In a survey of 500 South Florida residents, investment brokerage Charles Schwab compared local opinions on wealth and personal financial management with the national average. Among the survey’s findings, South Florida locals said that it would take a net worth of at least $2.1 million to consider themselves or anyone else “wealthy.” Schwab also analyzed other attributes among South Floridians like how comfortable they were with financial goal-setting and planning, saving, investing and meeting retirement goals. While survey-takers scored about as well as the national average on these qualities, Schwab researchers said they tended to be more confident than most when it comes to their ability to save and earn plenty, but less likely than average to maintain a household budget or avoid credit card debt.

In other Miami real estate news:

•  Redfin’s latest luxury home sales report for Q2 2018 named West Palm Beach as the nation’s hottest market in terms of sales prices. The average luxury home sale in West Palm Beach during Q2 jumped 85 percent over last year to $2.24 million. Meanwhile, the average luxury home sale in the top 5 percent nationally was only $1.87 million, and posted an annual gain of just 5.2 percent. Most of the best-performing luxury markets were in low-tax states, including Florida and Nevada.
• Kaplan Residential announced Aug. 13 that it had hired its first-ever general counsel. Isaac Marcushamer will join Kaplan from Florida law firm Berger Singerman, where he served as partner of its business reorganization team. Daily Business Review reports that in his new role as general counsel and managing director at Kaplan, he will “analyze acquisitions and transactions… identify equity and capital partners and oversee all of the company’s litigation, as well as its corporate and real estate work.”
• During a meeting of the South Florida Black Economic Forum, local black real estate investors described the struggles they continue to face throughout the region in winning deals and gaining recognition. The Miami Herald reported that affordable housing and community investment were central topics during a roundtable discussion of five prominent black developers and investors. A key problem named by the group was the lack of political representation South Florida’s black community faces, despite growing numbers of those who identify as black, particularly in Broward County where they account for 31 percent of the population.
• Downtown Miami’s largest construction loan of the year so far, and the largest in around 18 months, was granted to Two Roads Development’s 57-story condo tower Elysee. The $138 million loan was granted by JPMorgan Chase to continue construction on the tower, which is on track for a 2020 completion and is already more than half-sold, according to a press release.  
• A report from RENTCafe predicted that while apartment construction in the U.S. is expected to cool off this year, South Florida and Miami are projected to lead the nation in new apartment units. Miami placed seventh out of the top 20 cities for anticipated new rental units, with 9,790 expected to be delivered by the end of 2018. However, that’s actually 13 percent fewer than the city’s total last year. Nationwide, apartment construction is expected to be around 11 percent slower this year compared to 2017.