The waterfront Tahiti Beach estate owned by Lauren Sturges, widow of Miami businessman Charles M. Fernandez, secured a buyer last week. The property was listed with an asking price of $40 million and represents the highest-priced contract among 26 deals signed in Miami-Dade County between March 16 and March 22, according to a report released on Mar. 23.
This sale is significant as it highlights continued strong demand for luxury real estate in the area, especially at the top end of the market. The Eklund-Gomes signed contracts report tracks listings for homes and condos priced at $4 million or more that are included in the Multiple Listing Service.
During this period, properties spent an average of 144 days on the market before securing buyers. Forty-two new luxury listings were added to the market last week, bringing the total number of such listings to 1,254 across Miami-Dade County.
The previous week saw buyers sign contracts for 24 properties with a combined asking price of $270 million. For last week’s deals, single-family homes made up most contracts—17 homes with an average asking price of $12.8 million and totaling $218 million in asking volume—while nine condos averaged $8.5 million each and totaled nearly $77 million.
Sturges and Fernandez’s home at 12 Tahiti Beach Island Road features six bedrooms and nine bathrooms on almost one acre. Built in 1994, it spans about 10,400 square feet; they purchased it for $9.2 million in 2008 before listing it for sale at around $20 million in 2017. It is currently listed with Dora Puig of Luxe Living Realty at its current asking price.
Fernandez died last May at age 63 after a career spanning radio broadcasting as well as roles across healthcare, finance, and e-commerce sectors where he served as chairman and CEO of eApeiron Solutions.
In comparison to Miami’s activity last week, New York saw buyers sign contracts for twenty-nine homes totaling over $239.8 million—with those properties spending a median time on market significantly longer than their Miami counterparts.
