Gary Hennes has left his digs at Coldwell Banker and gone solo--although he's keeping the same office at 16th and Pennsylvania, with only his name is on the door. As one of the Beach's top Art Deco-conversion cheerleaders, he's encouraging homeowners to fight the temptation to "flip" and instead to hang on to their properties--and has published a list of reasons why Miami (or Miami Beach, specifically) has a unique real estate market immune to the whims of national trends.
While some of his claims are entirely theoretical, #2 on his list ("Limited supply") does point out Miami's geographic advantages: limited desirable land, as is the case in urban areas like Manhattan and San Francisco, ensures escalated real estate values as long as the cities continue to be desirable places to live. And if that changes...the value of real estate is only one issue on a long list of worries.
For his list, read below:
1. Like few places in the world, we have international appeal. We are the playground for wealthy Eurpoeans and the capital of the Latin world. Sophisticated New Yorkers consider this their annual winter playground.2. Limited supply: As a penninsula with no land left to build, and strict height and density growth controls, there is little risk of oversupply.
3. Miami Beach draws new residents from surrounding areas such as Coral Gables, Palm Beach and Boca Raton where there is little to do but grow old.
4. New luxury hotels and restaurants bring new visitors each day, many who explore possibilities of owning something here.
5. Continued low crime rates, expansion of cultural institutions and sports venues make the quality of life better each year.
6. New infrastructure including renovated bridges, thousands of new palm trees and plantings, new lighting and other beautifucation programs
7. Good government keeps taxes reasonable and maintains the confidence of businesses.
8. The embrace of cultural diversity draws people from all over the world who would not consider living anywhere else.
9. New office buildings lead ot more job creation and higher incomes, which leads to higher rents and market values.
10. Growth fuels more growth, and values here are still much lower than New York and Palm Beach.

Nice Blog, I just discovered it...
I agree with your top 10...
Posted by: Miami Transit Man | July 19, 2006 at 08:31 AM
hey, y'all! one of my commenters just posted a point by point response to Gary's list:
http://www.criticalmiami.com/index.php?id=700#c002575
Posted by: alesh | July 19, 2006 at 07:51 PM
Just found your blog through "how's your day, Dan?" - we are in real estate in Key West and couldn't agree more (although TPTB in KW need beautification and infrastructure lessons)
Posted by: Jocelyn | July 24, 2006 at 09:27 AM
Perfectly said Gary. Agree agree agree... great top 10! Congrats, again.
Posted by: Jillian Zichelle | July 26, 2006 at 09:07 AM