Investor Score scale; according to this source, markets with scores above 50 are expected to outperform the national real estate market.

What makes this particular market more attractive than others?

Real Estate Inventory levels at lowest point since 2005

Entering the 3rd Quarter of 2011, we can see that the Real Estate market in Miami Dade county is moving smoothly with a significant decrease in the Real Estate inventory since 2005; time when there was a 48-month supply for Single Family Homes and 60-month supply for Condominiums. In contrast, June reported only a 7-month supply in Miami Dade, which represents 40% of the inventory.

The now popular shadow inventory which is comprised of all the distressed properties (REOs and Short Sales) has also been reduced considerably since last year.

Attractive Values

Real Estate prices in some areas have rolled-back 10 years to levels before the real estate boom, when the market was very conservative.

U.S. home prices dropped 30% all over the country and 55% in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area since 2006,according to Zillow.

It is almost surreal to say that some property prices are now below construction cost! You can actually buy in Miami Dade condos for less than $100,000 dollars. These sales now represent about 50% of all transactions.

In other cases, there has been appreciation in some buildings and areas that value investors have entered hoping to see prices going back to reasonable levels.

Cash is King in Miami

Sales have been increasing due to the great opportunities on this market, but contrary to what most people think; the majority of the closed sales have been recorded as non-distressed sales and a great percentage is represented by cash deals.

Opportunities across the Miami-Dade market have enticed people to pay cash for their homes and investments. These individuals are finding deals that they could have never dreamed of finding a couple of years ago.

It couldnt be a better time to buy and invest in Real Estate for buyers that have cash or have the ability to borrow money!

Escalate Influx of Foreign and Corporate Investment

Another variable contributing to this increased positivism in our local market is the fact that foreign investment has accelerated in the past months, in Miami-Dade. Last year alone, International buyers accounted for almost $13 billion of the total sales.

We are not only selling to our local residents and existing homeowners, but we also continue to see a lot of second-home buyers.

Most of these foreign buyers are coming from other states in the U.S., especially from New York and out side the country: Europe, Brazil, Canada, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico and Russia.

Currently, approximately 60% of the sales in Miami-Dade come from foreign buyers, which are taking advantage of the weak dollar and low home prices. Foreign buyers are increasingly looking for the good deals in this market.

Corporate growth is also happening every day here in Miami; investors and many international companies are coming to invest in real estate.

A possible explanation to this phenomenon could be attributed to a number of variables including a devaluated dollar; the fact that Miami represents greater value, having experienced higher than average decreases in prices during the Real Estate meltdown; and of course, enjoys year-round exceptional weather; strategic and accessible location facilitates commerce and international relations with the rest of the world.

It is hard to predict how long these opportunities will await for the next real estate buyer; however, evidence suggests that these opportunities may not be there for too long; as long as we continue to experience a growing percentage of foreign buyers and investors purchasing multiple properties and taking advantages of the value opportunities.

Fortunately, for those related to the Miami-Dade real estate market, some of these variables have and will continue to positively influence sales, prices and certainly play a key role in the future of our local Real Estate market.

Even Run Shuffield, president of EWM Realtors adds to this positive sentiment by emphasizing that he believes that more houses and condominiums could sell this year than in 2005, the peak year...people will be rationally getting back into buying homes again.

All of the above can be can be summarized as positive signs that the Real Estate market has started to stabilize in Miami Dade; indicating that greener pastures await ahead of us.

Source:
(1) SmartZip InvestorScore: a relative rating of the subject property's investment potential for buyers purchasing the home as a rental. It is based on a risk-adjusted financial assessment of the property's projected ability to generate cash flow and annual investment yield over a 10-year holding period.