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The Art (Basel) of the Deal: Mega-Exhibit Is Now a Major Real-Estate-Sales Event

By Sasha Jones

To most of the world, Miami’s Art Basel is the time when international art collectors descend on the Magic City to sip pricey wine while gazing at must-see paintings. To the real estate world, it’s a giant opportunity to make some champagne-soaked cash.

This year, with Miami established as the hottest luxury real estate market in the world, agents and developers got more creative than ever, throwing lavish parties and extraordinary exhibits to draw attention to multi-million-dollar homes for sale — both in Florida and beyond.

“It’s an international who’s who. You’ve got musicians, fashionistas, celebrities and the like, but you also have international billionaires and multimillionaires, many of whom have had an eye on Miami as a wonderful place to live,” said Seth Bloomgarden, a luxury Realtor with Berkshire Hathaway EWM Realty. “Everybody’s trying to get their name out there.”

As home prices surge in Miami — with the average in Palm Beach at more than $20 million — agents couldn’t wait for three-day Art Basel, which wrapped up Sunday. Some held off on putting properties on the market until the event, when some 76,000 people from 76 countries arrived in the city.

In conjunction with the event, Douglas Elliman agent Devin Kay posted an A.I.-generated video on his Instagram, showing a bounce house-like mansion inflated on a vacant waterfront lot going for $29.52 million. The post generated 88,000 views in 24 hours, according to Kay.

“There’s only so much you can obviously do to market a piece of land,” Kay said. “Given that it’s Art Basel, my co-listing agents … were trying to brainstorm unique and different ways to get exposure on the property.”

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