Newsweek: “Vulture’s in Miami’s Real Estate Market”:

Not since a hurricane devastated Miami in 1926 has the city offered so much property at such steep discounts. “You’re not going to see a new condo go up in this town for seven years, minimum,” says Zalewski. “The common Joe can’t get a mortgage, and a 40% downpayment is becoming the rule for anyone who can. But if you have the cash, you can feast like a king.”

Especially foreign cash. Esteban, a doctor from Colombia who requested that his last name be withheld, has seen his buying power boosted by the strong Colombian peso, which he swapped for U.S. dollars this summer when it hit a decade high. On a recent Tuesday he inspects a new two-bedroom condo with a wraparound balcony overlooking the port of Miami, one of several purchases he wants to make. The unit’s absentee owner paid $650,000 pre-construction, tried to sell it for $515,000, and is now asking $489,000. Esteban is confident he can close on a deal near $425,000 before Christmas, having just spied a foreclosure notice on a neighbor’s door. “I don’t care if they tell me to f— off,” says the Colombian. “They have to face the bank, not me.”