for the dwindling inventory may be what’s called “shadow inventory”.  These are usually properties that perhaps haven’t been placed back on the market after being repossessed or haven’t been repossessed at all.  Will the Miami Beach homes market eventually follow suit?

For today, let’s focus less on Miami Beach homes and instead focus on a city that’s equally luxurious and perhaps even more picturesque.  That city is none other than Coral Gables, a classic municipality well known for its upscale atmosphere and yesteryear aesthetic.  Thanks to lower prices for real estate however, Coral Gables living is no longer reserved for people who have millions of dollars in disposable income.

Depending on where you choose to live in Coral Gables, a home can cost up to $20 million dollars, especially if it’s by the waterfront.  However, in the same way that you can come across less expensive Miami Beach homes just by digging a little deeper, you can also find Coral Gables real estate for less than a million dollars if you explore towards the inland and don’t mind not being right next to the water.  Four bedroom homes with over 2,000 square feet or even a three story home with more than 4,000 square feet make up some of the more reasonably priced options.

You may find that Coral Gables suits your tastes just as much as Miami Beach homes.  The only way of getting a good idea is to take some time and explore options if you’re looking for luxury property in what is unquestionably a charming city.

As we approach the midpoint of 2010, the good news regarding housing in South Florida continues to provide evidence that the market is on an upswing, steadily increasing demand for Miami Beach homes.  This time around, it's pending home sales that saw another welcoming boost last month...and what a significant boost it was.

In Miami-Dade County alone, pending home sales increased by more than six percent to 10,392.  That increase actually represents about 1,000 additional pending sales than the month of March.  That number seems modest but when we place April's pending home sales alongside those of April 2009, the 71 percent increase is quite substantial.  With pending sales, people sign contracts to purchase properties such as Miami Beach homes but these properties have yet to actually close, hence why they're pending.

Real estate analysts do caution that this steady stream of increases may actually be lower in the months to come now that the tax credits for buying Miami Beach homes and such is over.  Where do you see things going?

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?