Palm Beach real estate registered strong median sale price in first quarter, reports show
First-quarter real estate activity in Palm Beach proved to be a squeaker, with sluggish sales during an unusually rainy January followed by a steady uptick in deals starting in mid-February and continuing through the end of March.
Median single-family sale prices were up sharply during January, February and March, compared to the same period of 2023, according to a new round of sales reports from real estate agencies that do business on the island. The median is the price at which half of the properties sold for more and half for less.
But amid rising-but-still-limited housing inventory, the total dollar value of Palm Beach single-family properties and condominiums sold during the first quarter dropped substantially from the same period in 2023, reports showed.
The median price of single-family properties was up “a remarkable 47%” compared to the first quarter of 2023, according to a report from Frisbie Palm Beach Real Estate, headed by Corcoran Group agent Suzanne Frisbie.
At $12.25 million, the median single-family price was the highest ever recorded in the first quarter, Frisbie’s report said.
Yet for the highest-dollar single-family transactions during the first quarter, the median sale price declined, according to the Elliman Report prepared for Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Of the nine transactions in the uppermost 10% of sales, the median fell 18% to $13.9 million from the same period a year ago, said the Elliman Report.
Agencies use different criteria and metrics to measure sales, so making apples-to-apples comparisons among the reports is difficult. But general trends emerged.
Average Palm Beach real estate prices declined during first quarter, reports show
The reports noted that the average sale price of single-family homes sold declined, year over year, by 22 percent or more.
The year-over-year comparisons of average prices were skewed by an outlying sale recorded at $155 million during last year’s first quarter, which was noted in some of the reports. That sale, in which the late Rush Limbaugh’s estate changed hands on the North End, set a record as the second-highest residential deal ever recorded in town.
The most expensive single-family sale recorded in the first three months of 2024, by contrast, was an off-market deal recorded at $74 million for mansion at 740 Hi Mount Road. The two other sales above $20 million during the quarter involved houses listed in the MLS when they sold — 120 Via Del Lago, which changed hands for a recorded $29.24 million; and 1080 S. Ocean Blvd., which sold for a recorded $21.8 million.
Even though the average single-family sales price fell in January, February and March to $15.2 million — from a record-breaking $19.4 million during the same period last year — it was still the third-highest first-quarter average ever recorded, Frisbie’s report said.
Corcoran Group President and CEO Pamela Liebman appeared to take the lower sale-price average in stride in a statement accompanying The Corcoran Report, which was issued separately from Frisbie’s analysis.
“Despite a decline in the average price of single-family homes compared to the previous year, Palm Beach’s luxury segment demonstrated its enduring strength, with an average price surpassing $11 million for three consecutive years. This consistency not only underscores the allure of Palm Beach’s high-end market but also promises stability amidst evolving trends,” Liebman said.
Palm Beach real estate market emerged from "unusual winter hibernation"
Sotheby’s International Realty brokerage manager Jessica Shapiro took note of the slow start to the first quarter in her agency’s report.
“The Palm Beach real estate market slowly woke up from an unusual winter hibernation to close out (the quarter) with a liveliness appropriate for the arrival of spring and Easter weekend” at the end of March, Shapiro wrote.
Real estate players interviewed by the Palm Beach Daily News over the past three months consistently blamed unusually rainy and cool weather in South Florida during the first six weeks of the year for dampening the number of home showings and sales.
Several reports showed the number of single-family home sales was down by just one transaction in the quarter that just ended compared to the first quarter of 2023. This year, there were 18 single-family sales in January, February and March compared to 19 last year, those reports showed.
Palm Beach housing inventory far below pre-pandemic levels
The reports also consistently mentioned a year-over-year hike in the number of houses and condominiums for sale during the first quarter. Home shoppers had more options than they had seen over the past three years, a period during which the island’s housing inventory shank dramatically in the wake of the go-go market that accompanied the coronavirus pandemic, the reports agreed.
The available inventory for single-family properties during the first quarter jumped 22.5 percent over the number of homes listed for sale in the same period last year, according to the Elliman Report.
But those inventory numbers come with a caveat, said analyst Jonathan J. Miller of New York City-based Miller Samuel, which prepares Elliman’s sales reports for markets across the country, including Palm Beach.
“We’re seeing inventory enter (the market), but it’s still well short of normal conditions,” Miller told the Palm Beach Daily News.
Frisbie’s report also noted that even though the inventory of single-family homes continued “its steady rise,” during the first quarter, the supply of homes for sale remained low relative to pre-pandemic levels. Inventory fell 40% compared to the first quarter of 2019, according to Frisbie’s analysis.
And Frisbie’s report said that buyers still might struggle to find what they are looking for, because “a fair amount” of the properties for sale at the end of the March were “overpriced or uninspiring.”
Miller also stressed the importance of higher-quality inventory to Palm Beach buyers.
“Really, when you talk about Palm Beach, the inventory-supply metric is the most important,” Miller said. “Sales in Palm Beach are more constrained by inventory quality than in any other market we cover.”
All of the single-family residential properties that changed hands in the first quarter sold at an average of 10% below their list prices, said the report from Tina Fanjul Associates.
Private sales were not as big of a factor this year, the Fanjul report added: Just four single-family sales recorded in the first quarter occurred off market, compared to 15 during the first three months of 2023.
Palm Beach condos see lower sales volume, price measures in first quarter
Examining the multifamily category, the report from Brown Harris Stevens noted that sellers of Palm Beach condos, co-operative units and townhouses encountered “a much slower market at the start of 2024 as compared to the start of 2023. The result of the market experiencing low inventory and higher mortgage rates is lower sales volume and lower price measures.”
According to Frisbie Real Estate’s report, the dollar volume of 27 condominiums and cooperative units sold during the first quarter in Midtown and the near North End totaled $29.2 million, down 73% from the same period in 2023.
On the South End, the same report showed the dollar volume of 35 condo and co-op sales in the first quarter of 2024 hit $49.5 million, off 29% from the first three months of last year.
Looking ahead, some of the reports noted the relatively high number — at 15 — of so-called “pending” single-family sales reported in the multiple listing service at the end of March. The median list price of those properties was $12.95 million, according to the report from Tina Fanjul Associates.
The number of pending listings also was up 36% over the same period a year ago, Frisbie’s report said, and their asking prices totaled $338 million, or “a near 100% increase in pending dollar volume” over the first quarter of 2023.
Frisbie’s report characterized those pending sales as a “potential indicator of a strong start” to the second quarter.
“There are several off-market transactions pending as well, yet total asking-price volume is unclear,” the Frisbie report said.
The complete sales reports are expected to be available this week at BHSUSA.com/palm-beach, FanjulRealEstate.com, Inhabit.Corcoran.com, Elliman.com, FrisbiePalmBeach.com and SothebysRealty.com.
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This is a developing story. Check back for any updates.
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Darrell Hofheinz is a USA TODAY Network of Florida journalist who writes about Palm Beach real estate in his weekly “Beyond the Hedges” column. He welcomes tips about real estate news on the island. Email dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com, call 561-820-3831 or tweet @PBDN_Hofheinz. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach home-sale median price up sharply, new Q1 reports show
