If you're looking to move up the ladder to a better house, now is the time to do it. At least, that's the opinion of one Pinecrest expert on the south Miami-Dade County real estate market. "If someone is interested in moving up, it's a good time to make that move," said Fritz Hawkins, managing broker of the Pinecrest office of Arvida Realty Services. "You get a good price for your house when you sell and the interest rates are low when you buy." Hawkins said business has been very strong for all of 1999, but that he anticipated a slowdown at the end of the year.

"In the fourth quarter, traditionally there's a bit of a slowdown because we're not a resort market per se in Pinecrest, Kendall, Palmetto Bay, South Coral Gables," he said. "And there has been a slight slowdown, but it hasn't been as severe as it has been in past years." In fact, Hawkins said there are still more people wanting to buy houses in south Miami-Dade than there are available properties. "Yes, we still have a shortage of supply and a high demand in our marketplace," Hawkins said. "In The Falls, the Baptist [Hospital], the Palmetto and Pinecrest areas, it's definitely a seller's market. It has been in Pinecrest for quite some time now and it is continuing. 

But, it's not just South Florida, it's all over the state that we're seeing a slowdown in listings on the market and the supply is low, demand is high." Hawkins said homes that are placed on the market sell very quickly and he cited the experience of two of his agents who listed houses earlier in the week and sold them within 48 hours. "Pinecrest has become the place to live, and it's becoming even more well known," he explained. "Transferees will say before they get here that they want to live in Coral Gables. Then, when they arrive in South Florida and start looking at the various markets, they say that they like Pinecrest because it has the larger properties and more of a country feel to it." Regarding the recent sales of lots in Pinecrest under an acre selling for