Palm Beach County’s housing market is not crashing but splitting into two distinct markets operating within the same zip codes, according to real estate agent Loodmy Jacques. Single-family homes remain in seller’s territory, while condos have tipped toward buyers, with the gap showing up less in price than in time and leverage.
Jacques, who leads The Jacques Team at Keller Williams Reserve in West Palm Beach, said single-family homes in the county carry roughly 3.5 months of supply, a level still associated with a seller’s market. Condos sit closer to 6.7 months. The median single-family home goes under contract in about 40 days, compared with about 69 for condos, and single-family homes typically close near 95 percent of their original list price, against roughly 93 percent for condos. That extra month on the market carries weight, since each additional week tends to invite a lower offer. Multiple offers still occur on well-priced houses but are uncommon on condos unless the building is newer or fully funded. Condo prices have not collapsed, either: Jacques puts the median condo price up about 5 percent year over year.
Much of the pressure on older condos traces to reforms Florida adopted after the 2021 Surfside collapse. For years, associations could choose not to fund reserves, and many did. Buildings three stories or taller must now complete a Structural Integrity Reserve Study and set money aside for the repairs it identifies. “Owners in older buildings are now paying for decades of delayed repairs all at once,” Jacques says. That cost arrives as higher monthly dues, special assessments, or both. Financing has tightened alongside it. Jacques estimates that only about 21 of roughly 2,400 South Florida condo buildings are approved for FHA loans, and more than half of condo purchases in Palm Beach County are now paid in cash.
The single-family side faces the opposite problem. Many owners holding low-rate mortgages are staying put, and Jacques estimates the county has about 24 percent fewer single-family homes available than a year ago. Buyer preference is shifting too, toward owning land without association rules and toward simpler financing. That does not make it 2021 again. Buyers remain price-sensitive, and homes that are priced in line with the market tend to move quickly while those that are not can sit.
The county-wide condo figure can mislead. A headline showing condo prices up 5 percent blends newer, well-funded buildings with older ones that may be flat or declining. For an individual unit, Jacques says, the building’s reserve study and financial health matter more to price than the county median does. That makes the buyer’s side of the process increasingly about documents rather than square footage. The county’s housing story heading into the fall is less about direction than divergence. Single-family homes are being priced against a shortage. Condos, as Jacques puts it, “are a building-by-building decision.”
With 17 years of experience in South Florida residential real estate, Jacques works with clients in English, French, and Spanish. His team’s website, loodmyjacques.com, provides further information. The divergence matters for buyers and sellers because it signals that broad market characterizations can be misleading; success in this environment depends on understanding the specific dynamics of each property type and building.
