Having been a full time resident of the Village of Tequesta for 7 years I am certainly not impartial. That being said, I am firmly on the side that knows there probably isn’t a better place to call home in all of SoFlo. As I see what is happening all around us, as soon as I hit those tree lined streets of Country Club Drive I decompress, smile and give thanks that I am home. We are surrounded by water and there are plenty of spots to sit back and enjoy the view. Catch the show over the Loxahatchee at sunset, make sure you bring a glass of wine and enjoy nature smiling down on you. Watch for manatees and dolphins to make the show even more spectacular.

There is much to be thankful for here in Tequesta. While we really are what I would consider a “tiny town” we have a big, big heart. The last time the census was done back in 2010 our population was 5,644. Today it is 6,094. There is just nowhere for Tequesta to grow, so we cherish what is here. 

Originally founded in the 1950’s the village was named after the Tequesta Indians and over 20% of its land mass is water. From the amazing Coral Cove oceanfront park to one of the best “old school’ golf courses you will find anywhere, Tequesta is very special indeed. You might run into the greatest quarterback of all time at Palm Beach Ice Cream and odds are he will be ordering strawberry. On the fairways over at Tequesta Country Club it’s not unusual to see some of the biggest names in golf enjoying a round on the Dick Wilson course that was founded in 1957. Arnold Palmer was on hand at the grand opening, Richard Nixon has played here, Jack Nicklaus too. If you stay for dinner and end up later in the evening around the outside bar don’t be surprised if you see a famous face or two as they can hang at the club without being mobbed by fans. Until his passing last year, one would run into Burt Reynolds on a regular basis in Tequesta and his legacy will always be with us. 

Home to numerous art galleries, shops, restaurants and those lucky enough to live here can get almost everywhere on a bike. West of the bridge you are as likely to see a golf cart cruising down the street as a car. And there really is something for everyone when it comes to real estate. So far in 2019, the median single family home price in the Village stands at $624,000 so it is not an inexpensive place to call home. Compare that to Jupiter, where the median price sits at $545,000 or Palm Beach County, where the median price today is $365,000. A better place does come with a price tag that keeps getting bigger, and bigger.

There are sidewalks that meander all through the Village and as one with past heart issues I spend a lot of time on them. Neighbors are friendly, we wave, say hello and stop to chat. It’s that kind of place. It’s diverse and while expensive, over the past year, we had one bedroom condos sell for as low as $65,100. On the other side of the spectrum, are waterfront properties that sell for millions of dollars. One home on the Intracoastal is currently looking for a buyer at $8,500,000. I walked by a lot on a canal in the Country Club the other day and wondered what happened to the house that once sat there. It recently sold for over $900,000 and then came the bulldozer. When people clamor for their spot on the water and are willing to pay a million bucks for a blank canvas to create one’s own architectural masterpiece on a canal you see what demand does for prices. And that’s on a canal. Along the Loxahatchee River, which is truly the lifeblood of the community, you see amazing homes under construction where “old Florida” homes once stood. Here we have seen homes sell as high as $2,395,000 and then quickly demolished. 

Others are taking Tequesta homes built in the 1960’s and 1970’s and spending considerable sums bringing them up to today’s standards. One of these remodeled mid-century ranches, on a normal lot, with no water view, not even a golf course vista, recently sold for $865,000 to the first buyer through the door. Buyers are clamoring for quality. As time marches on, these mid century ranches will be become historic and those properly restored should be valuable reminders of where things all started.
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Paradise Sharks is proud to call Tequesta home and we are always available to anyone looking to purchase, or sell, real estate in the Village. Decades of experience and a passion to ensure world class quality and customer service are paired with our desire to minimize the cost of real estate services to our clients. We recently started giving each of our buying clients a substantial credit at closing and can provide world class marketing packages for seller’s as low as 4%. Our quality, customer service, and prices are our little way of saying thank you to our friends, neighbors and clients. Always interview, always ask questions and if Paradise Sharks can ever be of help, please feel free to contact us anytime at 561.308.0175 or tom@paradisesharks.com


Fins up…..




#tequesta

The median condo price in the Northern Palm Beaches increased, as of April 15th, for the 3rd straight month. It was not a huge jump, but prices now are back to the highest levels we have seen since July. Compared to year ago numbers, prices are up just 2%. No reason to get crabby about rising prices quite yet, as even with recent increases they really are just barely above what you would have paid a year ago.

We are hoping that condos currently under contract, and waiting to close, will push prices higher and at least take out the 13 year highs we saw last June. Back then, the median condo price in the Jupiter area sat at $247,000 compared to today’s price of $240,000.

Unlike the single family market, median condo prices still lag all time record highs last seen in 2006. Back then, the median price of a condo in the Jupiter area had soared to $280,000, so today’s prices still lag those records by over 16%. Single family home prices zoomed past the 2005 bubble highs back in May of last year and have held onto those increases.

April, so far, has been a stronger than expected month for pending home sales. While we still have 8 days before we turn the page on the calendar it’s looking like a very solid month for real estate in the Jupiter area. The number of properties that buyers have to select from has started to fall and that will be the case over the next few months. Stronger sales with limited inventory would lead one to believe that prices will be moving higher in the weeks ahead. Interest rates moved sharply higher last week, seasonal home buying is soon coming to an end, and affordability factors all might help keep prices in check. Time will tell.

No matter what the market is doing, when buying, or selling real estate, always get informed and make educated decisions. Interview and ask brokers lots of questions about what they are going to do to professionally represent you and what they are going to charge you for those services. If you want to say no to the big box brokerages and hear what a boutique brokerage can do, Paradise Sharks would be honored to interview and answer any questions you may have. Even if you decide to select another broker we can pretty much guarantee that the education we provide will help you save money and get better representation. It’s very easy to reach us at tom@paradisesharks.com or 561.308.0175.


Fins up…….


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#jupitercondoprices

So far, April has been a breath of fresh air for a Jupiter real estate market that had not been looking what I would call, super healthy. At the beginning of the month, pending home sales were lower than we had seen in over 6 years. But home buyers in the Northern Palm Beaches have been busy this month with an 8.2% jump in pending home sales over the first half of the month. This was over double the gain of 4% that we experienced over the same period last year.

While this surprise gain is most welcomed, it was also the 3rd straight monthly increase, but seasonal factors will start taking over. In the Jupiter real estate market that means pending home sales will start to sputter and will decline over the next 6 months, or so.

This boost in sales helped drive prices higher with the median single family home price in the area up for 6 straight months and just hit an all time record price of $510,000, on April 1st. Median condo prices have lagged a bit, but appear to be picking up steam, and nearing 13 year highs.

While inventory levels have been fairly plentiful, there still are a lot of quality related issues with many homes on the market at this time. Buyers remain very conscientious of pricing and condition but have had to stretch a bit for the right properties, pushing prices a bit higher. The number of homes currently on the market in Jupiter, and the neighboring communities, declined over the past 30 days for the first time in 8 months. Seasonal factors will remain in play here with fewer homes on the market over the next 4 months, at least.

Interest rates had been falling steadily to the lowest levels since January of 2018, but are up 9 basis points this week. Many buyers are hoping for rates to stay at these historically low levels and perhaps even fall further. It’s going to be interesting to watch, as we start heading towards a big election and the year of pomp and circumstance we will all get to enjoy. The Fed has been a significant topic of conversation in the news and expect that to stay the same through the election. 

We always keep our eye on the million dollar home market, that last year in the Jupiter set another all time record. Closings through the end of the 1st quarter were right in line with last year’s record numbers but we are starting to see a bit of softening which we hope is not a shift in this very important metric.

Seasonal visitors have started the annual return home for the summer, and the real estate market prepares for a little summer vacation. It seems the market had already been on a bit of vacation so it’s going to be an interesting few months ahead. If Paradise Sharks can ever be of help, in any way, please feel free to contact us at tom@paradisesharks.com or 561.308.0175. Put our decades of experience to work for you and enjoy our “kick the middleman out” pricing where we can provide our world class marketing programs at commissions for sellers as low as 4%. Our buyers all get a closing credit as our thank you for doing business with you. You can always pay more, but that just would not make any sense.

Over the past month, Paradise Sharks has set 3 new neighborhood price records for our seller’s. Let us help you set a record with your next home sale.



Fins up……




#jupiterrealestate

The median price of a single family home in the Northern Palm Beaches jumped almost 6% over the past 30 days and, as of April 1st, sat at $510,000 which is an all time record. This month’s number eclipses the old record of $500,000, set way back on June 1st of last year.

Compared to year ago numbers, the median price of a single family home in the Jupiter area is up 5.5%, which is a solid year over year gain. Actual sales remain slow and in March the number of closings fell over 18% from last year’s numbers. If was the 5th straight month where sales of single family homes have fallen short of year ago numbers.

The number of homes under contract increased for the 3rd straight month, but are still 9% below year ago numbers, and at the lowest levels that we have seen on an April 1st in well over 6 years. We need a very strong month of contract writing if we want to see median home prices continue to rise.

When doing anything real estate the goal is to get informed and make educated decisions. Paradise Sharks has decades of experience, thrives on world class customer service and with no franchise fees to pay, or broker splits to contend with, we simply do more for less. It’s that simple and if you need any real estate help please feel free to reach out to us at 561.308.0175 to tom@paradisesharks.com for a complimentary consultation.



Fins up…..


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#jupiterhomeprices

Let’s be the optimist and we will see that pending home sales are up for the 5th straight month. 

Let’s rejoice in the news that single family home prices in the Northern Palm Beaches just jumped to an all time record high. 

Let’s jump for joy that interest rates sit at the lowest levels we have seen in over a year. 

But it really isn’t a time to find great joy in the local real estate market if we take the luxury top end out of the picture. The number of single family home sales in, and around Jupiter, that closed during the first quarter were the lowest we have seen in 7 years. However, the percentage of those homes that sold for a million dollars or more hit 18% and that is an all time record high. The top of the market remains very healthy which is a testament to an economy that keeps giving us good news and more good news. As long as the economy continues to boom so will the top end of South Florida real estate.

Inventory levels fell during March, after 6 straight months of solid increases. Still a lack of quality inventory in many neighborhoods but great opportunities out there if you know how to find them. High prices hold back many buyers from pulling the trigger. Seller’s pricing ahead of the market and some really poor quality inventory continues to hold back sales from all they could be. New home opportunities remain extremely high priced or well off the beaten path. Go west if you want to find new construction at prices that won’t rock the boat. 

The number of opportunities buyers will have to choose from will continue to dwindle over the next few months so if demand stays solid and interest rates remain low there may be some additional upside to prices. It may even be significant but the likelihood of significant increases should be held in check by affordability which is a huge problem for those looking to purchase their first home. But keep a close eye on the demand side of the equation.

The number of homes under contract in the Jupiter area, as of April 1st, are down 9% from last years numbers. We have to go back many years to find lower pending home sale numbers on this date and they are going to drop even further. You guessed it, affordability. We pretty much expect pending home sales to continue dropping over the next 6 months and if they drop too low, then prices could be under downward pressure which might be the best thing for the longer term strength of the market.​

Paradise Sharks are here if you need us for anything. We are proud of kicking the middleman out of our real estate transactions. We are proud we give our buyer clients a significant rebate on every single purchase. We are proud to be able to offer you full service, world class listing packages as low as 4%. We would love to help you, however we can, so if you have a real estate problem you need to solve, just give us a call at 561.308.0175 and learn how easy it is to save real money and get exceptional service and decades of experience.




Fins up……






#jupiterrealestate