Palm Beach County saw a notable increase in luxury real estate contracts as the busy season on the island gained momentum. Between January 26 and February 1, buyers signed 37 contracts for high-end properties, according to a report from Douglas Elliman’s Eklund-Gomes team. The combined asking price for these pending sales reached $273.5 million, with properties spending an average of 84 days on the market. This marks a significant rise compared to the previous week, when 21 contracts were signed totaling $132.5 million.
The Eklund-Gomes team tracks signed contracts for single-family homes and condos listed at $3 million or more in the Beaches MLS. The latest report noted that there were 61 new listings and a total of 1,268 active listings during the period.
Of the homes that went under contract last week, 26 were single-family residences while 11 were condominiums. Condos had an average asking price of $4.9 million, or $1,839 per square foot, and typically spent about 81 days on the market before going pending. Single-family homes averaged an asking price of $8.4 million, or $1,687 per square foot, with an average market time of 88 days.
The most expensive property to secure a buyer was a waterfront home at 751 Island Drive in Palm Beach. The house measures approximately 4,700 square feet and was listed at $35 million. Records indicate that it is being sold by the estate of Patsy Johnson, widow of financier and Flagler National Bank founder Dick Johnson. Patsy Johnson passed away in July; she and her husband purchased the property for $2.4 million in 1994. Built in 1988 on a lot just under half an acre, the home features five bedrooms, four bathrooms, one half-bathroom, a pool, and a dock. It was listed for sale in November with Jim McCann of Premier Estate Properties.
Another notable pending sale is a house at 242 Tangier Avenue measuring about 5,600 square feet with an asking price of $17.8 million. Julie and Thomas Frist III are listed as sellers; they acquired it for $7.9 million in 2016. Thomas Frist III is the grandson of HCA Healthcare’s founder—an operator of health care facilities across the country valued at billions of dollars annually (https://www.hcahealthcare.com/about/). Built in 2008 on roughly one-third acre, this property includes five bedrooms, six bathrooms, two half-bathrooms, a pool and a guest house. It was put on the market in December with Crista Fanjul Ryan of Tina Fanjul Associates.
