This trade has marked this as a momentous quarter for Bespoke, having represented the buyer of 18 La Gorce Circle, which went under contract for $132 million. A complex of three properties and a park on La Gorce Island, the sale highlights Bespoke's strength in the South Florida market, which has only truly blossomed into a primary alpha market in the past few years.
As Bespoke’s CEO and Founding Partner Zachary Vichinsky notes, “While the transaction alone is impressive, given the fact that this will essentially become new homes, the value of the new property could well exceed anything we have seen before in Miami. La Gorce is still an anomalistic location, arguably the best waterfront private island in Miami with the best view.”
The number of trades rose by 39% relative to Q2 in 2023, from 67 to 93 trades, with trade volume holding steady at $1.9 billion. Trades in the $40+ million range grew by an astounding 316%, from $129 million to $539 million year over year. Oceanfront properties saw a 141% increase in trade volume and a 60% increase in the number of trades, indicating a shift from the dominance of waterfront properties. Still, waterfront trades performed well, with an 85% increase in trade volume and a 107% increase in the number of trades, further highlighting the appeal of these premium properties.
This tremendous volume and quantity isn’t entirely surprising to us. In our past market reports, we defied the naysayers who believed South Florida had a COVID bubble. The slowdowns we’d seen in South Florida sales in late 2022 and early 2023, we have always maintained, were just signs of the market balancing out—a maturation of the market, not a collapse. COVID was not just a fad for South Florida; there will continue to be $10 million+ transactions regularly for years to come, and four years out from the pandemic migration, this quarter has demonstrated that fact.
Breaking out the region by county, Miami-Dade County saw a significant boost, with a 70% increase in the number of trades and a 97% increase in trade volume. Palm Beach also demonstrated strong growth, with a 53% increase in trade volume relative to Q2 2023.
Looking into the rest of the year, the outlook for South Florida remains positive, for similar reasons to both the Hamptons and Manhattan. Even though interest rates remained flat from Q1, the market achieved incredible sales quantity and volume, demonstrating its resilience and strength. Historically, we have seen a significant drop in trade activity from Q2 to Q3 due to the migration away from the Florida markets in the summer months. However, we anticipate this year to surpass Q3 of 2023, even though there might still be a decrease of anywhere between 15-20% from Q2 2024. There are currently 66 properties in contract within the South Florida market, indicating strong ongoing interest and a promising outlook for the upcoming quarter.
