Miami’s new tech-based buyers want single-family homes. They’re here to stay | Opinion

A “perfect storm” of factors has presented Miami with an extraordinary moment — perhaps a movement — to reshape its identity in the coming decades as a global center for technology, innovation and finance. The main drivers of this phenomenon (in no particular order) include the collective frustration of California and New York-based tech and finance CEOs over high taxes and costs of living in their respective states (as well as restrictive COVID policies), the dramatic speed and ease with which virtual work and education have become mainstream, and exceptional marketing on the part of our region’s real estate, economic development and political leaders over the past decade. In Miami, these companies have found a culturally vibrant and diverse city in a tax-friendly state, with resources, energy, and eagerness to welcome them.

The results of this trend are easily demonstrated by a now-constant stream of headlines and articles announcing decision-makers, entrepreneurs and investors either relocating, expanding, or launching their companies in South Florida. This growing list of tech and finance businesses announcing their intentions to move or open an office here include Starwood Capital, Icahn Enterprises, Citadel, Pipe Technologies, and Blumberg Capital, with credible reports of Google, Microsoft and Goldman Sachs also looking around in the news. At the time of this writing, private equity giant Blackstone — after initially announcing its plans to lease 41,000 square feet in downtown Miami’s new 2 Miami Central office tower — just purchased both 2 and 3 Miami Central towers for an estimated $230 million, “…signaling the firm’s ongoing belief in the potential of Miami’s business environment,” as reported in The Miami Herald.

This phenomenon has put Miami’s already red-hot residential housing market into overdrive, and as plugged-in, veteran members of the real estate community, we find ourselves working with a new pool of clients who are remarkably different from the ones we’ve seen in recent years. Careful observers of Miami’s always-interesting real estate cycles may know that the 2000s have been discernible by the waves of international buyers; primarily from South and Latin America, with a smattering of interest from diverse European and domestic United States markets, depending on political and economic factors.

The profile that emerges of these new tech-based Miami buyers is distinctive in a number of ways: we have noticed that they generally tend to be educated males between the ages of 35 and 50 who are senior executives or partners with their respective companies, arriving with families or plans to start one soon, on the hunt for elusive single-family homes in popular areas like Coral Gables or Miami Beach. Also notable is their clear, strong intent to remain in South Florida for many years — which debunks a popular new theory that recent Miami home buyers from major metro areas are merely “toe-dippers” — here just to ride out the pandemic temporarily, but secretly eager to return to the culture and lifestyles of their original homes. (In fact, Miami’s unique culture and lifestyle have been primary motivators drawing them here in the first place!)

“Buyer A” is actually a Miami native who is excited to return to his hometown. As a senior executive with a popular ride-sharing service, he has made his homes in Texas and San Francisco over the years, waiting for Miami’s tech scene to reach this level of critical mass. He and his wife (a talented and highly recruitable physician) now have full confidence in their respective industries’ growth to live here permanently, and to enjoy career mobility if desired or necessary. They are looking for a large Coral Gables home in the $2 million range, close to high-quality public or preparatory schools, with four to five bedrooms and a classic Miami “casita” (a detached guest house).

“Buyer B” is also a former San Franciscan; a Lebanese-American in his 50s who can afford to live anywhere he’d like and is choosing Miami Beach. He also plans to start a family and a new online security venture here, and like many others during the pandemic, intends to work from home while enjoying our free and open way of life. (His former’s city’s restrictive COVID policy was a final conclusive factor in his decision to move.)

While this current description of the new Miami tech buyer is consistent with what we hear from colleagues, it is reasonable to assume that the profile will evolve in the coming months and years. For example, as these companies grow and needs change, one would expect a need for more sales and middle-management employees to be recruited, greater diversity in gender, race, and age, and a growing demand for homes in a variety of price points. As the inventory of single-family homes is already quite low, and as COVID concerns diminish over time, we would anticipate a shift to greater Miami’s more reasonably priced and readily available condominiums. The rise of virtual work and Miami’s improved mass transit options may also allow for housing options further away from the city’s business and financial centers than one might expect.

In conclusion, we share this tremendous optimism in Miami’s ability to diversify its economic base, its impact on housing, and our region’s capacity to absorb these tech-based employees and their families.

Farid Moussallem is the director of international sales at Compass for the Miami Lifestyle Team. Christopher Zoller is an agent at BHHS EWM Realty International and 2017 Chairman of the Board for the Miami Association for Realtors. Both are board members of the Master Brokers Forum.