By Emily J. Minor
Real estate interest in Highland Beach, Gulf Stream and the coastal area of Boca Raton seems to be loosening up a bit, with agents for these high-end properties seeing more listings, more viewings and even a few more sales.
“I am feeling better and breathing a little easier,” said John List, a Realtor who handles coastal sales for Lang Realty.
“At least we are writing offers. A few years go, we weren’t even putting pen to paper.”
In the March numbers released by the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches, new listings for Highland Beach properties increased 28.6 percent. Sales stayed the same for Highland Beach — stagnant at 17 closings. But Realtors like List say the increase in listings means that sellers are sensing it’s a good time to put things on the market.
Finally.
In addition to an increase in Highland Beach listings — which went from 28 in March 2010 to 36 in March 2011 — the median sales price increased dramatically.
In March 2010, the average closing price was $375,000. In March of this year, the average home price was $795,000.
Of course, given the small size of the sampling, even one high-end closing can spike a statistic in that monthly report.
And while there’s movement out there, it’s different from what was happening three or four years ago, List said.
Today’s buyers tend to be interested in a couple of things: “downsizing” from a very large estate home in western Palm Beach County. “Their children have graduated from college or graduate school or medical school, and they’re living out west and maybe giving up their 10,000-square-foot house,” List says.
Another “new” kind of buyer? The corporate conglomerate. List said many companies are pooling their interests and buying pricier coastal homes, then almost using them as company timeshares. Families are even going in on these large properties, then drawing straws to see who uses it when.
“That’s definitely a different kind of thing than what was happening 10 years ago,” he said.
In addition, residents of homes on the mainland are looking at places like One Thousand Ocean and loving both the simplicity and amenities that come with such luxury high-rise living.
Jamie Telchin, president-development of LXR Luxury Resorts & Hotels, said they pushed ahead with the One Thousand Ocean project in the mid-2000s — even when the market was taking a major hit — because of the uniqueness of what they were building. One Thousand Ocean’s right on the point of the Boca Raton Inlet, and it’s next door to the oceanside facilities for the Boca Raton Resort & Club.
“We felt that it was going to be a great product, so we rolled the dice,” Telchin said.
And it paid off.
The 52-unit project, says Telchin, is 71 percent sold out. And the last few weeks have been amazing.
Since March 11, they’ve had five closings, he said, and three more are in line to close.
Average sales price? $4.4 million, Telchin said.
Both Telchin and List said these buyers of high-end properties — upward of $4 million or so — aren’t that much affected by the economy and market.
Indeed, buyers in this premier range are getting a little bit antsy that prices are going up, not down, and that demand is going to outrun supply. So they’re pulling the trigger on buying, he said.
List said he and his colleagues think the more mainstream coastal market — that is, the homes going for $1 million or $2 million — will continue to draw more activity.
“I can’t say we’re getting a lot more sales,” List said. “I’d be lying if I said that. But things are definitely loosening up.
“We might even have a
good summer.” Ú
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