In the spring of 2008, Donald Trump managed to sell his home in Palm Beach for $100 million to Russian tycoon Dmitry Rybolovlev. But months later, the market crash and the Bernard Madoff scandal left Palm Beach County’s residential market flailing.
Over the next two years, the county would see a smattering of its typical ultrahigh-end sales, particularly in the tony community of Manalapan, but pricing and sales volume were inconsistent.
In 2012, as low- and mid-range home sales began to pick up steam, Palm Beach’s mansions were soon finding buyers of their own — with each of the top 15 sales in the county so far this year topping $7.2 million.
1473 North Ocean Boulevard
While Palm Beach County hasn’t seen the same impact from South American buyers as Miami has, it has been gaining strength from its traditional sectors like second-home buyers from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, as well as from Continental Europe and Russia.
Countywide, the top sales have been led by the $22.15 million sale of 12210 Banyan Road in North Palm Beach in September, according to data from Condo Vultures.
(Of course, the largest deal this year is expected to be the $41.5 million sale of 1473 North Ocean Boulevard, which sold in August but at press time had not yet closed — and therefore was not yet on the Condo Vultures list. Off-market deals were also not included.)
The seven-bedroom Banyan Road home was handled by K2 Realty’s Gary Pohrer as listing agent and Paul Kaneb as selling agent.
The massive manse has 247 feet of ocean frontage on a whopping four-acre lot (rather sizeable in South Florida, and even more so in Palm Beach).
Coming in second place was the $15.5 million sale of 3101 Aachen Lane in Wellington, which was handled by Illustrated Properties’ Marley Goodman as listing agent and Rodolfo Maya as selling agent. That home is located in the exclusive Palm Beach Polo Club subdivision.
That was followed by the $13.5 million sale of 757 Island Drive in Palm Beach proper, a transaction handled by Linda Gary of Linda Gary Real Estate.
Coming in fourth was the sale of 3205 Olde Hampton Drive in Wellington, which closed for $11 million in August, involving brokers Carol Sollak and Maria Mendelsohn, both of Illustrated Properties, as listing and selling agent, respectively.
The fifth-highest sale of 2012 so far was the $10.35 million closing of the five-bedroom home at 320 Ridgeview Drive in Palm Beach.
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