Miami Real Estate Market Embraces Brazilians John Van Beekum for The New York Times In Miami, foreigners account for more than 65 percent of all condo and home sales, according to the Miami Association of Realtors. MIAMI - In 2008 the real estate market in this "Gateway to Latin America" was in the dumps, with the hottest deals involving foreclosures. And the future looked as dark as many of the new beachfront luxury condo towers, where scores of buyers had forfeited sizable deposits and walked away from their deals. "We had 70 years of product inventory out of the ground or ready to be built," recalled Maurice Veissi, a local Realtor and president of the National Association of Realtors. About a third who had contracts walked. Another third had to close but never built. It was basic supply and demand. The prices went down and down and down. But that was before the Brazilians became the latest wave of Latin Americans to hit Miami. They first flocked to spend holidays on the beach and then to buy vacation condos, sometimes more than one and mostly for cash. The languishing real estate was "chewed up" in no time, says Mr. Veissi. Now developers are back, starting or restarting ambitious condo projects. The Brazilians, of course, aren't the only reason the local real estate market is looking up. South Florida has become what the Miami Herald labeled "the nation's epicenter" for residential sales to foreigners, including other Latin Americans and Europeans. Brazilian buyers have steadily surpassed other nationalities. In November, Miami Association of Realtors statistics listed Brazilians as the second most active foreigners, at 12 percent of all buyers, sandwiched between Venezuelans (15 percent) and Argentines (11 percent). While observers expect Brazilians to take the lead next year, Brazilian ownership already is reportedly as high as 70 percent at some luxury towers. "They are taking Miami by storm," said Edgardo Defortuna, the Argentine-born founder and chief executive of Miami-based Fortune International Realty, which opened a satellite office in São Paulo last year. More than just buying one apartment, they are also getting their friends and families to buy. When one buys in a project, the rest follow. They want to be around friends and people they know. Unlike earlier Latin American buyers, the Portuguese-speaking Brazilians aren't fleeing political unrest or waiting out an economic downturn. They aren't parking flight capital or bringing cash in suitcases. Typically, they are upper-middle-class families who want to enjoy their prosperity newly earned in Brazil as professionals and entrepreneurs. Their country - geographically slightly larger than the continental United States - is on a roll, enjoying robust economic growth and preparing to host the World Cup in 2014 and the Summer Olympics in 2016. Despite concerns over a weakening Brazilian real, optimism is high. "The Brazilians just come to spend money," said Cristiano Piquet, a 34-year-old Brazilian who moved to Miami in 2001 to race cars. He now heads a real estate company with some 50 agents who market lifestyle as well as luxury condos averaging $750,000 to $1 million to a mostly Brazilian clientele. Paradise exists and it's Miami. Everything is half the price and everything works," he said. Plus, he added, Miami is clean, organized and, most of all, safe to flaunt signs of affluence like Rolex watches or Aston Martin convertibles without fear of street crime. One local vanity license plate, he said, telegraphs in Portuguese: "Here I can." Buyers come from Brazil's wealthy states, like Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul, as well as the major cities of Rio and São Paulo. And access is easy, with many nonstop flights (of about nine hours) offered to Miami from airports throughout the country.