The data is in, and South Florida’s luxury real estate market is still working off its “Liberation Day” hangover.
Luxury sales stumbled in the face of global economic instability last year, according to a global report by Knight Frank on home sales of $10 million or more.
Palm Beach closed 127 such sales, totaling $2.4 billion in 2025, down from 159 totaling $2.9 billion the previous year. The Miami luxury market had 145 sales in 2025, a drop from 162 deals the year prior, although the dollar volume in both years reached $3 billion.
South Florida’s luxury real estate agents heralded the start of 2025 as the beginning of another record year of gangbuster deals.
Hype around the newly re-elected President Donald Trump and his economic policies fueled a dramatic “Trump bump” in the first quarter of the year. Palm Beach’s pending luxury contracts soared 400 percent, year-over-year, in the immediate weeks following the election.
Knight Frank data shows the island recorded $1.4 billion in sales of $10 million or more in the first quarter of 2025, and Miami was just behind with $1.3 billion.
The activity rocketed South Florida’s luxury hubs to the top of global market rankings. But the burst of activity was short-lived, with second quarter dollar volume dropping to just $594 million and $495 million in Palm Beach and Miami, respectively.
President Trump began announcing tariff policies in March, but it was his April 2 Liberation Day announcement that triggered the most significant market decline since the pandemic in 2020.
In the months that followed Liberation Day, stock markets showed an equally historic rebound –– as of publication the S&P 500 is up 14 percent, year-over-year –– but market insiders say the shakeup created uncertainty for ultra-luxury buyers.
With markets back on more even footing, there are signs the early 2025 “Trump bump” momentum is returning. Palm Beach had $302 million in luxury dollar volume in the fourth quarter, up from $197 million in the third quarter of the year. Miami’s dollar volume reached $769 million, up from $403 million.
Pending luxury contracts are also on the rise in both markets. Palm Beach County luxury buyers signed 37 contracts totaling $273.5 million in asking dollar volume last week. Miami-Dade’s luxury buyers signed 24 contracts for $204.6 million in asking dollar volume in the same window.