MIAMI—What's ahead in 2018 on the condo front? Is there a sweet spot in the market? What about Chinese buyers? GlobeSt.com caught up with Art Falcone, co-founder and managing principal of Encore, to get his thoughts in part one of this exclusive interview series.

GlobeSt.com: You recently sold out your luxury condo project on Fort Lauderdale Beach. Do you expect sales momentum for luxury condos in South Florida to continue in 2018 or will there be a slowdown?

Falcone: We could potentially see a slowdown because of lenders, not a lack of buyers. The slowdown on luxury condos started about two years ago, and because of that, lenders have pulled back dramatically on financing new condo projects. That's ultimately causing problems for developers and resulting in an additional slowdown.