Palm Beach’s Trophy Homes Command up to $205 Million—It’s a ‘Snowball Effect’

In Palm Beach, FL, luxury real estate has reached eye-popping heights: Three homes are now listed for $100 million-plus, with prices soaring as high as $205 million.

The real estate market for waterfront "trophy homes" in Palm Beach—where 51.3% of all real estate deals are all-cash—is red-hot.

"We are seeing more trophy homes on the market due to a combination of circumstances—the death of some elderly owners, some owners downsizing, and others moving up," luxury real estate agent Bill Yahn of The Corcoran Group in Palm Beach tells Realtor.com®. "The rarity of waterfront—particularly oceanfront property—keeps pushes asking prices higher."

With Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, taking the helm as New York City’s next mayor and signaling major shifts in tax and housing policy, an increasing number of affluent residents are looking to migrate to places like Palm Beach.

"Florida’s tax and estate advantages and the Palm Beach lifestyle all combine to enhance Palm Beach island realty values and keep sales momentum strong," says Yahn.

But pricing these trophy homes can be tricky, especially considering Palm Beach’s median listing price is just $2.9 million—nowhere close to $100 million.

According to Anthony Smith, senior economist at Realtor.com, "Homes at the $100 million-plus levels operate almost beyond traditional data," he says. "They are overwhelmingly cash purchases, highly customized, and designed for a buyer pool measured in dozens, not thousands."

Smith says "at this tier, conventional comps lose relevance because each home is truly one-of-a-kind. The $100 million-plus trophy homes do not simply sit at the high end of the price range, they exist in a rarefied segment where traditional data, comps, and pricing norms offer limited guidance."

Palm Beach real estate broker Jeff Lichtenstein, CEO of Echo Fine Properties, says, "A $100 million deal in Palm Beach now today is ho-hum. The amount of old money, new money, financial players—think 'Wall Street South'—celebrities, and crypto billionaires has grown. Along with it, there's the fabulously wealthy who want to be close to the president in Mar-a-Lago for influential purposes. It’s a snowball effect, and with all the infrastructure around Palm Beach and an easy airport 10 minutes away for private or commercial, it's going to continue." 

Here are the three $100 million-plus properties on the market in Palm Beach.

1491 North Ocean Boulevard

Asking price: $205,000,000

This 14,496-square-foot estate sits on 4.2 acres of oceanfront property.

It was once owned by Aldo Gucci, former chairman of the luxury fashion brand, and is currently owned by the family of the late Frank and Maureen Wilkens, who purchased the parcel for $13.9 million in 2002.

They completed construction of the six-bedroom, 6.5-bathroom primary estate as well as a two-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom guest cottage in 2005.

The compound also features two swimming pools, a six-car garage, and private beach access, with 230 feet of direct frontage overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

A fabulous beachfront cabana boasts a living room, cabana bath, kitchen, and rooftop patio.

If it sells, the palatial estate—listed for an astounding $14,142 per square foot—will set the record for the most expensive home ever sold.

Listing agent Christian Angle tells the Palm Beach Daily News that "this is truly a one-of-a-kind, once-in-a-generation estate with endless possibilities."

1980 South Ocean Boulevard

Asking price: $200,000,000

This is a "trophy property on Billionaires' Row" and is the "only available vacant parcel stretching from intracoastal to ocean with high elevation on the island of Palm Beach," according to the listing on Realtor.com.

The 2.3 acres of untouched land has been in the hands of the same owner—attorney and real estate investor Nathan Royce Silverstein—since the 1960s.

The oceanfront lot has been subdivided to allow for two residences or one family compound.

The property also comes with renderings for a future 20,000-square-foot residence from New York and Palm Beach-based architect Richard Sammons, of Fairfax & Sammons, that have already been approved by Palm Beach’s Architectural Review Commission.

It's listed by Shelley Newman with the Corcoran Group, who tells the Palm Beach Daily News, "We've always felt the property is so important that we believe someone would put something important on it."

911 North Ocean Boulevard

Asking price: $185,000,000

The oceanfront compound of late real estate developer Murray Goodman and his wife, Joanie, is on the market for the first time since it was built in 1976.

It sits on 2.25 acres with more than 250 feet of direct frontage overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

In total, the residence offers 23,956 square feet of living space, including 12 bedrooms, 16 full bathrooms, and four half baths. The expansive grounds include a main home with a pool, a pool house, a tennis court, and a separate guesthouse with its own private pool.

The Goodmans' daughter, Marley Overman of Illustrated Properties, is the co-listing agent, along with Gary Pohrer of Serhant.

Overman grew up on the property with her four siblings, according to Mansion Global.

“A property like this does not come around often, if at all,” Overman said in a press release. “My parents recognized the sheer potential of this location when they built here in 1975. This is an extraordinary opportunity for the next owner to acquire a rare piece of land with such vast potential, on the ocean, with the option to subdivide if they wish.”

Other hot spots for trophy homes

Of course, Palm Beach isn’t the only upscale enclave with properties listed above $100 million.

Several other Florida markets also feature nine-figure listings, including Indian Creek, Manalapan, Miami, and Miami Beach.

"Aspen, CO, is another market defined by ultra-luxury properties, some priced above $100 million," says Smith.

There are six places in California where home listings now top $100 million—Beverly Hills, Coto de Caza, La Jolla, Los Angeles, Malibu, and Santa Monica.

At the moment, there are two condos listed for more than $100 million in Manhattan.

"These properties are custom, unique, and built for a very limited buyer pool," says Smith, "making valuation more art than science."