Here we go Again

Sales of new homes are rebounding, condos in South Florida are selling faster than they can come to market, and everywhere you go it seems like happy times are here again.

From Brickell to Sunny Isles Beach and from Midtown and the Miami Design District to the beach, we are hearing of large new developments targeted aggressively to wealthy South Americans. These buyers, accustomed to purchasing with little or no debt, are driving the unexpectedly rapid recovery in the region’s real estate market.
 
These projects will eventually rejuvenate the county and city coffers, as these new home owners will pay property taxes, and their long-term visits to South Florida will bring more money into our restaurants and stores. In turn, this will help drive employment upwards.

But as a very well respected banker recently mentioned, we may be focusing on the short term without looking further ahead. As he said, we must find ways at attract bright young professionals to South Florida so they say, “I’ve got to live here.” That is absolutely critical for our region to become a sustainable economic powerhouse.

Fortunately, there are number of business and civic organizations working to strengthen our technology and creative design industries, and to attract the interest of angel investors and venture capitalists. Our region’s traditional strengths in financial and professional services also appeal to young people interested in careers in banking, accounting and the law.

But one of the things that needs to be done is implement a more effective national immigration strategy. Currently, we are spending tons of dollars educating not only our citizens, but those of other countries. Colleges and universities benefit from those tuition dollars, as well as their endowments, donations and government resources. You do not have to see someone get an actual handout to understand that both citizens and non-citizens benefit from that support.

While we do want many to go back to their countries and build industries that will eventually trade with the U.S., we need young people with an entrepreneurial spirit to stay here and create new jobs in the years to come.

Jobs bring peace, they bring comfort and they bring economic development. They impact the real estate market, the restaurants, the stores in a positive way, and they are certainly the best solution in the struggle against crime.

With the best weather in the country and excellent access to major cities around the world, we must work hard to make South Florida home to the best and brightest. While we continue to welcome new real estate development and foreign investments, we cannot rely solely on one industry to carry us along. After all the economic cycle will change at some point, and eventually we will be saying, “Here we go again.”

Jacob Safdeye
Publisher & CEO

South Florida Legal Guide 2013 Financial Edition                      Back to 2013 Financial Edition