House flipping is still hot in South Florida

1 big thing: Home flipping still hot in South Florida 

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FWC seeks public input on anchoring in the Florida Keys

4. Anchors away 

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⛵️ Deirdra wanted to live on a sailboat in Miami. After being on a waiting list for a slip for a year, there was an opening — but the monthly fee was hundreds more than her 2-bedroom apartment.

🙂 Martin agrees with this study that attending live sports improves wellbeing after catching the Miami Open over the weekend.

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The love story behind a bald eagle hatching in Miami-Dade County

4. 🥚 1 love story to go: Ron and Rose

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Miami teenagers showed up to a "decency rally"

😶 Martin lost his voice at last night's Heat game.

🐣 Deirdra's son looks exactly like R4 at dinnertime.

1 big thing: University of Miami players make bank

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MIAMI, FL - MARCH 25: Guests attend Ultra Music Festival at Bayfront Park on March 25, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Sergi Alexander/Getty Images)

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🚧 Situational awareness: It's Ultra weekend. Take your pick: Party hard or avoid downtown entirely. The Herald offers a guide to road closures.

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🙄 Deirdra went to Ultra before it was cool.

👟 Martin covered the opening day of Ultra in 2019 but escaped before a botched transportation plan forced crowds to hike three miles to get off Virginia Key.

Poetry festival O, Miami puts poems on parking tickets and billboards

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🐳 Situational awareness: Miami Seaquarium plans to hold a Thursday press conference regarding efforts to relocate the orca whale Lolita to her home waters after 50 years in captivity.

Lolita had been fighting an illness late last year but an independent health assessment released in February said her condition was "relatively stable."

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💭 Deirdra's favorite poets are Walt Whitman and David Kirby.

🎵 Martin is partial to Kendrick and Bob Dylan, a pair of Pulitzer-Prize-winning songwriters.

House flipping profits flopped across the U.S. last year, but not in South Florida.

Driving the news: Single-family homes and condos flipped in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area last year made profits over $100,000 on average, according to a new report from real estate data firm ATTOM.

That's up from the year prior, when the average home-flipping profit in our metro was $87,000.

The big picture: South Florida bucks the trend. Home flipping was popular across the U.S. last year, reaching its highest peak since at least 2005, per ATTOM. But while the number of flips was up, profits from flipping were down in most markets.

Nationally, typical gross profit margin on home flips sank to $67,900, its lowest level since 2008.

What they're saying: Mike Pappas, CEO of South Florida brokerage The Keyes Company, attributed home flippers' success in South Florida to the market's abundant old housing stock — homes that are now 40 or 50 years old and ripe for being renovated and flipped.

He also noted that South Florida's data might be skewed because of the strong market for luxury homes.

"They're buying million, million-a-half dollar homes, and then they're reselling them for two-and-a-half million, so that may pull our average up."

Zoom in: One waterfront lot on Pine Tree Drive in Miami Beach traded for $7 million in January 2021 and resold for $20 million 15 months later, the Real Deal reported.

State of play: Nearly 9,500 single-family homes and condos were flipped in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro area in 2022, comprising 7.6% of all home sales here.

Only Atlanta, Dallas, New York, Los Angeles and Phoenix had more.

Flips made up 8.4% of all home sales nationally, per the report.

By the numbers: Home flippers in South Florida bought properties for a median price of $315,000 and sold them for a median price of $416,000, securing a typical gross profit of $101,000 per flip.

The most lucrative market? That was Salisbury, Maryland. The typical profit there was $254,750.

Meanwhile, the lowest grossing profits were in Kansas City, Missouri ($26,963).

Of note: ATTOM analyzed sales deed data, defining single-family home or condo flips as "any arms-length transaction that occurred in the quarter where a previous arms-length transaction on the same property had occurred within the last 12 months."

Context: The number of flips in South Florida was up 63.7% from 2021 but down almost 7% from a decade ago.

Back during the real estate boom of 2005, South Florida led the nation in house flipping.

Between the lines: Pappas told Axios that the demise of iBuyers — companies that used algorithms to buy and resell homes online — was a big indication that flipping was challenging.

"You see Zillow get out of the business, lost billions. You see Opendoor lost billions," he said. "It is an art and a very hands-on approach to being able to do this effectively."

Home flippers here made a typical gross profit of $101,000 per flip.

Housing

House flipping profits flopped across the U.S. last year, but not in South Florida.Driving the news: Single-family homes and condos flipped in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area last year made profits over $100,000 on average, according to a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="new report" data-vars-click-url="https://www.attomdata.com/news/market-trends/flipping/attom-year-end-2022-u-s-home-flipping-report/" data-vars-content-id="4bb75258-c9da-4eb0-a137-e150235c6a65" data-vars-headline="House flipping is still hot in South Florida" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.attomdata.com/news/market-trends/flipping/attom-year-end-2022-u-s-home-flipping-report/" target="_blank">new report</a> from real estate data firm ATTOM.

Real Estate

When it comes to flights departing on time, Miami International Airport's performance declined late last year, according to recently released data from the department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

By the numbers: 73.2% of domestic flights departed from MIA on time in December 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

That's down from 78.1% in November 2022, a 4.9 percentage point drop.

The big picture: Nationally, just 69.1% of December's flights departed on time, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick and Kavya Beheraj report.

That figure is generally between 75%-80% in a typical month, albeit with predictable dips in the busy — and often meteorologically challenging — summer and winter travel seasons.

Between the lines: The real story in December was, of course, Southwest Airlines' epic meltdown.

Just 53.4% of Southwest flights departed MIA on time in December.

Nationally, 57.3% of Southwest's December flights departed on time, compared with 77.2% for Delta Air Lines, 72.5% for American Airlines and 70.7% for United Airlines.

Southwest's struggles dragged down the average for all carriers reporting data to BTS.

Yes, but: All indications so far suggest Southwest has recovered nicely since December, though BTS' data reports lag by about three months.

The airline has promised to update key systems that exacerbated December's meltdown, as well as better communicate with passengers whose flights are delayed or canceled in the future.

What they're saying: "We spend a lot of money on technology and recently put in a new state-of-the-art maintenance system, a new reservation system and a new human capital workday system," Southwest CEO Bob Jordan told Axios' Eleanor Hawkins.

What we're watching: MIA saw a record-breaking number of passengers passing through the airport last year — 50.6 million.

January and February also set all-time highs for those months, and now spring break travel is expected to set records.

Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick and Kavya Beheraj report

Transportation

When it comes to flights departing on time, Miami International Airport&#x27;s performance declined late last year, according to recently released data from the department&#x27;s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.By the numbers: 73.2% of domestic flights departed from MIA on time in December 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

News

Love is in the air for a pair of local bald eagles.

What's happening: Ron, a Miami-area bald eagle, mated with a new lover on Christmas Day, and their two baby eaglets hatched last week.

Background: A pair of eagles had been living 95 feet up in an Australian Pine in northwest Miami-Dade since at least 2015 but have struggled to reproduce.

The birds were named Ron and Rita, after Zoo Miami communications director Ron Magill and his wife, Rita.

A storm knocked down their nest in March 2021. Wildlife experts from Zoo Miami and Wildlife Rescue of Dade County saved one eagle chick and released it into the wild, but another died.

The experts built a platform out of a 5-foot wooden papasan chair, which the parent eagles began to use as a nest. A video camera was set up for monitoring.

Last year, Rita had to undergo surgery after a wing injury, and she was taken to live at a rehab facility.

The latest: A new female showed up December 20. Her name is Rose.

She laid two eggs in February and they hatched in March.

The babies, known as R4 and R5, are expected to stay in the nest until June.

What they're saying: Lloyd Brown, of Wildlife Rescue of Dade County, told Axios that bald eagles are making quite a comeback. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found their population climbed to an estimated 316,700 in 2020 — quadruple the number in 2009.

"Challenges are still very severe," Brown said. "Up north, almost every eagle tested suffers from lead poisoning" from hunters shooting the animals' prey with shotgun pellets.

"The biggest challenge is actually rat poison," he said, adding that fishing line is another hazard.

What we're watching: The location of the nest is being kept private so no one disturbs the eagles, but a round-the-clock livestream airs on YouTube, where viewers can see Ron bring back fish and rodents to feed his young.

Superfans have started a Facebook group to support the eagle family.

Ron and Rose are the parents of two baby eaglets, R4 and R5.

Welcome to the world, R4! Photo: Courtesy of Wildlife Rescue of Dade. 

Environment

Love is in the air for a pair of local bald eagles.What&#x27;s happening: Ron, a Miami-area bald eagle, mated with a new lover on Christmas Day, and their two baby eaglets hatched last week.

Florida's Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is seeking input from the public as it formulates new rules about where boaters can anchor long-term in Monroe County.

Why it matters: New rules could impact the workforce in the Florida Keys, where hundreds of people live permanently on their anchored boats, some because they cannot afford homes on land or the cost of staying docked at a marina.

Zoom in: The average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment in Key West is $3,100, according to Zumper.com.

It can cost thousands of dollars per month to rent dock space at a marina, and slips are scarce, Steven McAlearney, Port and Marina Services Director for the City of Key West, told Axios.

Key West has 150 mooring buoys available for $399 per month, but those are almost always full, he said.

Around Key West, an estimated 200 boats are anchored out in the open water for free, with liveaboards making them their permanent homes and riding small dinghies to and from the shore.

Catch up quick: Last year, a change to state law designated Monroe County as an "anchoring limitation area," requiring vessels to pull anchor and move at least once every 90 days.

The law came after years of contention, with boaters accused of harming the seafloor. But some fired back that moving frequently and setting anchor in new spots could cause even more environmental damage.

Details: The FWC has proposed seven locations from Marathon to Key West as new designated anchoring areas, where boaters can anchor for 90 days at a time.

The commission is accepting public comment on the areas through April 30.

Of note: The new rules are unlikely to have much effect on boaters making short trips to the Keys.

What they're saying: Steven McAlearney, port and marina services director for the City of Key West, told Axios, "When you come to work, your house is floating out there. It can be rainy and windy, so when you have your anchor set, you don't really want to move."

"But the state is worried about the bay bottom, seagrass and the fact that boats can become derelict and it can become a taxpayer burden to get rid of them — so I see both sides of the issue."

What we're watching: The county is working to create hundreds of additional moorings.

New anchoring rules being formulated could impact hundreds of workers who live permanently on boats in the area.

A sailboat near Fort Zachary Taylor State Beach in 2021 in Key West, Florida. Photo: AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images.

Boat industry

Florida&#x27;s Fish &amp; Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="seeking input" data-vars-click-url="https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/FLFFWCC/bulletins/35081c3" data-vars-content-id="d1a71d36-5040-463b-bab6-ac28cc50d862" data-vars-headline="FWC seeks public input on anchoring in the Florida Keys" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/FLFFWCC/bulletins/35081c3" target="_blank">seeking input</a> from the public as it formulates new rules about where boaters can anchor long-term in Monroe County.Why it matters: New rules could impact the workforce in the Florida Keys, where hundreds of people live permanently on their anchored boats, some because they cannot afford homes on land or the cost of staying docked at a marina.

Some University of Miami hoops players will take the court Friday as some of the highest-earning student-athletes in the country, according to On3's valuation rankings for men's and women's college basketball players.

Driving the news: UM's No. 9-seed women's team and No. 5 men's team are both making Sweet 16 appearances Friday.

The women's team plays No. 4 Villanova at 2:30pm, while the men's plays No. 1 Houston at 7:15pm.

State of play: Since NCAA rules began allowing student-athletes to profit from their names, images and likenesses (NIL) in July 2021, student-athletes  have raked in NIL earnings based on their on-field performance, social media influence and overall exposure, Axios Sports' Jeff Tracy writes.

The intrigue: Miami's Haley and Hanna Cavinder — twins who amassed 4.4 million followers on their shared TikTok account during the pandemic — are the two highest-earning female basketball players, per rankings by On3, which compiles data on college sports.

Their valuations are pegged at $851,000 each.

Zoom in: The twins have deals with Boost Mobile, Leaf trading cards, Victoria's Secret Pink, Intuit TurboTax and more.

A deal they inked this week with artificial intelligence company Caktus AI drew controversy, as the software is designed to help students automate writing assignments.

They were also recently at the center of the first-ever NIL infraction stemming from their recruitment as transfers from Fresno State, but only Miami's program and coach were sanctioned.

Meanwhile, players on the UM men's team have also made a splash in NIL deals.

Nijel Pack transferred from Kansas State to Miami, where he received a two-year, $800,000 deal from LifeWallet, a company led by outspoken UM supporter and local lawyer John Ruiz.

Teammate Isaiah Wong also has a $100,000 LifeWallet deal.

The big picture: Across the NCAA, men's (20.6% of all compensation) and women's (10.2%) basketball players have earned nearly one-third of all NIL money since its July 2021 launch, per Opendorse. That's by far the most of any sport outside of football (55.1%), which dominates.

Brands account for over 80% of NIL deals but just 37% of compensation, with payments from wealthy donors (i.e., boosters or collectives) comprising more than 60% of all NIL money.

That discrepancy is at the heart of what will shape NIL in year three and beyond, as it is boosters — not brands — who keep the NCAA up at night with their potential to turn NIL into a de facto pay-for-play system.

University of Miami basketball players make bank in NIL deals

The Cavinder twins are winning — and raking in endorsement deals.

Two young women with ponytails and orange uniforms make the "U" symbol for University of Miami 

Haley Cavinder #14 and Hanna Cavinder #15 celebrate after defeating the Indiana Hoosiers during the second round of the 2023 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament on March 20. Photo: Joe Robbins/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

College basketball

Some University of Miami <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="hoops players" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/miami/2023/03/22/miami-hurricanes-womens-march-madness" data-vars-content-id="dfcdd130-fe20-4e10-9180-f72a8af58003" data-vars-headline="University of Miami basketball players make bank in NIL deals" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/miami/2023/03/22/miami-hurricanes-womens-march-madness" target="_self">hoops players</a> will take the court Friday as some of the highest-earning student-athletes in the country, according to On3&#x27;s valuation rankings for <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="men&#x27;s" data-vars-click-url="https://www.on3.com/nil/rankings/player/college/basketball/" data-vars-content-id="dfcdd130-fe20-4e10-9180-f72a8af58003" data-vars-headline="University of Miami basketball players make bank in NIL deals" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.on3.com/nil/rankings/player/college/basketball/" target="_blank">men&#x27;s</a> and <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="women&#x27;s" data-vars-click-url="https://www.on3.com/nil/rankings/player/college/womens-basketball/" data-vars-content-id="dfcdd130-fe20-4e10-9180-f72a8af58003" data-vars-headline="University of Miami basketball players make bank in NIL deals" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.on3.com/nil/rankings/player/college/womens-basketball/" target="_blank">women&#x27;s</a> college basketball players.Driving the news: UM&#x27;s No. 9-seed women&#x27;s team and No. 5 men&#x27;s team are both making Sweet 16 appearances Friday.

Deirdra Funcheon

Stories

FWC seeks public input on anchoring in the Florida Keys

House flipping is still hot in South Florida

University of Miami basketball players make bank in NIL deals

How December's air travel meltdown affected Miami Airport

The love story behind a bald eagle hatching in Miami-Dade County

Newsletter editions

✍️ Poetry fest takeover

⏰ Renewed curfew calls

🏠 House flipping pays

🤑 UM basketball bucks

🪧 Permitless carry protest