Palm Beach had South Florida’s highest priced luxury property in the third quarter, according to a Douglas Elliman report released Thursday.
Luxury condos and single-family homes—defined by Douglas Elliman as the top 10% of sales— in the oceanfront enclave had a median sales price of $7.7 million, the highest of the eight South Florida areas analyzed in the report. That figure, though, was a drop of more than 50% from the second quarter, and a 21.2% decrease compared to the third quarter of 2016. The report did not separate the prices for luxury condos and luxury single-family homes in Palm Beach.
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The drop was not an anomaly. The median price for luxury single-family homes in South Florida dropped almost across the board compared to last year.
The Miami Beach and Barrier Islands area saw the biggest median price drop, down 39.3% from last year to $5.1 million.
In the mainland Miami area, however, the median price for luxury single-family homes rose to $1.325 million, up 13.6% from last year, but fell 11.7% from last quarter. And in Delray Beach, the median price for luxury single-family homes rose 15.6% from last year to $1.775 million. That was a rise of 14.7% from last quarter, the report said.
"It’s not that values are falling," said Jonathan Miller, author of the market report and chief executive at Miller Samuel, "but there was a shift in the mix to smaller, high-end properties."
"Big home sales go in groups. You'll see a frenzy of activity and then it'll go dormant," he said. "It’s not a seasonal thing, just a random event, especially when dealing with smaller markets."
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South Florida’s luxury condos fared a little better. "The luxury condo and single-family markets are behaving almost as polar opposites at the moment," Mr. Miller said.
Four of the eight areas analyzed recorded price jumps from last year, while one area, Fort Lauderdale, saw no change. Wellington recorded the largest increase, according to the report. Its median luxury condo price of $525,000 in the third quarter was a sizable bump of 65.6% year-to-year, though a drop of almost 8% from last quarter.
The Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens area saw the largest drop.Its median luxury condo price of $475,00 was a decline of 5.9% from last year and a drop of 35.6% from last quarter.
While Hurricane Irma pushed some transactions at the end of the third quarter into next quarter, no impact on median prices was apparent, Mr. Miller said..