The Palm Beach County luxury real estate market saw a notable increase in activity last week, with buyers signing 35 contracts for high-end homes between February 23 and March 1. According to Douglas Elliman’s Eklund-Gomes team, the total asking price of these properties reached $295.6 million, with an average of 76 days on the market. This marks a rise from the previous week, when there were 32 contracts totaling $209 million.
The report focuses on signed contracts for single-family homes and condos listed at $3 million or more in the Beaches MLS. There were also 70 new listings added during this period, contributing to a total of 1,289 active listings.
Of the properties that went pending last week, 31 were single-family homes and four were condos. The average asking price for condos was $3.7 million, equating to $1,599 per square foot. These units spent about 66 days on the market before finding buyers.
Single-family homes averaged an asking price of $9.1 million, or $1,746 per square foot, and remained available for approximately 86 days.
The most expensive home to go under contract was at 870 South Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach. Owned by telecommunications investor Kevin Douglas and his wife Michelle, it was listed at $43.9 million. Records indicate that they purchased the six-bedroom property for $28.5 million in 2021. Kevin Douglas is recognized as an early investor in telecommunications through his firm Douglas Telecommunications and serves on the board of IMAX as well as chairman of Quantum Fuel Systems in Lake Forest, California.
The home sits on a 0.4-acre lot and includes seven bathrooms, two half-bathrooms and two pools. The Douglases listed it for sale at its current price in November with Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate handling the listing.
Another significant deal involved the oceanfront property at 143 East Inlet Drive, which had an asking price of $32.9 million. The seller is identified as the estate of Albrecht zu Oettingen-Spielberg—a German hereditary prince who died in November—who acquired the property for $1.8 million in 1987 according to public records.
This residence spans 4,700 square feet with five bedrooms, six bathrooms and one half-bathroom along with a pool on its 1.2-acre lot. It was originally listed for $45 million earlier this year by Liza Pulitzer and Whitney McGurk from Brown Harris Stevens.
Both transactions reflect continued demand for high-value waterfront properties in Palm Beach County’s luxury segment.
