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Sunny Isles, Fla. \u2013 \u201cLittle Moscow\u201d \u2013 has been hot for Russian investors buying luxury homes. But sanctions send a message that investments may not be safeguarded.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n SUNNY ISLES, Fla. \u2013 Russian investors have long pinpointed U.S. luxury real estate. But since the Russian invasion of Ukraine that sparked worldwide condemnation and sanctions focused on Russia\u2019s elite and their families, Russian buyers will likely make up less of the U.S. housing market, experts say.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Sunny Isles, Fla. \u2013 also known as \u201cLittle Moscow\u201d and \u201cMoscow by the Sea\u201d \u2013 has long been a hotbed for Russian investors to purchase luxury properties in the area, though wealthy Russians have acquired property all along Florida\u2019s southeastern coast.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n However, recently imposed economic sanctions directed at Russia send a message: that money can\u2019t be safeguarded through family connections or in luxury real estate.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n After the Ukraine invasion started, real estate experts told the Miami Herald the sanctions were unlikely to have a strong impact on South Florida real estate.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think that this will have any real impact,\u201d Anders \u00c5slund, a Swedish economist and author of Russia\u2019s Crony Capitalism: The Path from Market Economy to Kleptocracy, told the Miami Herald. \u201cThe people in Miami are not really the top people. These are comfortable people rather than the top people.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Still, some aspiring Russian buyers may feel like they are blacklisted from U.S. real estate.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Real estate brokers in the Miami-Dade area say they\u2019ve seen less activity from Russian buyers over the past few years. Jon Mann, a real estate pro with The Jills Zeder Group at Coldwell Banker Realty, said it\u2019s because of fluctuations in the ruble and crackdowns on foreign investments using shell companies.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s kind of a wait-and-see approach to see how things play out,\u201d Mann told the Miami Herald. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s going to be a wave of buyers coming here with additional scrutiny from the Biden administration with the sanctions they\u2019ve put in place \u2013 I don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to want a microscope on their large cash transactions here.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Source: \u201cAs Biden Targets Russian Assets Over Ukraine, Elite Money Remains Parked on Florida Shores,\u201d Miami Herald (Feb. 24, 2022); \u201cWealthy Russians Who Parked Money in Florida\u2019s \u2018Little Moscow\u2019 Worry They\u2019ll Be Blacklisted From Buying Luxury Real Estate,\u201d Business Insider (Feb. 25, 2022); and \u201cHere Are the Russian Oligarchs Targeted in Biden\u2019s Sanctions,\u201d CNBC (Feb. 25, 2022)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n