REAL estate agents and developers do agree that a slump across the country, and in many parts of Miami, has not affected high-end markets. Second-home buyers on the Venetians (about 20 percent of the market there) typically pay from just below $200,000 to over $400,000 for an apartment on Belle Isle, and on other islands from about $1.3 million to over $7 million for a modern multi bedroom villa with a commanding view of the bay.“There is a sense that things here did not shoot up like crazy to begin with,” The Venetians. Nor have they drastically plummeted. Compared with Miami, which has seen a decline in prices estimated at 12 to 25 percent since 2005, prices on the Venetians have remained relatively stable.“Sales will be stagnant much of this year,” Of over 50 homes on the Venetians listed for sale, only two have sold within the last three months, one for $2.7 million and the other for $1.3 million. But limited inventories have created a demand at the ultra-high end.Second-home buyers on the islands are often in their 30s and 40s, They are lured by the promise of privacy, a marked absence of the commercial development that has taken over parts of South Beach, and by the islands’ proximity to the fabled retreats of the rich on North Bay Road and on the nearby Hibiscus, Palm and Star Islands.Compared with Star Island, which has been home over the years to Will Smith, Gloria Estefan and Madonna, the Venetians have sought to remain resolutely unpretentious and low key. Small crafts and even kayaks line the waterfront; Dodge pickups and Harleys are parked in some driveways. “The area has gotten looser, with a little bit of a Bohemian aspect to it,” said Todd Davis, a Washingtonian who owns a 1938 historic home on Di Lido Island. It is also a magnet for Europeans and South Americans taking advantage of a weak dollar to snap up bayfront homes.“The Venetians are a kind of a melting pot,” said Mr. Davis, a partner in Brown Davis, a design firm. “Five years ago they were still undiscovered,” he said, “but that’s no longer so.”May Mallouh, a former banker turned trader, purchased a 3,000-square-foot waterfront house on Rivo Alto about four years ago. Ms. Mallouh, 44, who shuttles frequently between her primary residence in the Hollywood Hills and her house on Biscayne Bay, views the islands as a “hidden gem.” Many of her neighbors, families with children, live there year round, she said, “so the place provides stability, if you will, and a feeling of neighborhood.The area, however, is clearly on the cusp of change, gaining a reputation as a genteel hideaway for celebrities like Paulina Rubio, the Mexican pop singer; Eddie Irvine, the former racing driver; and the 34-year-old hedge fund wizard Jim Pulaski, who rents his home. Most tend to keep a low profile, but their presence has contributed to the area’s growing cachet.So has the Standard Hotel, a 106-room bungalow resort and spa on Belle Isle, an understated refuge for vacationing film stars, art world denizens and members of the fashion tribe.

The Standard is a huge value added."Value on the Venetians is measured by an increasingly fancy yardstick. Some people are spending over $3 million for homes so spacious and towering (as high as 45 feet) that they could pass for multi-unit dwellings. Most are packaged with features like open kitchens, hurricane-resistant glass shutters, overflow pools, rambling rooftop terraces for entertaining, and clinically sleek interiors.

The market,” Mr. Glaser, the developer, said, “is all about modern, slick design.”A CERTAIN funky, historic charm is part of the islands’ allure, but so is the potential for living large. Other buyers are more attracted by the islands’ relative seclusion. Ms. Mallouh’s bilevel house, a Mediterranean-style bungalow, is tucked behind high hedges. An iron gate greets visitors. In lieu of a doorbell.

An absence of commercial development means there are no visible convenience stores, hairdressers, dry cleaners or other services.

MICHAEL knows what it is to be love struck. “When I have a crush on something or someone, I make a fast decision,” said Mr. Benisty, a stockbroker in New York. Seated on his patio overlooking Biscayne Bay, he gestured expansively, showing off his current lust object, his 1950s fan-shaped house. “I needed a pied-à-terre in Miami,” said Mr. Benisty, a partner in a South Beach restaurant. “But I intended to watch the market at first.” He is one in a small number of second-home buyers to discover the serenity of the Venetians. For years, as I can attest, having moved to the Venetians part time in 2003, the islands have stood in contrast to buzzing South Beach and its successive revivals.

This chain of 11 artificial islands, six of which are inhabited, stretches across Biscayne Bay between downtown Miami and Miami Beach. Some are part of Miami, others part of Miami Beach.

They are linked by the Venetian Causeway, a scenic road with 12 bridges erected by developers in the mid-1920s to lure buyers. Today the causeway, with its old-fashioned lampposts, its skaters and cyclists, offers views of some of the most romantically secluded properties in the area.The islands form a slice of tropical suburbia that extends eastward almost to Lincoln Road in South Beach, with its proliferating shops and restaurants. They stretch west to the mainland and the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, the $461 million downtown complex that opened in 2006. Their centralized location has helped the islands prosper. A pocket of stability in an otherwise volatile real estate market, they are positioned comfortably between extremes: on the one hand, downtown Miami, with falling prices and climbing inventories that have placed it at the leading edge of the nation’s real estate crisis, and on the other, the strenuously hip environs of South Beach, where prices continue to climb, albeit slowly, keeping waterfront properties out of the reach of most buyers.If you would like to receive more information of waterfront properties for sale or rent. Do not hesitate to contact me at martin@mcatapano.com or 786.357.4185 Best regards,