TRD podcast digs into why Palm Beach keeps smashing records

In December, Tom Ford paid $51 million for a one-acre estate in Palm Beach, a record for a non-waterfront property on the island. Then he decided to upsize, trading it for a 1.6-acre property in a swap likely valued above $100 million. 

In March, Rush Limbaugh’s former compound on the island sold for $155 million, and a month later, luxury car dealer Michael Cantanucci set a new Palm Beach record when he paid $170 million for an oceanfront estate. 

“It’s kind of like a game,” said Katherine Kallergis, The Real Deal’s residential bureau chief, digging into the madness on TRD’s podcast Deconstruct. “They’re moving around, they’re figuring out what they want and they’re still spending more money than before.” 

On the latest episode of Deconstruct, Kallergis chats about why Palm Beach has held onto its status as a standout market for the billionaire set and takes us inside the island’s most expensive listing, a $218 million mansion developed by Todd Michael Glaser. 

Kallergis shares clips of her tour of the estate and her interview with Glaser and luxury broker Chris Leavitt about what’s driving the town’s run of record sales.

Palm Beach “was the market where price growth appreciated the most” in a flood of wealth to South Florida during the pandemic. “It’s like a whole different world. It’s peaceful, everything is well manicured. There’s a lot of control to kind of keep it the way it is.” 

Listen to the full episode now on Apple, Spotify, Pandora, Stitcher and on TheRealDeal.com now.