After Summer in the Hamptons, Margit Brandt Offers Insight on What to Expect on the Palm Beach Market

Margit Brandt, currently the number one individual agent at Premier Estate Properties in Palm Beach, part of Christie’s International Real Estate, as well as a top five agent in Palm Beach overall, spent some time in the Hamptons this summer.

She and her husband, Blair Brandt, have a long history in the Hamptons, as he has been visiting Bridgehampton and Sag Harbor since an early age. They have been coming out east together ever since they were dating, starting what became a tradition now in it’s 11th year by attending the St. Lucia concert at Surf Lodge in Montauk.

“As we went on to get engaged, married and have kids, we came out to Montauk a few more times, staying at the Montauk Yacht Club quite often, having sunset cocktails at Gurney’s, and dinner at Crow’s Nest,” Brandt says fondly.

When they moved down to Palm Beach in 2017, they took a Hamptons hiatus and spent the summers in Nantucket until 2022, before returning back here this past year. Favorite spots to hit up this summer have included Christian’s by Wölffer, Balsam’s farmstand in Amagansett, Loaves & Fishes in Sagaponack,

Sant Ambroeus in East Hampton, Crow’s Nest, Surf Lodge and Duryea’s out in Montauk, Pierre’s in Bridgehampton and Le Bilboquet and Carissa’s in Sag Harbor.

“But our favorite thing to do is take our kids to the horse stables, spend a weekend day at our pool or go out boating,” Brandt says. “This area has some of the best boating around — it’s very calm in the bay and great to tube, swim or fish.”

Taking this summer break to spend time with family has reinvigorated Brandt for the upcoming selling season in Palm Beach.

“That is a big reason we love coming here. We get to really get away, relax and decompress from a lot of the day-to-day in Palm Beach, but without fully unplugging or detaching either,” she explains. “Our kids really love it, have made lots of great friends and the camps are excellent. In many ways, it feels like a direct extension of Palm Beach.”

At the young age of 35, Brandt is one of the only females under 40 who is one of the top 100 real estate agents in America. She’s listed as #15 in the state of Florida and #66 in the nation with over $400 million in sales in the past two years.

“I attribute our growth to a heavy focus and prioritization on delivering results for our clients and treating our team members well. To achieve growth it’s important to never quite feel like you’ve attained it,” she explains. “While it is important to be happy with our progress, it is also crucial to not get too satisfied with your achievements. You have to take a moment to celebrate the milestones and be proud of the wins, but having a growth mindset requires focusing more on the journey than any one destination. We’ve really put in the effort to add value for our clients, studied the marketplace day in and day out, developed collaborative relationships with our colleagues across the table, and earned the trust of our customers by providing them with positive outcomes.”

Recently, Brandt brought the buyer to 1741 S. Ocean Blvd, in the Estate Section, right of Billionaire’s Row, where her client “flipped” the contract to a new resident and the deal closed at $25 million.

“We also sold a townhouse at 219 Brazilian Ave for $18.9 million, which set a record on Brazilian at over $3,100 price-per-square-foot,” she notes.

Another buyer that she repped recently purchased on the North End of the island, buying 224 Via Marila for $9.5 million on a 16,500-square-foot lot, which Brandt notes was “a big comp which continued to show that while land has substantially appreciated on the island, there is still some value to be found.”

Most of her inventory currently is off-market, though she has listed an oceanfront mansion at 1125 S. Ocean Boulevard, available for lease September 2023 through August 2024 at $149,000 per month with an eight-month minimum or a minimum lease value of $1,192,000.

“This is a really special property — directly on the sand — that comes with access to an adjacent beach club, three times weekly housekeeping, 10,000 square feet of living space, eight bedrooms, a garage and a seaside pool. This is the perfect place for a winter escape if someone really wants to enjoy a quintessential Palm Beach season.”

Another four-bedroom, eight-floor unit is available at One Watermark Place asking $8,999,000.

“The views are spectacular and the building is well-known for its security, amazing location, amenities, dock space and more,” she says.

When looking at the market she notes it is “up year-over-year when you look at pricing for turnkey, new and renovated homes, having gone up from around $3,000 price-per-square-foot average to $3,300 $3,500 PPSF average.”

Still, trading volume is down around 50% with $563 million sold in second quarter of 2023 compared to over $1 billion sold in the same period in 2022. “Quality and premium properties continue to appreciate over 10% in one year, even while the market is technically more stabilized from a transactions volume perspective,” she points out.

Looking ahead to the selling season in Palm Beach, when many Hamptonites fly south for winter, Brandt says buyers should be more opportunistic than during the competitive pandemic market.

“I would expect that there are opportunities to find and create value on certain properties, and these situations may afford you a chance to be more aggressive on offers than during the 2020-2022 craze, but at the same time don’t expect too much of a discount on the highly coveted properties as inventory remains low in that market and prices continue to rise,” she says.

“You still have to move quickly and seize the moment in those more sought-after situations. I would also say that there are more deals to be had prior to the New Year, as Q1 really heats up on the island.”

source: https://behindthehedges.com/margit-brandt-insight-palm-beach-market/