FYI Miami: August 8, 2024

Below are some of the FYIs in this week’s edition. The entire content of this week’s FYIs and Insider sections is available by subscription only. To subscribe click here.

AIRPORT SERVICE SCHOOL: More than 70 Miami-Dade Aviation Department administrators and supervisors were the first participants in the second phase of a program to boost customer service. They entered a one-hour training program prepared by the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau that will eventually be offered to all current Miami International Airport employees and will be required of all new employees there to receive their airport ID badges. It is the second phase of the I AM MIA campaign launched in March, when Lightning Crews of airport employees began to patrol the terminal to seek pressing maintenance issues. Members of that crew reply to passenger questions and concerns with the goal of enhancing customers’ experience. 

CASH STILL KING: Almost half of the condominium resales in Miami-Dade County in June were for all cash, according to the Miami Association of Realtors, as were almost a quarter of all single-family home resales. The association said that rising interest rates don’t deter cash buyers, and that the percentage of cash sales “reflects Miami’s top position as the preeminent American real estate market for foreign buyers, who tend to purchase with all cash.” In all, cash sales accounted for 37.9% of closed sales here in June, down from 43.5% in June 2023. About 28% of all US home sales are made in cash, according to the National Association of Realtors.  

SMALLER OFFICE TROPHIES: The average price for buying office space in the Miami-Dade market was $301 per square foot in the 12 months ended June 30, an office market snapshot from Avison Young shows. While the lease sizes in the trophy assets class grew to more than 13,000 per square foot in 2023, more than double the average lease in either Class A or Class B offices, in this year’s first six months those trophy sizes have fallen to an average lease of 8,638 square feet as “tenants within trophy office spaces begin to right-size their space needs,” the firm wrote. On the other hand, “robust tenant demand continues to fuel rent growth reaching over $60 per square foot” in all office leases combined.

GAS RISES HERE: Average gas prices in Miami rose 7.9 cents per gallon in the past week to $3.45, according to GasBuddy. Miami prices are 5.7 cents lower than a month ago and 35.4 cents lower than a year ago. The national average fell 3.5 cents per gallon in the week to $3.44, which is down 5.6 cents from a month ago and 37.2 cents lower than a year ago.