Miami news, Miami local news

The number of Miami homes in November, in some stage of the foreclosure process, dropped by 5.62% in Miami-Dade County compared to October. However, according to figures released Thursday by foreclosure data firm RealtyTrac, Miami foreclosures were still up by double-digit percentages versus the same month last year.
In November, 7,306 Miami homes had either received a foreclosure notice, were scheduled for auction or taken back by a bank in an auction sale. This was an increase of almost 13% from year ago.
The number of new Miami foreclosures filings was up from last year by a large 30% predicting a bigger lump of Miami homes that are likely to enter the market later on.
Miami-Dade ranked seventh in the state for foreclosures, with one of every 133 Miami homes in some stage of the process. By comparison, one home in every 417 was caught up in foreclosure nationally.
In November, the foreclosure rate in Broward fared slightly worse compared to October, rising 4.44%, with one of every 113 homes in the pipeline.
The rate was up 4.38% from a year ago and new foreclosure filings were up 27% from last year.
Following Nevada, Florida (with one home per 165 in foreclosure) displaced California for the state with the second-highest percentage of Miami homes in foreclosure. In Nevada, there was one home in foreclosure for every 119 that were not.

Winter looks better for tourism this year.
As Art Basel Miami Beach heralds the unofficial launch of the “high” tourism season this week, demand has finally begun to rise for South Beach hotels and Miami Beach vacation properties. That could signal a turning point for a hotel market besieged by discounted rates and weak demand, trends that have pushed some of the region’s flashiest hotels to the brink of foreclosure.
Severe cutbacks in travel spending haven’t stopped art buyers from driving up hotel rates in Miami Beach this week. The cheapest rooms at the Delano are $825 a night this weekend and $345 next weekend.
After the country’s largest contemporary art show turns off the lights at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Sunday the real test begins.
Peter Sahora, general manager of the Z Ocean Hotel in South Beach says, “It looks like the slide is either slowing down or reversing. We’ll see what happens in January and February.”

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Miami Florida has always attracted celebrities. Julio Iglesias, Gloria Estefan, the Bee Gees have been Miami’s residents for decades. Most Miami homes that belongs to celebrities or media personalities are located in the exclusives Star Island, North Bay Road, and Indian Creek.

Nowadays, celebrities living in Miami usually are for all regions of the world including, of course, the U.S. and Latin American. Besides, there is not a specific type of celebrity. For instance, musicians, actors, TV hosts, and more love the sunny city of Miami. Among celebrities that owned Miami waterfront homes and Miami houses: Lenny Kravitz, Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias and Anna Kournikova, Billy Joel, Jennifer Lopez and hubby Marc Anthony. In Star Island, you will Shaquille O’Neal, Rosie O’Donnell, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, while Andy Garcia calls Key Biscayne home. Other celebrities that call Miami their home are Matt Damon and Nicolas Cage.

These popular celebrities in Miami can be seen around Miami Beach and South Beach driving their luxury cars.

If you are planning to visit Miami, Florida, and do not have hotel reservations, check out this selection of vacation rentals in South Beach.

Calendar of Miami Events 2008

July / August / September / October / November / December

Most people are always looking for new and interesting ways to spend their vacations when saving money. With the advance of the Internet, there have appear new and interesting ways for travelers to enjoy a very deserve vacation. A new trend that is going strong all around the globe is vacation rentals, and Miami is not the exception! Nevertheless, in the most popular area of Miami, Miami Beach, short-term rentals have some restrictions. Therefore, it is hard to find good Miami Beach vacation rentals.

When looking for a Miami Beach vacation rental, you must be cautious. There are several ways through which one can rent Miami Beach vacation rentals. The Internet has it all, but before you go to the every changing online world you must know in detail the three, almost four, ways vacation rentals are available to travelers.

To start with, there are really big websites that make easy the mission to book a vacation rental. Examples of those are: vacationrentals.com, vacationhomerentals.com, vacationhomes.com, goin2travel.com. However, you must know how they work before going ahead. Everyone can list a property on those websites. I could be for free or by paying a fee. Either way it can be a little risky. Just suppose one want to make easy money and put an online ad of a property that really does not exist. What will happen is that you will get scam. Most of these kinds of websites have incorporated some ways to prevent anything like this to happen, yet it might not been enough because “face to face” contact is not require in order to put the ad.

Other way to rent a Miami Beach vacation rental is through an owner. There are many people with vacation properties or investment properties that have decided to open them to travelers in order to make some money or pay their mortgages. Renting through an owner also has its issues. For instance, the owner might not live on Miami, Florida, so if you have any kind of problem with the Miami vacation condo or Miami vacation home, it might be hard to get a quick response.

There are some real estate agents doing Miami Beach vacation rentals, but they are a few. Miami realtors make more money by selling or doing long-term rentals, so they usually not take the time to do short-term rentals in Miami.

At this instant, we have come with local Miami vacation rentals agencies. As it already was mentioned, there are certain restrictions over Miami Beach vacation rentals, so there are not many around. However, Miami Beach vacation rental agencies might be the most secure way to rent a vacation apartment or vacation home in Miami, Florida. A local agency is usually managed by local people who will guide you, as it should be, through all the rental process. Besides, if you get to have any problem with the property they can take care of you immediately. In most cases, you can almost be sure that the property is going to be well-maintained. Owners might not be that meticulous, otherwise. MiamiHabitat.com is a local agency operating in the hearth of Miami Beach where you will probably find a property that suits you.

Afterwards, Miami Beach vacation rentals represent a good solution to tourists looking forward to a more private and . They just have to be smart at the time to choose a property, and rental canal, in order to avoid any further inconvenient.

Other interesting posts this week:

2008 Father’s Day in Miami

Calendar of Miami Events 2008

May / June / July / August / September / October /

Summer is already here, and the City of Miami has a lot to offer to locals and tourists. Take a look of upcoming Miami events and enjoy your summer vacations in Miami, Florida. In addition, I want to give a few tips to find your ideal accommodations in Miami! think about selecting Miami vacation rentals over Miami hotels.

During June there is something from every one in Miami and South Florida. To start with, Miami is going to host a few interesting concerts. On June 11th, Pearl Jam (rock) will be performing at the Cruzan Amphitheater in West Palm Beach. Then, The Cure (rock) arrives on June 13th to the Bank Atlantic Center. Cyndi Lauper (dance / 80’s) and Melissa Etheridge (rock / country) will be performing on June 17th and June 19th, respectively. Besides concerts in Miami, there are going to some music Miami events as the Tribute to America’s Armed Forces by the Miami Gay Men’s Chorus.

During July, Motley Crue’s tour Crue Fest (rock) will give a big concert at the Cruzan Amphitheater in West Palm Beach. This Miami event is going to take place on the first of July. Other big star performing in Miami in July is Ringo Starr who brings his show Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band to Hollywood Beach, Florida. This live performance will take place at the popular venue Hard Rock Live, situated at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

August is going to be all about Britain singer George Michael and Linkin Park’s Projekt Revolution. George Michael (dance) is going to be performing at the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida, on August 3rd. Projekt Revolution (rock / hip-hop) will hit the Cruzan Amphitheater in West Palm Beach on August 1st.

This is just an overview of music-related upcoming Miami Events this summer.

Before closing this post, you must know that the ideal summer vacations in Miami area going to depend on two main things, the accommodations that you choose and the budget you have for your vacations in Miami and South Beach. Miami vacation rentals are ideal for those traveling in a budget. You can find a wide variety of vacation rentals around Miami that will give you a great advantage over a hotel. Usually, Miami vacation rentals provide better deals per night and certainly more privacy. There are a few companies in Miami Beach that can offer you a good vacation condo or home, yet you must be careful in order to fully enjoy your experience. Miami vacation rentals are easy to find online; however, I wanted to let you know about two Miami vacation rentals agencies that will not let you down. MiamiHabitat.com, located in the heart of South Beach, offers weekly specials vacation condos and luxury homes in South Beach and North Miami, while MiamiLodge.com has great deals on Art Deco style buildings in South Beach close to all the action and torrid Miami nightlife.