Simply Abu Dhabi Magazine XVIII

1 3 4 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I S elf-styled as the Capital of Latin America, Miami is the newest kid in town to be identified by Christie’s International Real Estate as one of the topmarkets for luxury homes in the world. Based on criteria including a city’s gross domestic product, the number of ultra-high-net-worth residents and its tally of Fortune 500 company headquarters, Miami's urban market is deemed to be leading the way in luxury, amenities and pricing. Now competing with the likes of New York, London and Hong Kong in the property sector, Miami is recognised globally as a destination that can attract the rich thanks to its year-round blue skies and warm climate, beautiful beaches, and stylish skyline. It has also done well to nurture its emerging cultural offerings that now include the internationally renowned Miami City Ballet, the Miami Symphony Orchestra and the Art Basel Miami festival. Long a playground for Europeans who have chosen it for their vacation home, it is the influx of Latin American buyers that the city is now renowned for, and which gives it its multicultural flavour. “Latin America was in the super cycle of the commodities world from 2012-2015, so many Latin Americans managed to accumulate wealth that they didn’t have before,” says Ernesto Cohan, sales director of Oceana Bal Harbour. “The first group of Latinos arrived in late 2008- 9 and created a demand for more properties, which in turn created a boom in construction, which is what we’re experiencing right now.” Oceana Bal Harbour is Argentine developer, art collector and museum founder Eduardo Costantini’s 28-storey glass structure rising in the last oceanfront site of the elite enclave of Bal Harbour. TheMiamiPropertyMarket – It’sHeatingUpFast By Julia Brandon