Real Estate Week in Review for June 10, 2023

Last week was a sound reminder that real estate is as much, if not more, about people than it is about property.

The industry was blindsided with tragic news when learning that prominent New York City and Long Island real estate agent Adina Azarian died in a plane crash.

Azarian, 49, sold luxury homes on the South Fork from Hampton Bays to Montauk and handled rentals and sales in New York City, most recently serving as an associate real estate broker at Keller Williams Points North. She lived in East Hampton with her young daughter, who was on board a private Cessna Citation with her nanny and the pilot. 

There were no survivors.

Grim news also came out of Texas, where Nate Paul, the prominent Austin developer who is a primary character in the impeachment of state Attorney General Ken Paxton, was jailed by the FBI, according the Dallas Morning News.

The founder and CEO of World Class Holdings was booked into Travis County Jail on “undetermined” felony charges, according to the newspaper.

One of Paxton’s attorneys, Dan Cogdell, said the move may have political undertones.

“You don’t have to be Nostradamus to assume that they’re going to try to flip Nate Paul to testify against Ken [Paxton]. I don’t know that for a fact. But I’d be very surprised if that wasn’t the case,” Cogdell told the outlet. “Because otherwise, you know, logically [the FBI] would have arrested them both at the same time.”

If there’s one person who could kick off a buying frenzy in South Florida, it would be one of the most famous athletes in the world. Lionel Messi eschewed Saudi riches to play at Inter Miami, exciting nearly everyone, including real estate agents, in the area.

“This just put Inter Miami as the go-to place,” said Cyril Bijaoui of the Corcoran Group. “This also makes that part of the world even more excited about having a place in Miami,” he added, referring to Latin Americans. “He’s the equivalent of a god.” 

So even as industry pundits weigh the current state of commercial real estate, struggling inventory and the possibility of a recession, when it comes to real estate, one thing remains constant: It’s the people, stupid.