According to the 2018 ISG World Miami Report, close to 900 people move to Florida each day, with 45 percent of them moving to Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

In Miami, the Brickell neighborhood has accounted for the biggest increase in population growth. In 2018, the Miami Downtown Development Authority reported that the number of residents living between Brickell and Edgewater has soared nearly 40 percent over the past eight years.

Something to note is that the South Florida condominium market today is significantly different from that of the past decade.

Here are the top facts:

– A predominantly end-user market: ten years ago, the majority of condo buyers were strictly investors, purchasing units not to reside in, but to rent out. In 2018, we saw the opposite, with 80 percent of condo buyers being true users, using their units as a primary or second home, and only 20 percent being investors, providing stability to the market.

– New construction has slowed: in 2017, 10 condominium projects broke ground in South Florida, down from 23 in 2014. Today, groundbreakings and future condominium startups are virtually at zero, from Coconut Grove to Fort Lauderdale.

South Florida’s developers are concentrating on selling out the remaining inventory of newly built condos from the current cycle.

– Winding down of developer inventory: From 2015-2018, South Florida absorbed roughly the same amount of developer units each year, approximately 1,340 condominiums, and that rate of absorption is expected to continue in 2019. With only 2,210 new developer units available for sale from Coconut Grove to Fort Lauderdale, east of I-95, this might result in very low new development inventory 18 to 24 months from now.

– Outlook on future supply: the lack of condominium groundbreakings over the years is daunting compared to what Miami is used to.

The strong U.S. dollar has made it difficult for developers to attract money from South America, which has traditionally been key in driving successful condominium pre-sale campaigns. As a result, major real estate developers have postponed the start of new condo projects until 2020.

Additionally, the time line for the preconstruction and development cycle for a typical high-rise in Miami has increased significantly. For the past three decades, South Florida’s development cycle for new condominium towers was three years. Today, real estate developers are building 50- to 100-story luxury residential towers, which easily doubles the development and construction time line to six years.

Real estate investors should note that the opportunity for 2019 is in condominiums, specifically, remaining developer inventory from this cycle. This is the year to buy your dream condo in Miami.