South Florida’s luxury market couples high demand with high-end taste. From record-breaking penthouse sales to new luxury condos sprouting along the coast, it’s an active market in flux.
While some trends flicker before fading away, others are here to stay, according to experts. To help make sense of this, we dove deep with the professionals to better understand key local trends.
Luxury price acceleration
Luxury homes in West Palm Beach have experiencing faster price growth than anywhere else in the U.S., rising 187.3% over the past ten years, according to a recent report from Redfin.
For comparison, prices in New York rose 15.4% during the same time frame. So, what’s driving this rapid luxury growth in South Florida?
Politics and professional relocations may be behind the push, according to Ed Jahn, senior vice president of the Kolter Group.
“There are a few primary factors behind the rapid growth of West Palm Beach’s luxury market,” he told South Florida Agent Magazine. “The first is the relocation of major financial institutions to the region, a trend that began in the early 2020s and accelerated during Covid, which significantly reshaped the local buyer profile by bringing in high-earning professionals. The second driver is the evolving political climate and recent elections in New York City, prompting both residents and firms to consider West Palm Beach as a place to relocate to, especially given Florida’s business-friendly environment and lack of state income tax.”
Lastly, lifestyle will always influence buyer choices, he explained.
“Equally important, West Palm Beach has recently emerged as a true lifestyle destination, with an influx of well-known restaurants, expanded wellness opportunities and cultural offerings,” he said. “Together, these factors have fueled sustained demand that continues to push luxury pricing higher in West Palm Beach.”
Fisher Island’s desirability
Property Shark recently named Fisher Island in Miami Beach the most expensive ZIP code in the nation. Isaac Toledano, co-founder and CEO of BH Group Miami, believes exclusivity and classic supply/demand restraints make the submarket a desirable choice.
“Fisher Island is a private island with virtually no new supply, and that scarcity continues to fuel demand at the ultra-luxury level regardless of broader market shifts,” he said. “Accessible only by ferry, yacht or helicopter, it offers a level of separation, security and control that simply does not exist elsewhere in Florida. Buyers understand they are securing a legacy home in the country’s most exclusive ZIP code, and that is what drives long-term value.”
Fisher Island’s privacy attracts U.S and international buyers, Toledano explained.
“The buyers on Fisher Island are not speculating,” he said. “Most are U.S.-based families, including South Florida homeowners and existing Fisher Island residents upgrading into new product, alongside a smaller but meaningful international buyer pool, primarily from Latin America. Scarcity drives stability here, and buyers are willing to pay a premium for something that cannot be replicated. Privacy is one of the most valuable assets on Fisher Island, and residents are paying for the ability to live without public access, visibility or disruption.”
Looking to the future, he sees West Palm Beach as another burgeoning hub for luxury activity, along with select pockets of South Miami-Dade, Broward and coastal Palm Beach County.
Crypto rise
A $22.5 million Miami penthouse sale at Arte Surfside was one of the first, large-scale publicized transactions to accept cryptocurrency as payment for real estate, according to Sotheby’s International Realty.
In an increasingly digital world, crypto has its perks but won’t replace traditional currency any time soon, Toledano said.
“Crypto will continue to play a role in luxury real estate, but it will likely remain a niche tool,” he said. “In a global market like Miami, where many buyers are internationally based and already hold digital assets, it can be a convenient way to move quickly and structure a transaction efficiently. That said, luxury real estate is still driven by fundamentals like location, scarcity and quality, and most deals will continue to go through traditional banking channels. What we’re seeing is that high-end buyers are becoming more sophisticated in how they deploy capital, and South Florida continues to attract that kind of demand.”