The Palm Beach real estate market is experiencing renewed demand following Donald Trump’s decisive election victory, says Margit Brandt, a senior luxury real estate advisor at Premier Estate Properties and a top Palm Beach island realtor who joined Mornings with Maria on Fox Business to discuss the local market’s initial reaction to the election outcome.
“The market has been very strong,” Brandt noted. “Post-election, there has most certainly been a ‘Trump Bump’. Leading up to any election, there’s often a pause as buyers seek clarity. But now, with election clarity and Trump {heading into} office, we’ve seen remarkable activity—nearly $100 million in properties went pending within the last week alone, and just yesterday, we put another $25 million went under contract.”
When contracts go “pending” in Florida, that means that buyers have finished their inspection periods and typically agreed to put a non-refundable 10% deposit towards the purchase of the home, leading up to the closing date. A rapid uptick in pending activity would indicate that buyers had the confidence to actually invest in transactions that were previously just paperwork.
Palm Beach had already solidified its status as a hub for ultra-luxury real estate, including the recent sale of a private island for $152 million, marking the most expensive residential transaction on the East Coast so far in 2024, a transaction where Brandt also exclusively represented the Buyer back in May.
That iconic sale coupled also with the $148M sale of 455 N County RD, a.k.a. Casa Amada, to Playboy Mansion owner Daren Metropoulus are just two of the notable sales in 2024 which reflect the unique dynamics of Palm Beach Island, a highly exclusive market spanning just 12 miles long and a quarter-to-a-half a mile wide. “Scarcity is a real thing for us,” Brandt explained. “We only have 2,500 homes on this island.” With waterfront land fetching often between $1,600 and $2,000 per square foot, the island continues to attract high-net-worth buyers seeking premier properties.
Trump’s iconic Mar-a-Lago estate, situated in Palm Beach, has also been a focal point of recent discussions both around the tony enclave. Purchased by Trump in 1985 for less than $10 million and extensively renovated since, the property’s valuation has sparked controversy. While New York Attorney General Letitia James estimated its worth at a mere $18 million in legal filings, Brandt strongly disagreed when asked recently by the Wall Street Journal.
“Mar-a-Lago’s guest house alone could be worth $75 to $100 million,” she explained.
Using these metrics, Brandt estimates Mar-a-Lago’s value at $1.5 billion based on its 20 acres of prime waterfront land, potentially adding another $500 million for the estate’s 100,000-square-foot structures which include guest cottages, ballrooms, beach cabanas, tennis pavilions, spa and gym, main house, and security structures. She contends the property could fetch up to $2 billion if deed restrictions were lifted, in a good market and considering the historical significance of the home.
“This $18 million valuation is laughable and clearly shows a lack of understanding of Palm Beach real estate or its pricing,” Brandt added.
The conversation with Fox Business also touched on the potential implications of unrealized capital gains taxes, a proposal floated by elements of the Harris campaign during the 2020 campaign season. Brandt expressed relief that such measures never materialized. “Unrealized gains taxes would have been disastrous. It’s a policy only someone without business experience would propose,” she said, praising Trump’s business-savvy administration for fostering a positive environment for real estate and investment markets.
As Palm Beach continues to be in the international spotlight with media from all over the globe having their cameras fixated on the area over the next two months, Brandt also believes that Palm Beach buyers – most of whom tend to be successful entrepreneurs, titans of industry, and finance executives – are comforted and reassured by the presence of visionary business leaders and capitalists like Elon Musk, Howard Lutnick, and Bill Ackman advising the incoming Administration.