The Urban Land Institute held the 2014 Miami Condo Symposium late last year and Ugo Colombo was one of the key panelists present at this exciting and informative event.  The symposium was held at the EPIC Hotel and it featured lively and informative dialogue with South Florida’s – and the country’s – most successful and recognized real estate professionals. Th event exposed and analyzed various trends, forecasts and opportunities in Miami’s evolving real estate condo market from a host of standpoints.

In his article “Six lessons learned at the Urban Land Institute summit,” South Florida Business Journal’s Senior Reporter, Brian Bandell noted that local Miama buyers are often “missing in action.” While Miami condos tend to be inexpensive from the global point of view, they also tend to be out of reach for many Miami residents. Says Bandell: “Ugo Colombo, head of condo builder CMC Group, said local buyers can’t enter the new condo market unless banks loosen up their construction funding criteria, which would allow developers to lower the 50 percent deposit requirement. ‘The local buyer can not afford the 50 percent deposit,’ Ugo Colombo said. ‘Now the foreigner rents or resells the condo to a local buyer, who can get a 70 percent mortgage.’