The information resource for Luxury Oceanfront Condominiums in Miami, Sunny Isles, Bal Harbour, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and Palm Beach. (954) 632 3266

As our readership knows, we specialize in luxury oceanfront condos in South Florida. In our opinion very few properties qualify for an ultra luxury classification. One Thousand Ocean in Boca Raton is a new oceanfront ultra luxury condo that has earned that distinction.

This seven story building is a mixture of 52 one and two story Residences with Beach Villa and Penthouse choices. Built on the most coveted inlet on South Ocean Boulevard, residences feature spectacular views of the ocean, the shoreline, and westerly city and lake views. One Thousand Ocean is under construction with occupancy expected spring 2009. According to the developer it is already 50% sold out. Prices for this ultra-luxury property begin at over $4 million.

The team behind One Thousand Ocean is LXR Luxury Resort, owned by an affiliate of the Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, Garcia Stromberg, RTKL, and EDSA .

The residences are all spacious starting at around 4000 square feet with 10 foot ceilings. Villas feature 20 foot double height spaces. Penthouse units exceed 12,000 square feet. All the units have floor to ceiling window and are finished out with tasteful color choices and the finest materials. Everything about this property has been given the utmost attention to detail.

The images below will provide you with a preview of One Thousand Ocean.

The residences are pre wired to accommodate the state of the art technology. Kitchens are finished with custom designed cabinetry and the finest appliances including Wolf 36 inch five burner gas stove.

Close up of stone and glass materials used in the kitchen.

Stone fireplaces are in the master Bedroom and main living area.

Master baths have stone vanity countertops with glass mosaic accents, frameless glass shower enclosures, Roman Therapy Whirlpool tubs and custom designed Italian Cabinetry.

His and her dressing rooms are custom designed with built ins and a free standing vanity dresser. A Sub-zero midnight snack refrigerator drawer is included.

Terraces are oversized and include a private plunge pool with massaging jets, and outdoor kitchen, and exposed wood ceilings.

One Thousand Ocean is a mere water taxi to the Boca Raton Resort and Club. The Boca Raton Resort and Club has outstanding first class amenities including two championship golf courses, 30 award-winning clay tennis courts, Spa Palazzo, 32-slip marina, Half-mile private beach, beach club, three state-of-the-art fitness centers, and an extensive schedule of social activities available for all ages. Boca Raton Resort has world-class restaurants including Old Homestead from New York. Gordon Ramsey is opening a restaurant as well as Serendipity, one of New Yorkers favorite dessert destinations.

One Thousand Ocean in Boca Raton is a most unique modern designed ultra luxury residence.

Within the last 30 days, there were two reported closed sales in Broward County for luxury oceanfront condos that each sold for almost $1 Million less than the asking price. There are buying opportunities now in all price points.

As I have written before, great buying opportunities exist when a building is being completed and the developer offers the last of their units for sale. Quite often the developer holds back the most desirable units until the other units are sold. A huge reduction off the asking price was recorded for a sale at the Las Olas Beach Club. It was a developer unit that had an asking price of $3,500,000. The unit has 4,466 square feet under air and 6,403 with balconies, 4 bedrooms 3 and one half baths. It was sold for $2,500,00. Units available for resale at Las Olas Beach Club. That calculates to $559 sq.ft. Sales in Las Olas Beach Club have ranged from $411 sq.f.t to $562 sq.ft.

The other $1 Million reduction was at the Villas of Positano. This unit was being offered for $4,600,000 and sold for $3,550,000. It was 5,040 square feet under air and over 6,000 square feet with balconies. It has 3 bedrooms 3 baths and 2 half baths. This is a corner unit directly on the ocean. Units for sale at Villas of Positano. Square foot prices for closed sales have ranged from $345 to this sale which calculates to$704 sq.ft.

We are continually updating and adding more useful features and content to www.blogsouthflorida.com.

We now have the latest very useful Google tool. Google Streetview. This tool allows you to visually stand in front of one of the condos we feature and move around to see what the area looks like. You can zoom in, zoom out, and take a stroll up the street. It is quite amazing.

Here is a sample. You can find this feature at the bottom of the screen on some of the individual buildings in Condo Details. This is a new Google feature, and they do not cover all areas as of yet. At this time only some of the areas in Miami and Bal Harbour are covered.

Explore Bal Harbour Bellini Street View, or take a tour along South Beach and view Icon South Beach Street View.

• View all Miami Beach or Bal Harbour
  

What can you buy for $1 million if you were looking for an oceanfront condo in Miami or Fort Lauderdale? To give our readers an idea, we have selected two condos, one in each area currently being offered for around $1 million.

Mosaic in Miami Beach-3801 Collins Ave

Asking Price: $1,100,000

Price per square foot: $721

1525 square feet under air

3 bedroom 3 baths

Southeast Direct Oceanviews

This unit came on the market in November 2007 and was originally offered at $1,250,000. This is a new building with full service amenities including infinity pool, fitness center, media room valet, concierge and fitness center. There is a total of 86 units in this building. Currently there are over 30 units on the market with prices starting at around $900,000 and exceeding $5 million.

Oriana in Lauderdale By The Sea- 4318 El Mar Drive

Asking Price: $1,100,000

Price per square foot: $520

2114 square feet under air

3 bedroom 2 and one half baths

Oceanfront Views

Oriana in Lauderdale By The Sea is a new low rise development consisting of just 32 units. New Mediterranean construction sitting on 400 linear feet of prime Oceanfront property. Generous room sizes, elevator, high coiffured ceilings, Italian Marble floors, Snaidero cabinetry, Miele and Subzero appliances, whirlpool hydrotherapy tub. There are 7 unit on the market ranging in price from $1,099,000 to over $3,500,000 for a direct ocean front town home. Oriana is located south of Commercial Blvd.

As reported today in the Sun-Sentinel, Foreign investors are hunting for housing deals in the United States, lured here by falling prices and a dollar in decline.

As detailed in today’s paper, Florida is a top target for international buyers. Fifteen percent of all Florida home sales now involve foreign purchasers, and 65 percent of agents in the Sunshine State said they had overseas clients, according to a 2007 survey by the National Association of Realtors.

“The U.S. is still an attractive place to own real estate. There’s prestige involved,” said Iverson Moore, spokesman for the group. “Home prices are relatively low compared to other countries, and the investors perceive there is value there.”

Homes in the United States typically cost half of similar-size properties in major European markets, Moore said Friday. In addition, the dollar’s purchasing power has dropped by about 40 percent compared with the euro during the past few years.

We report our day to day experiences with the very active luxury oceanfront condo market in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Palm Beach. We wanted to share the actual statistics behind what we are seeing.

Below is data on the price per square foot of waterfront condos priced over $ 1 million in Miami.   (The data does not allow me to specify just oceanfront so intra coastal pricing is included as well.  The numbers would look somewhat different if they were specifically oceanfront.)  We have included two different time frames. The most recent data which is reflected in a chart from December 2006- February 2008. The second chart goes back in time from October 2005 through December 2006.

There are spikes and dips, but for the sake of interpretation, if we average the last 6 months of sold prices it averages out to $713 per square foot as an average. Going back in time to the 2005-2006 time frame the average price per square foot over a 6 month period was $700 per square foot.

Several conclusions can be made from this data. Simply put, I will say that this is not reflective of the general housing market.

We communicate with people from all over the country and all over the world. I am aware of what the media says about South Florida real estate and it is for the most part true. However, certain luxury oceanfront condos are hot with multiple offers coming in. We were working with a buyer ready to put an offer in on a $2.3 million oceanfront condo. Within 24 hours the seller had THREE OFFERS!!! In another instance, our buyer was coming to the end of the recission period in a new building and the developer called me to say they had two buyers interested in that unit in case my client was not interested.

These stories are all true. Select luxury oceanfront condos of South Florida are hot and are selling! The negative media coverage does not apply to this unique market sector. Even I am amazed!!