The Waterfront Team/ONE Sotheby's International Realty
- An influx of wealth is reshaping the real-estate market in South Florida.
- The average home price in Palm Beach hit $20 million, making it the country's most expensive market.
It isn't only movers who are flowing into the Sunshine State. More wealth is also arriving in town, and with it has come eye-watering real-estate deals up and down the Florida coasts.
Take Oracle founder and billionaire Larry Ellison's $173 million purchase of a Palm Beach home in 2022. Or Citadel CEO Ken Griffin's rumored plan to build an estate valued at $1 billion in Palm Beach. Or Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's June purchase of a $68 million Miami home.
A wave of Silicon Valley and Wall Street workers have flowed into the state with lots of money looking to buy. The inflow of these billionaires and millionaires, many of whom migrated to Florida since 2018 to take advantage of its tax policies, is making its mark on the housing market.
"I think it just comes down to simple supply and demand," Ruthie Assouline, a New York City and Miami-based real-estate agent with Douglas Elliman, told Insider. "That's why you're seeing prices still hold and go up because there's still a greater amount of buyers than there are opportunities."
In Palm Beach, the average sales price topped $20 million in the third quarter, making it the most expensive market in the country, CNBC reported. In Miami Beach, the value of sales jumped 62% in the same period of time because more homes were closing over $10 million, according to Corcoran data cited by CNBC.
At the same time, the number of listings has fallen off in Palm Beach and Miami Beach, nudging along competition for what homes come to market.
Take a look at six of the most expensive homes for sale in South Florida eyed by these monied movers, with prices topping $40 million.