Building facts
- Address
- 488 NE 18th Street
- Neighborhood
- Edgewater
- Year built
- 2018
- Floors
- 53
- Residences
- 648
- Status
- Completed
- Developer
- Melo Group
- Architect
- Arquitectonica
- Pricing
- Starting at $449,000
Key Takeaways
- This is the most stable building I have measured — $680, $685, $702, $689 per square foot across four years — a total movement of 1.3%.
- And it is stable on real volume — 120 qualified sales since 2023, roughly one home in twenty-two per year.
- 648 homes and four commercial units at 488 NE 18th Street — with a median size of 1,079 square feet.
- 133 of the homes are three-bedrooms — an unusually deep supply of family-sized stock for this part of the market.
- The record sale is $7,500,000 — in January 2024, for the 4,238 square foot penthouse.
- The value range inside the building is enormous — 2026 assessed values run from $300,301 to $5,780,450.
488 NE 18th Street, Miami, Florida 33132 | Neighborhood: Edgewater
Four years of almost no movement at all
Qualified sales from the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser record, counted 18 August 2026 — arm’s-length transactions only.
| Year | Qualified sales | Median price | Median $/sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 41 | $700,000 | $680 |
| 2024 | 35 | $745,000 | $685 |
| 2025 | 24 | $702,500 | $702 |
| 2026 to date | 20 | $710,000 | $689 |
$680, $685, $702, $689. Across four years the total movement in this building’s median price per square foot is 1.3%, and the widest gap between any two years is 3.2%.
I have measured a lot of buildings against this record. Some have fallen 20 or 30%, a few have risen, most have wandered. I have not measured one that held this still.
The median sale price is nearly as steady: $700,000, $745,000, $702,500, $710,000. When both the per-foot figure and the median price hold flat simultaneously, you are looking at genuine price stability rather than a coincidence of which homes happened to sell.
Why stability is the finding
It would be easy to read a flat table as an absence of news. It is the opposite, for one reason: this stability rests on 120 qualified sales.
Most of the buildings covered on this site record between three and thirty transactions across the same four years, and on those pages I have to warn readers that the numbers cannot support a confident claim. Here, roughly one home in twenty-two changes hands every year — among the highest turnover rates measured anywhere in this series, close to Quantum on the Bay and The Decoplage.
A price that does not move, measured across 120 arm’s-length transactions in four separate years, is about as strong a statement as private-market data can make. It means:
- Your comparables are current and plentiful. There is essentially always a recent sale in the building to price against.
- Neither side has the upper hand from the trend. A buyer cannot argue values are collapsing, and a seller cannot argue they are climbing. Both claims are refuted by the same table.
- The exit is predictable. On this evidence, what you can sell for is closely related to what you paid, adjusted for your own floorplate.
Whether that is attractive depends entirely on what you want. It is close to ideal for an owner-occupier and unexciting for anyone underwriting appreciation.
A building with a very tall ceiling
The county record returns 652 folios at 488 NE 18th Street: 648 residential homes and four commercial units.
The mix is 301 one-bedrooms, 212 two-bedrooms, 133 three-bedrooms and two studios. That 133 is worth pausing on — a deep supply of genuine three-bedroom homes is unusual in this part of the market, where compact stock dominates. Heated area runs 706 to 4,238 square feet, with a median of 1,079.
The 2026 assessed values tell you this is really two buildings stacked together: they run $300,301 to $5,780,450, with a median of $568,436. The top is more than nineteen times the bottom.
That upper tier is real, not theoretical. The record sale is $7,500,000, recorded in January 2024 for the 4,238 square foot penthouse — and the same home traded at $4,600,000 and $4,500,000 in June 2018. The premium floors here transact, and they transact well above the building’s median.
This is also why the flat per-foot figure deserves its caveat: it describes the building as a whole. A 4,238 square foot penthouse and a 706 square foot one-bedroom do not necessarily move together, and with 120 sales spread across that range, the median is an average of two quite different markets.
Who this building suits
It suits an owner-occupier unusually well. Stable pricing, plentiful comparables, high turnover and a genuine supply of three-bedroom homes is a combination very few buildings in this market offer at once.
It suits a buyer underwriting appreciation poorly. Four years of county evidence says this building does not move. If your case for buying depends on the price rising, this is the wrong address for it — and unlike most buildings covered here, the evidence against you is strong enough to be worth taking seriously.
For an investor, the liquidity is the attraction. One home in twenty-two per year means you can enter and exit on your own timetable, and price both ends against real, recent transactions rather than guesswork.
If you are selling here, the flat trend is neither friend nor enemy — it simply removes the argument from the conversation. Price against a recent comparable of your own floorplate. In this building, unusually, one almost certainly exists.
Verified 18 August 2026 against the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser record for 488 NE 18th Street — all 652 folios retrieved individually, grouped by subdivision and filtered to residential homes, excluding the four commercial folios along with parking, cabana and storage. Sale figures are qualified, arm’s-length transactions only, with bulk/portfolio transfers — which the county records against every folio in the deal at the full transaction price — collapsed to a single transaction, and 2026 is an incomplete year. Building age, storey count and amenity detail are omitted: no primary source has been confirmed for them. Re-check when the next tax roll publishes.
Aria on the Bay — Frequently Asked Questions
Are prices rising or falling at Aria on the Bay?
Neither, to a remarkable degree. Median price per square foot went $680, $685, $702 and $689 across the four years — a total movement of 1.3%. The median sale price is nearly as steady. This is the most stable building measured for this site.
How much can that stability be trusted?
More than almost any other figure on this site. It rests on 120 qualified, arm’s-length sales across four separate years. Most buildings covered here record between three and thirty over the same period.
How many units are in Aria on the Bay?
The Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser records 652 folios at 488 NE 18th Street: 648 residential homes and four commercial units. The mix is 301 one-bedrooms, 212 two-bedrooms, 133 three-bedrooms and two studios.
How easy is it to sell here?
Among the easiest measured. Roughly one home in twenty-two trades each year, which is close to the highest turnover recorded in this series. There is nearly always a current comparable in the building to price against.
What is the most expensive sale at Aria on the Bay?
$7,500,000, recorded in January 2024 for the 4,238 square foot penthouse. The same home previously traded at $4,600,000 and $4,500,000 in June 2018. The highest 2026 assessed value in the building is $5,780,450.
Does the flat price apply to every home in the building?
Not necessarily. The building spans 706 to 4,238 square feet and 2026 assessed values from $300,301 to $5,780,450 — a range of more than nineteen times. The flat per-foot figure describes the building as a whole, and the penthouse tier is effectively a separate market within it.
Is Aria on the Bay a good investment?
It is an excellent building to own and a poor one to speculate on. Liquidity is high and pricing is predictable, so you can buy and sell with confidence. But four years of strong evidence say values here do not move, so any case built on appreciation is arguing against the data.
Sources and further reading
Interested in selling at Aria on the Bay?
Learn more about selling your condo at Aria on the Bay with Josh Stein.
Edgewater Condo & Loft Buildings
Edgewater runs along Biscayne Bay between the Venetian Causeway and the Julia Tuttle. Every building below is covered in this series, with its own county sales record:
- 1800 Biscayne Plaza
- 1800 Club
- Bay House
- Biscayne Beach
- Blue Condominium
- Cite on the Bay
- City 24
- Edgewater Lofts
- Elysee Miami
- Gallery Art Condominium
- Gran Paraiso
- Icon Bay
- Moon Bay
- New Wave
- One Paraiso
- Onyx on the Bay
- Opera Tower
- Paraiso Bay
- Paramount Bay
- Platinum Condo
- Quantum on the Bay
- The Crimson
- The Grand Condos Miami
- Uptown Lofts
Related coverage
Part of Miami Luxury Condos.