The Palm Beach real estate season may have begun with a whimper, but it’s certainly on a roll now. The sale of Tarpon Island for a recorded $150 million crowned a trifecta of recent deals, which includes all-time record prices for an oceanfront lot, a lakeside estate, and a non-waterfront home. And reportedly, even more to come.
“This usually a very quiet time of the year in Palm Beach and it’s hotter than ever. Not just the temperature, but people are just really looking to settle down there,” says Michael Lorber, a broker at Douglas Elliman. He notes that with new things happening in the town—not to mention West Palm Beach—the island has never been busier. Despite all that’s going up, scarcity is still very much a draw.
“You’re just so constricted by the physical limitations of the island,” explains Lorber, who also works in the Hamptons. “There’s always a place to live in the Hamptons. If you want to live on Palm Beach Island, on the ocean or on the water, it’s so limited. It just really shows you that there are so many buyers willing to pay these prices to have the type of one of a kind properties on the island.”