The Pohrer Report - Q3 2022

Clients, prospective clients, buyers, sellers, real estate enthusiasts, colleagues and friends, 

If you happened to find yourself on Palm Beach Island this summer, it felt very reminiscent of Palm Beach pre-2020. You could walk in to your favorite restaurant without a reservation, traffic was minimal (with the exception of construction vehicles coming and going), and most of the private clubs returned to their off-season schedules. 

Local real estate returned to pre-2020 velocity as well. I’m hesitant to use the adjective ‘slow,’ because it was by no means a slow summer with nearly $300M in real estate transactions during Q3. But what we’re seeing is a major slowdown in sheer volume of transactions. In Q3 2022, only 11 single family homes sold on the island — which is even slow for a Q3 in a pre-2020 climate, when there was an average 30 transactions (see chart on page 21). 

 This represents a very interesting market dynamic where inventory has dried up, yet demand is still extremely high. We continue to see price per square foot (PPSF) creep up on the limited inventory, but there simply are not a lot of quality homes on the market right now. I share this because if you are preparing to sell your home or have considered selling but are getting cold feet due to the uncertain economic climate, it is actually a VERY good time to sell — even given the macro headwinds.

I hope you enjoy the read and as always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.

Best regards, 

Gary