South Florida’s Top Flips of the Year So Far, Ranked

The frenzied South Florida market has finally begun to mellow, offering an opportunity to survey how much the landscape has changed since the pandemic’s migratory buyers came flocking.

Leaflet map created by Adam Farence | Data by © OpenStreetMap, under ODbl.

While new price records for neighborhoods, counties, and the entire state of Florida have defined the market, flips have proven to be a truly show-stopping sign of the times. Demand for luxury properties and limited supply have translated into properties flipping in as little as a month, and more than a few homes selling for double their last price within a year.

Just in case a few slipped by you, The Real Deal ranked South Florida’s top 10 luxury market flips for the year so far. Competition was stiff: flipping a property for a 50 percent gain wasn’t enough to make the rankings. Miami Beach locked in the top spot, but Palm Beach County won in volume.

1) 186% ↑ in price in 15 months | 6455 Pine Tree Drive Circle | Miami Beach

A company led by Steve Witkoff flipped this lot with 342 feet of water frontage on Pine Tree Drive Circle for $20 million in April. Witkoff paid $7 million for it in January 2021, and sold it for 186 percent more in 15 months. Witkoff also listed the lot for $50 million, a deal that would have included a completed spec house, but buyers didn’t bite. The 0.6-acre property faces both La Gorce and Allison islands.

2) 142% ↑ in price in 13 months | 215 Indian Road | Palm Beach

This flip stands out as one of the few non-waterfront homes to make the rankings. Developer Todd Michael Glaser and his partners sold the 1950’s era, 4,573-square-foot home to a Bain Capital honcho in May for $15.5 million after a renovation. They bought it for $6.4 million through an LLC in April of last year, marking a price hike of 142 percent.

3) 117% ↑ in 12 months | 6300 North Bay Road | Miami Beach

This waterfront Miami Beach home flipped for $21 million in February, after selling for $9.7 million in late January of last year. Russell Pancoast designed the 7,765-square-foot house, originally built in 1939. It includes over 100 feet of bay frontage, a hot commodity in a market driven by demand for waterfront, especially on North Bay Road.

4) 105% ↑ in 13 months | 12203 Tillinghast Circle | Palm Beach Gardens

This 9,655-square-foot Palm Beach Gardens mansion more than doubled in value in one year, and blew past the previous $15 million sale record for the Old Palm Golf Club community. A New York-based hedge fund manager paid $22.5 million in July for the estate, one of two double lots in Old Palm. It previously sold in June of last year for $11 million. The property has a tennis court and pool, and backs up to the golf course.

5) 104% ↑ in 8 months | 622 North Flagler Drive, unit 1003 | West Palm Beach

This One Watermark Place condo is far from the priciest recent condo sale in South Florida, but it did flip for double the price in eight months. Claremont Companies founder Pat Carney, a long time resident of Palm Beach, bought the 4,045-square-foot condo for $5 million in May of last year, and sold it for $10.2 million in January.

6) 87% ↑ in 12 months | 14958 Palmwood Road | Palm Beach Gardens

Local developers Robert Miller and Myron Miller bought this Palm Beach Gardens estate for $11 million in July. The mansion is a rarity on the city’s waterfront, topping 9,300 square feet on a 1.4-acre lot. It previously sold for $5.9 million last summer, and the owners spent $500,000 on updates to the property. The Millers are hoping to flip it again, and have already re-listed the mansion for $13.9 million.

7) 68% ↑ in 9 months | 2929 Ocean Trust | Gulf Stream

This oceanfront estate flipped for $26.7 million in March, in a deal that involved two trusts affiliated with hedge fund Elliott Management. Seller David J. Miller bought the 7,592-square-foot house for $17 million via a trust in his name in June of last year. Billionaire Elliott Management CEO Paul Singer announced the firm would move from New York City to West Palm Beach in 2020, joining the finance industry’s migration to the region.

8) 67% ↑ in 12 months | 1371 Royal Palm Way | Boca Raton

This 7,819-square-foot Boca Raton house got a 67 percent price markup in nine months when luxury carpet mogul Steven Stark and his wife Candice bought it for $17.2 million in July. Jeffrey Kaplan, the former COO of Appaloosa Management, and his wife Amy Kaplan had paid $10.3 million for it in June of last year. Another rare dry lot among South Florida’s biggest flips, this property is in the Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club community, and backs up to the golf course.

9) 58% ↑ in 12 months | 576 Island Drive | Palm Beach

In May, developer Todd Michael Glaser and his partners flipped two waterfront Palm Beach estates in a pair of deals that totaled $70 million. One mansion nabbed a $44.4 million price tag, but that’s not the one that made the list. The second home, a 5,558-square-foot, five-bedroom house on Island Drive saw a 58 percent jump in price, topping out at $25.8 million. Glaser and his partners bought the 0.4-acre property for $16.3 million in April of last year.

10) 57% ↑ in 12 months | 1020 North Lake Way | Palm Beach

Safarilands CEO Warren Kanders, who has been criticized for his company’s sale of tear gas and was forced to step down from the board of the Whitney Museum, flipped his 7,595-square-foot waterfront mansion for $39.9 million in June. Kanders and his wife paid $25.4 million for the estate almost exactly a year earlier.