New York and South Florida Trophy-Home Sales Hit Historic Highs in 2021

Trophy-home investors’ most popular areas in New York City include Billionaires’ Row, a stretch of luxury building around West 57th Street in Manhattan.
MICHAEL LEE / GETTY IMAGES

Homes $10 million and up saw record demand last year in South Florida and New York City, as affluent buyers hungry for more space flooded the market amid the pandemic. 

There were 235 sales priced at $10 million and above in New York City and 365 in South Florida, according to the SERHANT Year-End 2021 Signature Report released Thursday. The median sale price was $14.5 million in New York City and $15.91 million in South Florida, the brokerage’s data showed. 

New York City had the highest number of contracts ever signed for properties $10 million and above in 2021, which was more than the number of contracts signed in 2019 and 2020 combined. There were $4.5 billion in property sales, a 79% jump from the $2.5 billion in 2020. 

“2021 was nothing short of extraordinary,” Garrett Derderian, director of market intelligence at SERHANT, said in the report. 

In New York, the highest-priced condo sale was a penthouse in 220 Central Park South for $188 million, sold by billionaire investor Daniel Och, who had paid  $92 million for the property in 2019.

Sales in the ultra-prime market are a “great barometer for market health,” according to Mr. Derderian. “Investment at this level speaks to the confidence wealthy buyers have in Manhattan. These sales have historically been a leading indicator for activity at lower price points, which was also robust in 2021.”

Trophy-home investors’ most popular areas in New York City were Billionaires’ Row, a stretch of luxury building around West 57th Street in Manhattan; downtown Manhattan and the Upper East Side. These areas have been the costliest for years, and the buyer preference shifts that resulted from the pandemic only made them more desirable, according to the report. 

“We expect this trend to continue for the foreseeable future,” Mr. Derderian said.

In South Florida, including Palm Beach and Miami, super-prime sales set records both in numbers and average sale prices.

Palm Beach recorded 107 super-prime sales, nearly doubling from 2020, with a median price of $18 million. In Miami, there were 258 super-prime sales, up 134.5% from 2020, with a median price of $15 million.  

Combined, super-prime sales in Palm Beach and Miami in 2021 surpassed the number of sales in the three prior years combined.

“The super-prime market in South Florida has never been stronger. We saw the most expensive home ever to sell in the state, and the most expensive home ever sold in Miami. Right now, there does not seem to be a clear ceiling on just how pricey these homes will become. Demand is outweighing supply at an alarming rate, pushing prices even higher,” Mr. Derderian said in the report.

The report also noted that the pandemic has contributed to the increase of purchases in South Florida as buyers temporarily fled the Northeast seeking a warmer climate and less dense areas.

In addition to the typical trophy-home buyers, increasing numbers of wealthy crypto investors introduced a new dimension to the luxury real estate market. 

“Many holders of the various currencies have chosen to park their newfound wealth in hard assets, with real estate a top choice,” Mr. Derderian said. 

Source: Ayse Kelce

Trophy-home investors’ most popular areas in New York City include Billionaires’ Row, a stretch of luxury building around West 57th Street in Manhattan.
MICHAEL LEE / GETTY IMAGES