A ‘Supercharged’ Southern Migration Begins
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, wealthy New Yorkers eager to escape the confines of the Big Apple fled south toward the tony, sun-soaked island of Palm Beach, FL—sparking a migration trend that has continued ever since, sending local home prices skyrocketing in the process.
As demand for homes on the barrier island surged, it caused not only a significant surge in the median property price but also prompted a notable drop in available inventory.
“Palm Beach saw a massive uptick in housing demand during the pandemic, which drove home prices higher and inventory levels lower,” says Realtor.com senior data analyst Hannah Jones.
The rising demand for Palm Beach homes resulted in a surge in median property pricing and a drop in available inventory.
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Although the median asking price has since slipped, it remains well above 2019 levels.
“Despite improvement, home prices remain well above pre-pandemic levels in Palm Beach as the effects of pandemic-era demand persist,” adds Jones.
And the deep-pocketed residents of the Empire State are largely responsible for Palm Beach’s stratospheric home prices, according to experts.
“It’s a wealth migration from New York City,” Ana Bozovic, a Miami-based real estate agent and founder of Analytics Miami, tells Realtor.com, addressing the unprecedented changes in Palm Beach.
Reshaping the South Florida Real Estate Market
“In 2019, months before the first-known cases of COVID-19 started showing up in U.S. cities, a scant 6.5% of listing views in Palm Beach County came from New York, according to a data analysis by Realtor.com,” Jones explains.
However, by 2021, the pandemic had tightened its grip on New York City, overwhelming its hospitals and leaving residents inside the often-limited confines of their homes. So, the high net-worth individuals who were able to do so began casting covetous glances toward Palm Beach, pushing up that share of listing views to 8.1%.
Evidently, New Yorkers liked what they saw down South because the interest in Palm Beach’s real estate continued to grow in the ensuing years, even as the pandemic slowly receded into the past.
“What COVID did was it supercharged migration to South Florida, so it accelerated trends that were already in place,” Bozovic explains.
In 2023, the share of listing views from New York reached an all-time high of 19.6%, meaning that 1 in 5 potential homebuyers were from the Empire State.
“New York State contributed the most out-of-state demand to listings in Palm Beach County each year, from 2019 through 2024,” according to Jones.
A study of driver’s license data carried out by The Palm Beach Post in 2023 showed that New Yorkers led the way for the most newcomers to Palm Beach County who were turning in their non-Florida licenses, with that figure standing at 8,059 in 2022 alone.
Bozovic cites another data set that came out in 2021, which indicated 41% of the transplants to Palm Beach County that year came from New York City.
And, when the IRS parsed the data that year, it emerged that the Manhattan residents who relocated to Palm Beach County on the heels of COVID-19 all had one thing in common: wealth, with an average annual income of $728,000.
41% of the transplants to Palm Beach County in 2021 came from New York City.
Bloomberg via Getty Images
Conclusion
The supercharged migration from New York to Palm Beach has significantly impacted the local real estate market, driving up prices and reducing inventory. While the trend is expected to continue, it remains to be seen how long it will last.
FAQs
* What is the current median home price in Palm Beach?
The current median home price in Palm Beach is $2.9 million.
* What is the average annual income of Manhattan residents who relocate to Palm Beach County?
The average annual income of Manhattan residents who relocate to Palm Beach County is $728,000.
* What is the share of listing views in Palm Beach County that come from New York?
As of 2023, the share of listing views in Palm Beach County that come from New York is 19.6%.
* What is the current state of the real estate market in Palm Beach?
The real estate market in Palm Beach is experiencing a surge in demand, leading to increased prices and reduced inventory.
