Real estate professionals at The Real Deal’s Miami Real Estate Forum challenged the idea that Miami is facing a real estate bubble similar to past downturns. Speaking at the event, Ana Bozovic, founder of Analytics Miami, argued that Miami’s market fundamentals differ from those in other cities because of its reliance on cash transactions.
“This market is built on cash,” Bozovic said during a panel moderated by Stuart Elliott, Editor-in-Chief of The Real Deal. She referred to a UBS report labeling Miami as the most vulnerable city to a real estate bubble as an “egregious misrepresentation of truth” due to the prevalence of cash buyers in the area.
Bozovic explained: “Usually when assets collapse, it’s because there’s a collapse. The bubble pops when the underlying assets can no longer sustain the debt, and it all goes away, kind of like a flammable house of cards. We don’t have this setup.”
Dan Kodsi, CEO of Royal Palm Companies, noted that current development patterns do not mirror those seen before the 2008 financial crisis. He stated: “The issue is we’re building product that’s expensive, and because of construction costs, when you’re building high-rise especially, you have to sell it at a very high price per foot.” Kodsi also pointed out that rising prices are causing some local residents to move to more affordable markets such as Orlando. “Every part of Florida, you’re seeing grow,” he added.
Panelists discussed potential migration trends following Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York’s mayoral race. Brad Meltzer, president of Two Roads Development, commented: “I think the expectation that you’re going to see something immediately, like, the press keeps kind of glorifying like, ‘oh, tomorrow, there’s gonna be a million people moving here.’ That’s not going to happen, but it’s going to happen after a matter of time. Some people have families. They have kids. You don’t just pick up and move tomorrow, but the investigation process is going to start to happen.”
Both Kodsi and Meltzer addressed ongoing legal issues affecting their respective projects. For Two Roads Development’s Edition Residences project planned for Biscayne 21 in Edgewater Miami—a site involved in prolonged litigation—Meltzer expressed optimism despite recent setbacks: “It’ll take a little bit more time,” he said regarding resolution efforts after Florida Supreme Court denied further appeals in their condo buyout case. “There’s been discussions behind the scenes with that, but it’ll get resolved. It has to resolve itself. When something is valuable enough, parties have to compromise like anything else in life, and there’ll be a compromise that takes place, and everybody will feel that they can get a good deal, and we’ll move on.”
Kodsi remains involved in foreclosure proceedings over his Legacy Hotel & Residences project at Miami Worldcenter but indicated progress toward refinancing and resuming work on site: A court order prevents him from discussing lawsuit details publicly; however he remarked it was “on a path for starting construction again.” He added: “That ugly dumpling let’s say is going to be a beautiful swan when she’s built—a great project.”
