Inventory of homes and condos across the coastal Miami mainland and Miami Beach and the barrier island markets fell in the first quarter, marking the first big inventory drops since 2023.  

The Corcoran Group’s first quarter reports don’t cover all of Miami-Dade County, but they offer insight into how the coastal markets, which have a higher share of luxury properties, are performing.

In Miami Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, Bal Harbour, Bay Harbor Islands, Surfside, Miami Beach, Fisher Island and Key Biscayne, single-family home inventory dropped 15 percent annually to 398 listings, and condo inventory was down 13 percent to 3,919 listings. 

On Miami’s coastal mainland markets, which include Aventura, Miami Shores, Upper East Side, Edgewater, downtown Miami, Brickell, Coral Gables and Coconut Grove, inventory slipped 4 percent to 4,584 condo listings and 555 single-family listings, down 6 percent year-over-year. 

Here’s a closer look at the market: 

Miami Beach and the barrier islands

Single-family sales rose 13 percent year-over-year to 85 closings, the first time they have increased since the second quarter of 2024. Condo closings rose 15 percent to 693 closings, the first increase since the last quarter of 2024. 

Pricing dropped, with the median price of single-family homes down 4 percent to $3.5 million and the median condo price down 9 percent to $640,000. The average price per square foot was nearly flat at $1,119. 

Still, buyers set records with their purchases. Billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg paid $170 million for the waterfront mansion at 7 Indian Creek Island Road, and Starbucks billionaire Howard Schultz paid $44 million, or $7,949 per square foot, for a penthouse at the Four Seasons Residences at The Surf Club. 

Coastal mainland 

Sales of single-family homes on the coastal mainland rose 16 percent to 220 closings. While markets like Coral Gables experienced declines in condo and single-family home sales, Coconut Grove home sales surged — up over 100 percent for single-family homes to 47 closings and up 55 percent to 87 condo closings. Condo sales rose 13 percent to 759 closings. 

The median price of single-family homes across the coastal mainland rose 11 percent to just over $2 million. The median price of condos increased slightly, up 1 percent, to $602,000. 

The priciest deals in the first quarter were the $32 million trade of 12 Tahiti Beach Island Road in Coral Gables, and the $19.8 million sale of a penthouse at Vita at Grove Isle. 

A cult-favorite serving of New York-style Chinese dining is headed to Miami Beach. Hospitality veterans and NYC natives Marc Rose and Med Abrous—the duo behind L.A.-based hospitality group Call Mom—are bringing Genghis Cohen to Sunset Harbour, marking the 42-year-old institution’s first expansion outside of Los Angeles.

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Set to open in late 2026, just in time for Chinese food on Christmas, Genghis Cohen Miami Beach will take over the former Sardinia space at 1801 Purdy Avenue. The new outpost promises to channel everything that’s made the original a legend: New York-style Chinese comfort food, a buzzy retro vibe and just enough kitsch to keep things fun.

For those not in the know, Genghis Cohen has long been a late-night staple in L.A., beloved for its mash-up of classic Chinese-American dishes and downtown New York sensibility. That same spirit will anchor the Miami Beach location, with a menu featuring the restaurant’s greatest hits (oversized egg rolls, queen chicken, crab rangoon) alongside a cocktail program led by its signature “foo foo” drinks.

Design-wise, expect a faithful homage rather than a carbon copy. The Miami iteration will recreate the original’s signature red booths and throwback ‘80s energy, reimagined for Sunset Harbour’s polished, pedestrian-friendly setting. But it will also lean into its new environment as well, with a menu that will likely evolve to include fresh seafood and more Miami delights.

For Rose, the move is also personal. He spent childhood holidays in South Florida, and both he and Abrous have long had their eye on Miami as a site for a proper NYC-style Chinese spot. After years of scouting, they landed on Sunset Harbour as the ideal mix of walkability, proximity to the beach and built-in neighborhood energy.

That combination could prove key to Genghis Cohen’s next chapter. Miami has no shortage of flashy openings, but few carry the kind of built-in legacy this one does. By importing a concept with decades of history and a fiercely loyal following, the team is betting that nostalgia, when done right, can feel just as fresh as the latest trend.

Manuel Portuondo was still a teenager in 1960 when his family, like thousands of others, fled Cuba for Miami, following the culmination of the Cuban Revolution a year earlier.

Soon after, while still attending school, Portuondo learned of a military force of Cuban refugees being organized by the United States government. He and several classmates decided to enlist.

“As an 18-year-old with a lot of ideals and a big heart, I wanted to be back in my country and be free and be able to do what I wanted,” Portuondo said. “I enrolled in the invasion and shipped to Guatemala for training.”

About 1,500 Cuban exiles, with the backing of the CIA, attempted to invade the island nation at the Bay of Pigs on April 17, 1961, in an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro’s fledgling Communist government. More than 100 of the U.S.-backed fighters either drowned or were killed in action. Another 1,200 of the fighters, known as Brigade 2506, were taken prisoner after running out of ammunition and spent about 20 months in captivity before their release was negotiated.

Today, only about 200 of the veterans remain, the youngest of whom are in their 80s. They’re hosting the grand reopening of the Bay of Pigs Brigade 2506 Museum and Library in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood this month to coincide with the 65th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

“The museum’s purpose is not only to cement the legacy of what thousands of men did on that day, but also, from a historic perspective, to tell the new generations that freedom has a price,” Portuondo said.

Rafael Montalvo, president of the Brigade 2506 Veterans Association, said the museum will also educate visitors about the harm caused by decades of Communist dictatorship.

“The Bay of Pigs is a historical moment that defined the future of Cuba, of the United States, of Miami, and of many Latin American countries, because the failure of that intervention made communism stay in Cuba forever and change the country completely,” Montalvo said.

The Cuban Revolution started in 1953 as an armed revolt, led by Castro, against the U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. Following an early failed attack, revolutionaries reorganized as a guerrilla force, and the movement gained support among Cuban citizens dissatisfied with inequality and corruption. Batista fled the island on Jan. 1, 1959, leaving Castro to take power, establish a socialist state, nationalized foreign assets and become allies with the former Soviet Union. Nearly a quarter million Cubans had fled to the U.S. by the time of the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962.

Like most older Cuban Americans, most Brigade members have historically leaned conservative. But the group broke with a half-century tradition of not endorsing individual candidates by officially supporting U.S. President Donald Trump ‘s first campaign and then reaffirming that endorsement four years later.

“You have to understand that Trump, in 2016, he came here and campaigned,” Montalvo said. “And we, for the first time ever, backed a president — politically backed him. And he made certain promises to us when he was here.”

Those promises included adding new sanctions to Cuba and reversing former President Barack Obama’s policies that loosened restrictions on travel and commerce. Now they’re hoping that Trump can finally remove the current Cuban government for good, which will likely require action from the U.S. military.

This comes as ongoing talks between the U.S. and Cuba continue, with Trump and Rubio calling for regime change

Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have called for a change in Cuba’s leadership, with ongoing talks between the U.S. and Cuba in their early stages, according to Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel. A punishing U.S. blockade has led to increased blackouts, with just a single fuel delivery in the past three months.

While Montalvo sees the need for the U.S. military, he doesn’t want a U.S. invasion and occupation of Cuba. The ideal situation would be a revolt by Cuban citizens with backing from the U.S., followed by American investment and infrastructure to redevelop the island.

“I don’t want to see American boots on the ground in Cuba,” Montalvo said. “I would hate to see an American soldier die because of Cuba’s freedom. I mean, we have to die ourselves before that happens.”

Montalvo said his group trusts Rubio, a Miami-born Cuban American, to guide Trump. But whatever happens, Montalvo said the current government in Cuba needs to be removed completely.

“We ask them that if they’re not going to get rid of the mafia that is in power right now, don’t do anything,” Montalvo said. “Because to make a change in Cuba that is just for the photographs, like they did in Venezuela, in Cuba it’s not going to work.”

In January, Trump directed the U.S. military to enter Venezuela and capture then-President Nicolas Maduro. Maduro’s party remains in power, and Maduro’s former vice president now leads the country.

Carlos Leon, a member of Brigade 2506, said he might be more naive than his brothers. Still, despite never questioning or regretting his own participation in the Bay of Pigs Invasion, he just doesn’t see how dropping bombs and killing people is going to improve anything in Cuba. Leon acknowledged that Trump’s war in Iran has made it even less clear that his administration can effectively liberate Cuba.

“How many Cubans are you going to kill? How many more enemies in Cuba are you going to create by killing all those Cubans?” Leon said. “How do you feel because the gringos send the Marines and the Air Force and kill or mutilate X number of Cubans? What kind of a country, what kind of morale do you have as a Cuban?”

The new Bay of Pigs museum will officially open with a ceremony for the veterans and their families

The original Bay of Pigs museum opened in 1988 at an old home in Little Havana. It held a collection of photographs, documents and other memorabilia, as well as a documentary film about the three-day invasion. The new two-story, 11,000-square-foot facility was constructed on the same spot with funding from Miami-Dade County, the state of Florida and private donors.

The new building officially opens Friday with a ceremony for Brigade members and their families. The museum will reopen to the public after that.

Ernesto Freyre said joining Brigade 2506 was the most important action he has taken in his life.

“It was the biggest purpose and commitment that I took upon myself,” Freyre said.

Freyre said he’s been dreaming of a liberated Cuba since almost immediately after Castro took over. After nearly seven decades, he’s not sure if that will happen in his lifetime, with or without U.S. help.

“But at least I’m hoping that my descendants do see it,” Freyre said.