Could throwing in a free Tesla sweeten the deal for luxury home buyers?
Andy Miyares of CC Homes says so. Three of South Florida’s top homebuilders — Miyares, Misha Ezratti of GL Homes and Dan Grosswald of Mattamy Homes Southeast Florida — sat down at The Real Deal’s Miami Forum to talk about the house hunt.
They discussed finding development sites in a land-scarce market, rising labor costs in light of federal immigration policies and securing home buyers amid high interest rates. TRD Senior Reporter and South Florida Bureau Chief Katherine Kallergis moderated the conversation.
The homebuilders are getting creative to attract buyers in an expensive market. Adding Teslas to the deal has done the trick, Miyares said.
Ezratti said GL has raised prices in its most-expensive developments. That includes Lotus Edge in Boca Raton, Palm Beach Gardens’ Apex at Avenir and The Estates at Nomar in West Palm Beach.
“People want to get in before the communities are sold out,” Ezratti said. “Others absorb tariffs and labor increases, so we raise where we can.”
Labor and construction costs are high, the homebuilders said. Immigration raids under President Donald Trump’s administration have reduced the size of the workforce and raised costs.
A shortage of workers has led to construction delays. Grosswald said his team has seen frequent raids in the past few months. And although raids have slowed recently, workers are afraid to return to job sites, he said. The company lost several weeks of work because of the shortage, he said, and has looked for ways to make up the time.
Ezratti suggested the federal government could carve out an exception for workers to remain protected from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement arrests. Strong relationships with subcontractors have largely protected GL from delays, he said.
“It’s unfortunate, because you have an industry that is dominated by people who just want to work hard,” Ezratti said.
The trio is also looking to take advantage of Florida’s Infill Redevelopment Act, which largely allows developers to bypass certain local approval for large and environmentally impacted sites, such as defunct golf courses.
The law reduces risk for homebuilders and streamlines their development of those sites, Grosswald said. Miyares noted some municipalities are more open to development than others. Ezratti said he’s put a handful of qualifying sites under contract since the act’s passage.
Rising anti-development sentiment can stall development plans, the builders said.
“One person can start a fire very easily,” Grosswald said.
As for where they’re scooping up land, Grosswald said Mattamy is pushing north toward St. Lucie and Martin Counties. GL sticks to master planned communities and agricultural land buyouts, Ezratti said, though few parcels remain available. When the company finds land, “we go after it very hard,” he said.
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