Miami

"Had I listened to the bankers who laughed at me or called me crazy 20 years ago when I went to their offices to seek financing to develop my first project along the Miami River, I would not be where I am today. I believed in myself more than anyone did and if I was going to bet on someone, I was going to bet on myself."

Attorney Luis Flores, managing partner of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr's Miami office, has more than $250 million in financing deals in the pipeline.

"Broward County hasn't had quite as much benefit from migration from the Northeast as both Dade and Palm Beach counties had, which seem to be mostly tech-related and finance," Rod Loschiavo, executive managing director at Colliers International, said.

In the second quarter, there was 248,000 square feet of positive absorption, pushing the vacancy rate down 10 basis points.

There's huge investor demand to buy existing, vacant or income-producing land in South Florida, according to Colliers' Steve Wasserman.

As the housing market in South Florida boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost of housing and the gap in renters' wages increased with it.  That…