A buyer in Sunny Isles Beach can be fully approved for a mortgage and still be unable to use it on the unit they want. Real estate attorney Sandy Ferrera of Day Pitney said as much in an August 2026 Miami Today report: a buyer can qualify while the condo building itself fails the lender's requirements. On a Collins Avenue tower, the loan approval covers the borrower. The building goes through a separate review.
That second review matters more here than in most of Miami-Dade, because Sunny Isles Beach resales already run on cash. If you plan to finance, start by learning which buildings a lender will accept. Every unit you can actually buy sits inside that group.
Seven in Ten Sales Closed Without a Lender
MIAMI REALTORS released its August 2026 market figures on September 17. Here is how its city-level condo and townhome figures compare across nearby markets:
| August 2026, condo/townhome | Cash share of sales | Months' supply | Median days to contract | Sale to original list price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunny Isles Beach | 71% | 19 | 86 | 91% |
| Aventura | 70% | 17 | 68 | 92% |
| Miami Beach | 57% | 12 | 94 | 91% |
| City of Miami | 56% | 16 | 91 | 93% |
Sunny Isles Beach has the highest cash share and the deepest supply in this group. Nineteen months of inventory would normally favor the buyer, and the 91% sale-to-original-list ratio suggests sellers are giving ground. Demand has not dried up, though. New pending sales rose 34% year over year in August 2026, and the median sale price was $593,000, up 12%. Treat the monthly median carefully. The July 2026 report put it at $630,000, down 11.6% year over year. Each month's figure is a snapshot of whatever happened to close that month.
So a financed buyer arrives in a market with plenty of listings, active buying, and competition that is mostly paying cash. All-cash purchases skip the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac project-eligibility rules entirely, as the Miami Herald reported. Some of the inventory behind that 19-month supply can only be bought with cash.
What the Lender Is Underwriting Besides You
Conventional condo lending screens the project separately from the borrower and the unit. In practice, a few specific findings decide whether a building passes.
Critical repairs. Under Freddie Mac's Guide Section 5701.3, loans in a project that needs critical repairs are ineligible until the work or the required inspection reports are completed and documented. Lenders review structural and mechanical inspection reports from the past three years, along with association, engineering, reserve and assessment records.
Special assessments. For every current or planned special assessment, Freddie Mac requires the lender to establish its purpose, approval date, original amount, unpaid balance and expected payoff date. That is how the lender decides whether the assessment is paying for a critical repair. Fannie Mae's guidance goes further. Safety-related repairs remain a barrier until they are finished, even when the association has fully funded them through an assessment or a loan. A building can have the money in hand and a board vote on record and still be ineligible until the contractor is done.
Failed inspections. Fannie Mae treats a failed mandatory state, county or local inspection concerning structural safety, soundness or habitability as disqualifying.
Delinquencies. Freddie Mac's standards for established projects cap units more than 60 days behind at 15% for regular assessments, and separately at 15% for each special assessment. A large special assessment can push owners past that threshold and take the building out of eligibility for every buyer who needs a loan.
"Unavailable" status. If Fannie Mae marks a project Unavailable in its system, no loan on any unit in that building can be delivered to Fannie Mae, whatever review method the lender uses.
These screens apply statewide. What makes them bite in Sunny Isles Beach is the inspection schedule that feeds them.
Sunny Isles Beach Starts the Inspection Clock Earlier
Florida Statutes set the default for a first milestone inspection at 30 years and let local agencies move that to 25 years where conditions such as salt water exposure warrant it. Sunny Isles Beach does. Under the City's building recertification program, which follows Section 8-11(f) of the Miami-Dade County Code, condo and co-op buildings three stories or taller, within three miles of the coast and built in 1998 or later must recertify at 25 years and every 10 years after that. Coastal condo buildings built between 1983 and 1997 had a fixed deadline of December 31, 2024. Buildings from 1982 or earlier stay on the county's established 40-year schedule.
Nearly every oceanfront and Intracoastal tower in the city is coastal by that definition. A tower finished in 2001 reaches its 25-year mark in 2026. The reports from these inspections are the documents a lender reviews within its three-year lookback. State reserve law adds another layer. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation's timeline says existing associations faced a December 31, 2025 deadline for their structural integrity reserve study, with a limited option to complete it alongside a milestone inspection due by December 31, 2026. Passing state requirements does not make a building eligible for conventional financing. Fannie Mae applies its own reserve and physical-condition standards on top of the state's.
Two 2026 Dates That Moved the Line
On March 18, 2026, Fannie Mae issued Lender Letter LL-2026-03 and Freddie Mac issued Bulletin 2026-C. Both changed how condo projects are reviewed. Their timing matters for anyone writing an offer this fall:
- August 3, 2026. Fannie Mae's Limited Review and Freddie Mac's Streamlined Review were retired for loan applications dated on or after this date. Established buildings now generally need a Full Review. If a lender relies on a reserve study to show the building has enough reserves, the budget must fund the study's highest recommended allocation, and the baseline funding method is no longer accepted.
- January 4, 2027. The minimum replacement reserve allocation under Full Review rises from 10% to 15% of the annual budgeted assessment income. Freddie Mac's bulletin makes the same change.
Some of the changes help. Retiring Limited Review also removed Fannie Mae's remaining geographic restrictions on Florida. Fannie Mae dropped its 50% investor-concentration limit for established projects under Full Review. Freddie Mac retired its own investor occupancy test for established projects. In a city where many owners rent their units, the end of the investor cap could reopen financing in some buildings. The critical-repair screen remains in place.
The January date is the one to plan around. A building that budgets between 10% and 15% for reserves may pass Full Review on a loan application dated in December and fail the same review on one dated in January. Buyers should know which side of that line their building falls on before setting a closing schedule.
New Towers Get Reviewed on Different Terms
Several of the city's best-known projects are still under construction. The St. Regis Residences, Sunny Isles Beach, by Fortune International Group and Château Group, will have 320 residences in two towers. The South Tower's foundation was poured July 24 through 26, 2026, and its remaining homes were priced from about $5 million. The North Tower was last scheduled to break ground in early fourth quarter 2026. The South Tower is scheduled for completion in 2028. Dezer Development's 216-unit Bentley Residences at 18401 Collins Avenue was expected to be completed in 2028, according to November 2025 reporting. In February 2026, the City approved a 62-story, 145-unit tower from Related Group, Dezer Development and BH Group at 19051 Collins Avenue, with completion anticipated in December 2031.
New buildings face a different set of checks. Fannie Mae no longer requires new Florida projects with attached units to go through its Project Eligibility Review Service. These projects can now be reviewed under the lender-delegated Full Review. A presale rule still applies to them: at least 50% of units must be sold or under contract to buyers who will use them as a primary residence or second home. These towers are years from closing, so none of this affects a purchase today. It does explain why a resale tower that is 20 to 25 years old faces more lender scrutiny than the newer buildings that will compete with it.
What to Request Before You Write an Offer
If you are financing, these items show which buildings are realistic options:
- The building's status in the Condo Status Finder. Fannie Mae does not publish its eligibility decisions. Its Condo Status Finder lets associations, managers and authorized advisors check whether Fannie Mae is aware of any ineligible conditions. A result of "no findings" is not the same as an approval.
- The current budget's reserve allocation as a percentage. Compare it with the 15% threshold for loan applications dated on or after January 4, 2027.
- Every open or planned special assessment. For each one, get its purpose, approval date, balance and expected payoff date. A lender will ask for the same details.
- The building's recertification year and its most recent inspection report. Look for whether any repairs were ordered and whether they are finished.
- Owner delinquency levels. Freddie Mac's 15% caps apply to regular assessments and to each special assessment separately.
Your lender makes the final call on eligibility. This list helps you find out early which listings are worth your time.
Quick Answers
Does a high cash share mean financed offers are weaker? They are weaker only in buildings that fail lender review. With 19 months of supply and sales closing at 91% of original list price in August 2026, a financed buyer in an eligible building is negotiating in a market with plenty of inventory.
Is there a public list of ineligible Sunny Isles Beach buildings? No. Fannie Mae does not publish its decisions, and recent reporting has not named a specific Sunny Isles Beach building as ineligible. Status has to be checked one building at a time.
Are non-conventional loans an option? South Florida reporting describes nonconforming mortgages as possible but often more expensive and harder to qualify for. Ask your lender about the terms before you commit to a building.
If you are selling in Sunny Isles Beach, your building's lender eligibility decides whether financed buyers can make an offer at all, and Rafael Szydlowski can review your association's documents with you before you list. Request a Free Home Valuation, and we'll bring the August 2026 city figures and your building's reserve and recertification details to that conversation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
