Migration to Florida has been supercharged during the coronavirus pandemic as remote working, fewer taxes, less violence, cheaper living, and minimal virus restrictions enticed people from big Northeast metro areas to the Sunshine State.
The great migration to Florida, some figures have at around 900 people per day, are moving to the state from the Tri-state area, have bought up all the luxury single-family homes in Palm Beach, triggering a “mansion shortage,” according to CNBC, citing a Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel real estate report.
The ultra-rich Palm Beach community saw the average single-family home hit $11.7 million in the second quarter, up 38% from a year earlier. Real estate brokers say there’s a steady flow of hedge fund managers, private equity chiefs, and other financial elites moving from New York and New Jersey.
“This is a whole reset of the market,” said Jonathan Miller, CEO of Miller Samuel, the appraisal firm. “We’re now seeing $50 million transactions on almost a weekly basis. That’s a big change. And it appears to be sustainable.”
The report showed Palm Beach price-per-square-foot is on par with Manhattan’s of around $1,500.
The number of sales of single-family homes for the quarter soared 90% over the prior year’s. There’s only about a one-month supply of homes for sale in Palm Beach, a record low, according to the Miller Samuel. At the end of the quarter, there were only about 25 homes listed.
Brokers contribute the mansion shortage to the “Palm Beach boom” as herds of wealthy people flee Northeast states for sunshine.
We’ve noted in the past that multiple Wall Street firms, such as Tiger Global Management and Goldman Sachs, have purchased office space in South Florida. Some are stating this could be the beginning of “Wall Street South.”
Easy Money 