The pandemic might have driven some buyers out of towers and into single-family houses. But recent sales are proof that for many luxury buyers, condos are still the way to go in South Florida.

The luxury-condo market was oversupplied even before this year. Once pandemic restrictions began, Realtors were forced to go virtual. To attract buyers, they added incentives and dropped prices.

The sales team behind Armani/Casa is offering gift cards worth $25,000 for home buyers to purchase furniture from Armani/Casa, said Sebastian Tettamanti, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Dezer Development. Since May, the tower is also allowing potential buyers to rent for a year, paying $9,000 to $25,000 per month and buy a year later, with their monthly payments going toward the purchase.

The incentives seem to be having an effect. Pending sales and closed sales in the luxury-condo market continue to inch higher. In Miami-Dade County, April brought 26 pending luxury-condo sales, while May brought 31 pending sales. Both are significantly down from the April and May 2019 numbers of 112 and 95. (source: Miamiherald)