Roman Pavlik is a Realtor with the Pavlik Luxury Group at Keller Williams Realty.

Every week, we ask a Miami real estate professional for their thoughts on the top three stories from the week before. This week, we spoke with Roman Pavlik, from the Pavlik Luxury Group at Keller Williams Realty. Roman’s team specializes in getting international buyers to pay full price cash for renovated luxury waterfront homes and condos.

Miami Agent (MA): We reported that first-time homebuyers are struggling to have a presence in the market. Is that true in your market, and do you expect that to change in the future? Why or why not?

Roman Pavlik (RP): It is true, most importantly because the market has been recovering. A lot of national and international investors are buying the same homes that first-time homebuyers are trying to buy, so they are competing with others to pay full market value or higher to purchase these properties for rental purposes. As the home values increase, the rents don’t keep up the same way, so at some point the cash investors will stop buying because the properties won’t rent in a way that justifies the investment, so we should start seeing first-time homebuyers to have a shot.

MA: According to recent reports, home values are increasing in Miami. Is that consistent in your market and what do you think the causes are?

RP: Well, last year the values went up an average of 18 percent, so that was a very strong year. I’m not expecting it to go up the same amount this year. There are a lot of factors at play; many international buyers are buying second homes, many sellers are renovating their homes and are getting top dollar for them because there is less competition from bank owned homes and short sales. However, inventory has gone up about 30 percent in the last 6-9 months so there is a little bit more to choose from, and that’s why I don’t think we’ll reach the same 18 percent year-over-year increase.

MA: What other industry news are you keeping an eye on for 2014?

RP: I’m definitely monitoring how the luxury market is doing. It’s still very strong. Luxury rentals are very strong, only because in South Florida, not many single-family homes are being built. There’s a limited amount of product for luxury renters and especially a lot of international people who may be buyers that just haven’t figured out where they want to buy, so they’re leasing first and it’s hard to get good quality homes in more expensive neighborhoods.