Need a deal on a home? Tamarac is no longer for snowbirds and retirees
If you’re a Miamian looking for a great deal on a home in South Florida, keep driving.
Past Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Past that new guitar-shaped hotel.
At Commercial Boulevard, hang a left, and keep going until you’ve reached what calls itself “The city for your life”: Tamarac.
While longtime South Floridians may associate the hamlet with snowbirds and grannies, Tamarac is now a thriving city of more than 66,000. “It’s very up and coming,” says Elvin Villalobos, a Realtor with RE/MAX’s office in Tamarac.
Villalobos has data to back him up. The city’s population has climbed more than 9 percent this decade, about as fast as the rest of Broward County, according to Census data. Last year, the median home price in Tamarac went up 5 percent to $199,945.
“It’s still affordable for what it offers,” said David Mohabair, director of the RE/MAX office out of which Villalobos works. “[There is] an A+ [school], and the city is still more affordable [than neighboring ones].” He observes Tamarac’s millage rate has been decreasing, and water prices in neighboring towns like Sunrise are climbing.
So $350,000 can get you a lot. That includes brand new homes; unlike last decade’s pop in the real estate market, fresh subdivisions in Tamarac are being built — and occupied. The median waiting period for a home has increased slightly year-on-year but is still at about three months.
An example: A home built in 2016 in the Central Parc subdivision recently listed for $349,000 gets you a 4-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,900-square-foot unit with a granite counter-topped kitchen with an island; stainless-steel appliances; a large master bedroom with a walk-in closet, plus a yard and two-car garage.
For $15,000 more, one unnamed buyer recently landed 3,000 square feet worth of wood-paneled flooring; a 2-car garage; and access to two nearby clubhouses.
A little less still gets you attractive property. An older 3-bedroom, 2-bath was fetching $249,000.
Villalobos said Tamarac has been the beneficiary of American Express opening a regional headquarters in nearby Sunrise, as well as middle-class blacks and Hispanics from farther south looking for more reasonable real estate prices.
.jpg)
And more jobs are coming: Giant private equity fund BlackRock recently announced it was backing the construction of a modern industrial park designed to house tenants like “e-commerce companies, pharmaceutical companies, or potentially an aviation parts manufacturer.”
TAMARAC
▪ Population: 64,262
▪Median household income: $45,474
▪Median age: 47.4
▪Main intersection: North University Drive and West McNab Road
▪Drive time to downtown Fort Lauderdale: 31 minutes
▪Drive time to downtown Miami: 48 minutes
▪Average School Grade: B
▪Personal Crime Index: 70
▪Property Crime Index: 86
This story was originally published September 15, 2019 at 5:00 AM.