Where Does Luis Suarez Live in Florida? Next Door to Messi in Fort Lauderdale
September 21, 2026 · 8 min read · By Onias Derilus, Broker
Luis Suarez bought a waterfront house in Fort Lauderdale's gated Bay Colony community in March 2024, a few months after joining Inter Miami and a short walk from his old Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi. Here is what public reporting says about the home, the off-market deal behind it, and what houses around it cost today.
Where does Luis Suarez live? In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the gated waterfront community of Bay Colony, where he bought a house for $11.5 million in March 2024. His neighbor is Lionel Messi, who bought there six months earlier. The two played together at Barcelona for six seasons and now share a cul-de-sac in Broward County. Here is what The Real Deal and other outlets reported about the home, why the striker (Luis Suarez, sometimes written Suárez) picked the same street as his friend, and what homes nearby sell for now.
Key takeaways
- Fort Lauderdale, Bay Colony. A small gated neighborhood on the Intracoastal side of northeast Fort Lauderdale, per The Real Deal. Pure Equity does not publish private addresses.
- Reported price: $11.5 million, in an off-market deal in March 2024. Early headlines rounded it to $12 million.
- About 7,100 square feet, built in 1980, with eight bedrooms and eight baths on roughly 0.6 acres of waterfront, per Inman and The Real Deal.
- He is staying. Inter Miami extended his contract through the 2026 season after the club won MLS Cup in December 2025, per ESPN.
Where does Luis Suarez live in Florida?
The Uruguayan striker signed with Inter Miami in December 2023 on a one-year deal. By March 2024 he had bought a home in Fort Lauderdale, the city where the club plays and trains. The Real Deal reported the purchase on March 5, 2024. The house sits in Bay Colony, a gated community of canal-front homes near the Coral Ridge neighborhood in the northeast of the city.
Bay Colony has become the Inter Miami address. Messi bought there in September 2023 for $10.75 million. Suarez followed. The community has a staffed gate, docks on every waterfront lot, and a short drive to Chase Stadium, the club's Fort Lauderdale home ground. For players who want privacy and a quick commute, it checks both boxes.
Fort Lauderdale itself is a different city from Miami, and that matters to a family. It is smaller, with a slower pace, wide beaches and a large boating culture. The schools along Federal Highway draw many of the pro athletes who play in Broward. Weston, farther west, was the athletes' town in the 1990s, but the current Inter Miami group has settled on the northeast waterfront instead.
The deal did not go through the MLS. The Real Deal reported that Suarez and his wife, Sofia Balbi, bought the house off market from a couple who had owned it for years. Off-market sales are common in Bay Colony because owners prefer not to advertise. It also means there were no public listing photos, so the details below come from the trade press and county records as those outlets described them.
Inside the reported Bay Colony home
Inman and The Real Deal described a house of nearly 7,100 square feet with eight bedrooms and eight bathrooms. It dates to 1980, which makes it one of the older homes in the community. The lot is about 0.6 acres on the water, with room for a dock. Compared with the newer builds on the same canals, it is a house a buyer might update or replace, though no renovation has been reported.
The price drew attention because it topped what Messi paid. Suarez spent $11.5 million for a smaller, older house than Messi's 10,500-square-foot home, which cost $10.75 million. That gap says more about the market than the houses. Between September 2023 and March 2024, waterfront prices in Fort Lauderdale kept climbing, and an off-market deal often carries a premium for speed and discretion.
A few Spanish-language outlets reported the price as $11.5 million while early English headlines said $12 million. The recorded figure, per The Real Deal, is $11.5 million. We use that.
Why Luis Suarez chose Fort Lauderdale
The job explains most of it. Inter Miami trains in Fort Lauderdale, and the stadium is minutes from Bay Colony. But the Messi connection is the reason he chose this street rather than any other. The two were close during their Barcelona years, from 2014 to 2020, and their families are friends. Living a few doors apart made sense for both.
The contract history also shows commitment. He arrived on a one-year deal, extended it through 2025, and then signed again through the 2026 season after Inter Miami won the Eastern Conference and MLS Cup in December 2025, per the club and ESPN. Over that year he played 50 matches with 17 goals and 17 assists. A player on a series of short contracts might rent. Suarez bought, which suggests he planned to stay from the start.
Where else does Luis Suarez live?
Public reporting on his homes outside Florida is thinner than on the Fort Lauderdale house. During his Barcelona years he lived in Castelldefels, the coastal town south of the city where Messi also lived, according to Spanish press coverage at the time. He was born in Salto, Uruguay, and his family base in the country is in the Montevideo area. He has not said whether he kept a Spanish home after leaving Atletico Madrid in 2022.
Between Spain and Miami he spent a season and a half at Gremio in Porto Alegre, Brazil. No purchase there has been reported. Brazilian coverage of his stay focused on the pitch, where he scored in his first match and won a state title, rather than on where he slept. So as of September 2026, the Fort Lauderdale house is his only confirmed home in the United States and the one that reporting treats as his primary residence during the MLS season.
What homes near Luis Suarez cost
Fort Lauderdale is a broad market. Our MLS feed as of September 2026 shows about 3,390 active listings in Fort Lauderdale, with a median list price near $679,000 and an average of 136 days on market. That figure includes condos and inland homes. Waterfront houses with docks, like those in Bay Colony, start in the low millions and run well past $20 million on the best lots.
For nearby options, Harbor Beach and Las Olas Isles offer the same deepwater access closer to the beach and downtown. Our waterfront homes hub covers canal and Intracoastal listings across Broward County, and the gated communities page lists the guarded neighborhoods.
One more number for context. Homes in Bay Colony trade so rarely that a single sale can reset the community's price ceiling. The two soccer purchases in 2023 and 2024 did exactly that, and later sellers on the same canals have priced against them.
Frequently asked questions
Where does Luis Suarez live now?
In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the gated Bay Colony community. He bought the waterfront home in March 2024 for $11.5 million, per The Real Deal. Lionel Messi lives a few doors away.
Where in Fort Lauderdale does Luis Suarez live?
Bay Colony, a small gated neighborhood on the Intracoastal side of northeast Fort Lauderdale near Coral Ridge. The homes sit on canals with docks, and the gate is staffed around the clock. We do not publish the street.
Where does Luis Suarez live full time?
Fort Lauderdale during the MLS season, which runs from February through December in a title year. He travels to Uruguay in the off-season. No other current home has been reported, so where does Luis Suarez live most of the year? Fort Lauderdale.
How much did Luis Suarez pay for the Fort Lauderdale home?
$11.5 million, according to The Real Deal and Inman. Some early reports rounded it to $12 million. The sale was off market, so there was no public asking price. Broward County records show the deed transferring in early March 2024, per the trade press.
Is Luis Suarez still with Inter Miami?
Yes. The club signed him to a new contract through the 2026 MLS season after the December 2025 MLS Cup win, per ESPN and the club's own announcement. He first joined in December 2023.
Can you buy a home in Bay Colony?
Yes, but rarely on the open market. Most sales are private, as both soccer deals were. Buyers usually work with a Fort Lauderdale agent who tracks off-market activity on the northeast waterfront.
Own a home in Fort Lauderdale or elsewhere in Broward County? Get a free home valuation from Pure Equity and see what the recent sales mean for your price. Buyers can browse Fort Lauderdale listings or see luxury homes across South Florida. For the neighbors, read where Lionel Messi lives and where Jordi Alba lives.
Sources
- The Real Deal, Inter Miami's Luis Suarez drops $12M on house near Messi in Fort Lauderdale's Bay Colony
- Inman, Luis Suarez buys $12 million pad near teammate Messi in Fort Lauderdale
- ESPN, Luis Suarez extends Inter Miami deal through 2026 MLS season
- Inter Miami CF, Inter Miami CF signs Luis Suarez to a new contract
Based on publicly reported information; details may change and are not independently verified by Pure Equity. We do not publish private addresses.
