Florida's Legendary 1920s Land Boom Peaked Nearly 100 Years Ago This Week
The legendary Florida land boom of the 1920s that reinforced Miami's "Magic City" moniker peaked nearly 100 years ago with the sinking of a tall ship in Biscayne Bay.
Nearly a century ago this week on Jan. 10, 1926, a tall ship called the Prins Valdemar sunk in the turning basin of Miami’s Biscayne Bay port, impeding ocean cargo traffic carrying much needed construction supplies.
By the time the vessel was removed and the ocean passage cleared nearly 50 days later, Miami’s speculative real estate market had reportedly slowed dramatically and would never fully recover for that cycle.
“The position of the ship caused its mast to block the turning basin to the extent that other ships could not leave the port,” according to a new report from local historian and fourth-generation South Florida resident Casey Piket of Miami-History.com. “Salvage crews began immediately to remove the ship out of its capsized position, but it proved very difficult. It took six weeks to finally prop the ship upright and get it into a position to be moved.”
A subsequent unnamed hurricane - estimated to be a Category 4 - hit Miami some nine months later on Sept. 18, 1926, effectively ending one of the greatest speculative runs ever for Florida real estate.
A book by financial journalist Christopher Knowlton titled “Bubble In The Sun” argues the 1920s Florida land boom and bust is ultimately what triggered the October 1929 stock market crash and subsequent Great Depression.
The series of events nearly a century ago makes you wonder if the sinking of the Prins Valdemar was Miami’s first Black Swan event for real estate.
- Peter Zalewski, Founder of the Miami Condo Investing Club™