Top 10 sales lists show just how sharply Palm Beach real estate prices escalated after the coronavirus pandemic hit in early 2020.
By Darrell Hofheinz, The Palm Beach Post
Seasoned real estate watchers in Palm Beach know that the monthly sales reports issued by the Rabideau Klein law firm on Royal Palm Way are must-reads.
And among our favorite parts of each report? That would be the listings of the top 10 highest-dollar transactions for single-family properties over the previous 12 months. There’s a similar list compiling sales of condominiums, co-operative units and townhouses.
Watching the lists evolve every month has offered a good snapshot of the crane-your-neck-higher prices that have become routine in the island’s real estate market.
Take the just-issued July “Town of Palm Beach Brief,” which tracked sales in June for properties that sold at $1 million or more based on deeds recorded at the Palm Beach County courthouse. That price range is a given, of course, for every single-family property in town.
In July, the top 10 single-family sales between July 1, 2021, and the end of last month were recorded at prices ranging from $46.25 million to $85.98 million. The deeds for six of those sales posted since the New Year began. The list also included a jaw-dropping seven sales that hit $53 million or above.
The law firm’s website includes a multi-year archive, so for comparison’s sake, we perused the July 2019 report. That one was issued eight months before the coronavirus pandemic first made headlines in Palm Beach and helped launch the local market through the ozone layer — and, ultimately, into the upper reaches of the stratosphere.
The July 2019 reports shows that the lowest-priced single-family sale on the top 10 list for the previous 12 months clocked in at just $15.31 million. And nine of the sales on the list clocked in at under $32.5 million. The remaining deal was an outlier that set what was then a price record — recorded at $104.99 million — for an ocean-to-lake estate at 1295 S. Ocean Blvd. on Billionaires Row.
The 2022 versus 2019 numbers for condos, co-ops and townhouses were even more dramatic. In the just-issued July report, the top 10 multifamily sales for the previous 12 months ranged from $12.08 million to $27.75 million. The highest-dollar deal involved a recently completed townhouse at 460 S. Ocean Blvd., while two condos that resemble townhouses rounded out the top three deals. The latter are in the Palazzo Villas quadplex on Brazilian Ave.
In the same 12-month period documented in the July 2019 report, the top and bottom spots were occupied by condos. The lowest-priced sale was at the Winthrop House in Midtown, recorded at $4.3 million. And the top sale was documented at $10.5 million in then-unfinished Via Flagler at The Breakers at 221 Royal Poinciana Way.
See all the reports at RabideauKlein.com.
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Whether you are planning to buy, sell or build real estate, the Florida Bar Board-Certified Attorneys David E. Klein, Esq. and Guy Rabideau, Esq. at Rabideauklein.com are ready to assist you in building and preserving your real estate investment with experienced legal oversight. The firm has a long-standing reputation for helping with luxury property acquisition and disposition, complex zoning and construction compliance, and various land issues. Contact Rabideau Klein to discuss the legal implications of your next Florida property move.