Brazilian Investors Channel Millions into Miami Real Estate
June 23, 2017By: Ismael Rodriguez
Earlier this month, One Sotheby’s in Miami sent a director of international sales to pitch a proposal that included condominium units at two high-end projects in Miami to 150 high-net-worth investors and their families in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Alan Araujo presented available units sitting in One Thousand Museum by Zaha Hadid Architects and the Louver House. He also acknowledged that most of the audience welcomed the idea of buying condos, which ranged between $3 million at Louver House to more than $20 million at One Thousand Museum, because they wanted out of Brazil.
“If you see the amount of money in Brazil, it’s insane,” Araujo told the press. “But people want to protect their money, so they want to get their money out.”
This observation by Araujo reflects the economic concerns of wealthy investors in Brazil. Despite the gradual recovery from a hindered economy that has plagued Brazil in recent years, most investors have decided to pour money into Miami’s luxury real estate market as a smart way to secure capital.
The Miami Association of Realtors reported that foreign buyers in Miami, between August 2015 and July 2016, purchased nearly 11,000 properties worth $6.2 billion, with half of the dollar volume for those properties deriving from Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia and Canada.
Co-developer of One Thousand Museum Louis Birdman also expects to woo 250 Brazilian investors— who make up more than half of all Latin American millionaires— into coming to Miami, where he will host an event to market the 62-story condo tower at the end of June.
Birdman told the press that the value of the Brazilian real, against the dollar, prompts these investors to shelter denominated assets like real estate in South Florida.
In the end, many of these investors prefer their money tied to a condo or commercial property in Miami than possibly losing value by being shelved in a local bank in Brazil.
