Whether you are looking at residential, commercial, or even industrial property, Miami Beach - surprisingly enough - comes out a real winner in the price per square foot category!

Even though the major competing areas (Brickell, Aventura, Bal Habour and Sunny Isles) are similarly priced, Miami Beach actually comes with a significant difference. Over a recent 30 day period, the square foot prices came in at $464 for Sunny Isles and South Beach - which technically is part of Miami Beach - came in at about $511. Yet , world famous for high end luxury and over the top dwellings, comes in at an almost paltry $418!

Is Miami Beach really cheaper to live at? It's a numbers game. Because of the Beach's fame and fortune, it's the "it" spot to live at, and has been for decades. Housing prices soared through the roof and many people were paying grossly inflated prices for homes and condos. Then...the bubble burst and housing prices fell faster than a case of Grey Goose off a 10 story building.

People - even rich people - had problems. Many homes were just turned over to the bank because people refused to pay for a mortgage that was more than the house was worth.

As these houses were foreclosed on, shorted, and resold, the newly established price per square foot became indicative of the drop in values in the local market. Surrounding areas like South Beach and Sunny Isles were a bit luckier because their housing prices never rose to the level of Miami Beach and as a result, the housing bust had less impact on their values.

The highest price per square foot south of West Palm Beach was a condo in Bal Harbor, at $642 a sf.

No matter how you do the math, Miami Beach has turned into quite a bargain.