South Florida 'Cautiously Optimistic'

CORAL GABLES, FL-In a market that is experiencing positive job growth, population growth and strength in most sectors of commercial real estate, there is room for optimism. But in a market that is also experiencing an oversupply of condominiums and housing prices that have become unaffordable to some, there is also room for caution. That was among themes of the Second Annual RealShare South Florida conference Tuesday at the Biltmore Hotel. About 300 professionals attended the half-day event sponsored by Real Estate Media.

So is the glass half full or is it half empty? That depends on who you ask. “These are the best of times and the worst of times,” said Flagler Real Estate Services Inc. managing director Jack Lowell. “It’s the best of times if you’re a landlord and it’s the worst of times if you’re a tenant or tenant representative.”

McCabe Research & Consulting LLC CEO and managing partner Jack McCabe, one of the participants in the “Pardon the Interruption” session that kicked off the event, is among those that see the glass half empty. According to research figures, there is a five-and-a-half to six-year supply of condominiums currently on the market in Miami-Dade County. “A healthy supply would be eight months,” said McCabe, who estimates that the oversupply will not be absorbed until at least 2010. “We’ve built an artificial market on artificial demand.”