Florida remains the state where property prices are rising faster than the national average. In the first half of 2022, it was the leading United States place according to this indicator: the annual increase in prices for houses and apartments amounted to 31%. The market cooled down somewhat at the end of the year. But even in 2024, there has continued to be high demand for buying a home in the state among both Americans and foreign investors. Mainly resale properties are being sold in Florida, as the construction of new developments does not keep up with demand. As for the price and how well this or that house in Florida will sell, realtors never get tired of repeating: "Location, location, location." Simply put, location is everything.
Content:
- The Most sought-after apartments in Florida, USA
- The most expensive penthouse in Florida in 2022
- Single-family homes are the most sought-after type of property
- Luxury villas are sold rarely but are very expensive
- In the ultra-expensive real estate market, the personal tastes of the buyer are the key factor
The Most sought-after apartments in Florida, USA
One of the indicators of the demand for a particular location can be its population’s growth rate. Based on this figure, as of early 2023, the most sought-after apartments in Florida in 2022 were those located in cities such as:
- Fort Myers, the capital of Lee County. The city, with a population of 92,000 people, increased its population by 6% in 2022. This was most likely helped by the moderate housing prices for Florida: a 2-bedroom apartment with a total area of 77 square metres in a beautifully located condominium can be bought here for $ 240,000.
- Cape Coral increased its population by 29,000 in a year. Although it borders Fort Myers, it has a unique special situation - it is literally riddled with shipping channels, and most of the developments have access to the water. This affects the price of housing. The median cost of a residential unit in the city at the beginning of 2023 is $450,000. This figure has grown by 20% over the past year. But even here you can find a good housing option for only $ 255,000. E.g., currently on offer in the city are 2-bedroom apartments with a total area of 97 square metres with a spacious balcony, a well-furnished kitchen, and a communal pool in the community’s territory.
The rate of price growth in the locality can also be a demand indicator. On this basis, nothing can equal the city of Tampa, located on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. It’s the third largest city in Florida after Jacksonville and Miami, with a population of approx. 390,000 people. Tampa saw a 32.5% increase in residential real estate prices in 2022, becoming the hottest real estate market in the US for some time. However, here you can also find 2-bedroom apartments with a total area of 90 square metres for only $ 259,000. Located in one of the best areas of the city, this community features a spacious swimming pool, a fitness studio, and a basketball court.
The most expensive penthouse in Florida in 2022
At the bottom line, apartments in Florida are still cheaper on average than single-family homes. But if you were to recalculate the cost per square metre, it remains to be seen which type of property will be the most expensive in a competition. Below are the places where the most expensive apartments and condominiums in the Sunshine State are located:
- Fisher Island, near Miami. Ranked first in the US in terms of per capita income, this well-protected island (with no land road access) is fighting for autonomy, but for now, remains part of Miami-Dade County. But the island has already won the championship in real estate prices in Miami for apartment buildings - the median cost of apartments here is $ 5,000,000. This is how much it will cost, for example, to buy a 3-bedroom apartment with a total area of 296 square metres. However, for Fisher Island, a price of $ 23,000,000 for an apartment is quite possible. This is how much a 5-bedroom penthouse in a condominium with a beautiful bay view currently costs here.
- The resort town of Palm Beach holds the title of one of the most expensive places in the US to buy not only detached houses but also apartments.
In 2022, the most expensive penthouse in the city’s history was sold here for $ 23,700,000. Robert Kraft, a multimillionaire, bought this 4-bedroom luxurious property with a spacious wraparound terrace and magnificent ocean views. On average, in Palm Beach, you can buy a 3-bedroom apartment with a total area of 250 square metres for $ 4,000,000. In this case, the buyer gets full access to all the amenities of the condominium: a gym, a swimming pool, a tennis court, and many other recreation and entertainment places.
As already mentioned, location plays an extremely important role in the private houses and villa sector in Florida. So, from time to time, homeowners in high-demand locations simply demolish the old home, whereupon a new luxury development appears in its place, and impressive figures appear in the records of real estate sales offers. Until recently, the house was exhibited for $ 100,000 to $ 150,000, and after a maintenance break, it currently costs $ 1,000,000 or more.
However, most homes in Florida have a fairly simple story - they go up in value every year without any additional gimmicks.
Single-family homes are the most sought-after type of property
Still, the most sought-after property in Florida is detached homes. Here are the places where the most massive home sales in the state occur:
- The afore-mentioned Fort Myers. While the median home value here is $397,000, it's still possible to find a home in the city for $300,000. This is how much new development in Florida costs - a detached 3-bedroom villa with an area of 121 square metres, built in 2023. The buyer will have to invest in furnishing and fully equipping the property with the necessary appliances. You can however be sure that after that the house will be exactly the way the owners want it to be.
- Jacksonville, the state's most populous city, shows a corresponding number of residential sales. Here the situation plays into the hands of both sides of the transaction: sellers can still set high prices for real estate since the prices have grown in Jacksonville by 25% in a year. But buyers have more options to choose from, as demand falls due to high prices and expensive mortgages, and the properties remain on the market for a longer time. Besides, there’s every reason to expect that the growth in local housing prices is declining. The median cost of housing in the city is already $304,000, and a decent 122-square-metre 3-bedroom property can be purchased for $290,000. For this price, the buyer will also get a well-equipped kitchen and a double garage - quite a worthy setting for a city home.
Luxury villas are sold rarely but are very expensive
Large private villas remain the most expensive real estate type in Florida. And no wonder - even ultra-luxury apartments can hardly compete with the comfort of a huge mansion, freely spread out on a large private plot near the ocean.
Therefore, the list of cities with the most expensive real estate in Florida relies mainly on villa sales. The ranking for 2022 looks like this:
- Jupiter Island - a tiny town on an island stretched along the ocean, in Martin County. Located north of Palm Beach County, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. About 800 people live here, and often these are the richest and most famous people in the United States e.g., former US President George W. Bush, singer Celine Dion, and others. It has one of the highest incomes per family in the country and, accordingly, some of the highest real estate prices in America. The average cost of a house here is $5,200,000. A 10-bedroom oceanfront development could cost $60,000,000.
- Golden Beach, another small town in Miami-Dade County. This small island, stretched along the Atlantic coast, is a tiny part of the ongoing solid development that stretches for 150 kilometres from Miami through Fort Lauderdale to Jupiter Island mentioned above. This place, with a population of no more than 1,000 people, is known as the place where the most famous people (not only in America but throughout the world, e.g., Bill Gates, Ricky Martin, Eric Clapton, Tommy Hilfiger, etc.) have their homes. Because of this, the city not only has an unusually large police force and severe development restrictions, but also the second-highest real estate prices in Florida. The average house here costs $ 4,500,000, and a not-so-large 7-bedroom villa can easily be sold for $ 24,000,000.
- A relatively large place with the most expensive homes in Florida should also be recognised: the famous Palm Beach - a resort town of about 10,000 inhabitants, with the population increasing to 30,000 people during the holiday season. The median value of a local home here is about $ 3,500,000. At the same time, the upper bar, one might say, simply does not exist. E.g., an 11-bedroom house is currently on offer here for $ 218,000,000. It’s located on its own small island and is really a royal mansion in one of the best resort areas in the world.
In the ultra-expensive real estate market, the personal tastes of the buyer are the key factor
A buyer of expensive real estate in Florida often makes their choice based more on their own taste than on any analytical data. The person builds their own strategy for buying or selling property which sometimes leads to impressive cases like buying the most expensive home ever sold in Florida.
The following transaction took place in June 2022. A mansion of several buildings connected by underground passages in the city of Manalapan was sold for $ 173,000,000 to billionaire Larry Ellison, co-founder of IT company Oracle. The former owner Jim Clark (also an IT magnate by the way) received $ 79,000,000 from this deal, as he had bought the house just a year before the resale of $ 94,000,000.
Beautiful panoramic ocean views from almost every window, a private beach, 33 bedrooms (including the main house with 12 bedrooms, 2 guest houses with 4 bedrooms each, a separate house with 7 bedrooms and houses for servants), a private botanical garden with tropical birds - everything here explains why Ellison wanted the property so badly that he paid nearly double for it.
In the ultra-expensive Florida real estate market, personal preferences play a key role, for which it is sometimes not a pity to give any money.
