Carol Clawson

There were about 20 per cent more single family homes sold in Palm Beach Gardens and throughout Palm Beach County during the first 11 months of 2011 compared with 2010 sales. And while prices have not started to increase during this period, they seem to have stabilized as 2011 ended.

Throughout the fall of 2011, the median price of a single family home in Palm Beach County fluctuated from $180,300 in September up to $184,900 in October and then to $183,700 in November, the most recent month for numbers reported by the Florida Realtors Association.

Just about half of the nearly 800 homes sold in Palm Beach Gardens through November 2011 were priced at or below $300,000.

This is a reflection of the dramatic price declines in real estate throughout the area since the last boom year of 2006. In the past five years, prices of single family homes throughout Palm Beach County declined about 55 percent. Prices today are about where they were in 2002.

Part of the price decline can be attributed to a flood of short sales and foreclosures to hit the local market over the past few years, but many in the business lived through price increases of 20% to 25% per year in some communities and knew that pace could not sustain.

Yet it remains an outstanding time for buyers to locate and purchase a fabulous home for relocation, vacation, or investment purposes. Two bedroom, two bath condos can be bought at prices below $100,000 in West Palm Beach. And homes in some gated country club communities are now starting in the $100,000’s.

The Weiss-Clawson Team researches prices and market trends in many communities throughout Palm Beach Gardens and Palm Beach County to provide the most up to date information for our clients. If you are interested in buying or selling a home in Palm Beach County, please contact The Weiss-Clawson Team directly. We look forward to hearing from you and to working with you.

As 2011 draws to a close, home values in Palm Beach Gardens' premiere estate community of Steeplechase continue to decline following the county wide pattern where prices of single family homes throughout Palm Beach County hit numbers not seen since spring 2002. Yet, some local estate communities appear to have reached bottom pricing and are beginning to see values increase.

If you are interested in purchasing an estate home in Palm Beach Gardens, this is the time to be seriously looking.

In September 2011 the median price of a single family home in Palm Beach County fell to $180,300, a 57percent drop from the housing boom peak of $421,500 reached in 2005. For Steeplechase the average dollars per square foot for the 11 homes sold through the end of October, 2011 was $187/SF a decline of 44 percent from 2006.

Within Steeplechase, the price disparity between larger and smaller homes is significant. Of the 11 homes sold, seven were under 4000 square feet and averaged $160 per square foot. Four homes were larger than 4000 square feet and averaged $234/SF.

Four of the 11 homes sold were short sales, foreclosures or abandoned homes and they were all smaller homes. These distressed properties continue to adversely impact properties values in Steeplechase and many other communities.

There are currently 13 homes on the market in Steeplechase.

In San Michele, for example, prices declined eight percent in 2011 compared with 2010. Of the six homes sold in the community, two were short sales. There are eight homes on the market in San Michele.

It can take years for home values to come back up from the pricing damage caused by distressed sales. But we find that as communities are rid of short sales and foreclosures, prices can stabilize and even begin to increase.

At Mirabella in Palm Beach Gardens prices in 2011 have increased an average $11 per square foot or six percent compared with 2010. Mirabella prices decreased five percent in 2010 compared with 2009 and seven percent in 2009 compared with 2008. There are currently 26 homes on the market in Mirabella.

And at Bay Hill Estates in West Palm Beach prices are up almost 12 percent in 2011 compared with 2010. There are 13 homes on the market in Bay Hill.

The Weiss-Clawson Team is on top of the market in Steeplechase and in most communities throughout Palm Beach Gardens, providing the most up to date information to our clients. If you are interested in buying or selling a home anywhere in Palm Beach County please call Sue or Carol directly.

Palm Beach Gardens area estate homes at Bay Hill are bucking the downward price trend throughout the area and have seen values increase through most of 2011. Sales in the community are brisk.

While the median price of single family homes in Palm Beach County is down to $180,300, a slide of 57 percent since the high point in 2005, homes in Bay Hill Estates have increase about 12 percent in 2011 compared with 2010.

Through October, 2011 there were 12 homes sold in Bay Hill Estate and they averaged $159 per square foot. Just a year earlier, only seven homes sold during 2010 and they averaged $140 per square foot. In 2011 there was just one short sale sold.

As distressed properties are sold and moved off the market property values tend to stabilize and ultimately rise.

There are currently 12 homes on the market in Bay Hill Estates with just one of them listed as a short sale.

Bay Hill is the estate section of PGA National and is home to one of the resort's five golf courses. The community is located just west of Palm Beach Gardens in the northern portion of West Palm Beach. All homes in the community are built on about an acre of land providing space for elegant estates.

The Weiss-Clawson Team researches communities throughout the Palm Beach Gardens area to provide the most up to date information for our clients. If you are interested in buying or selling a home in Palm Beach Gardens, please contact The Weiss-Clawson Team directly. We look forward to hearing from you and to working with you.

Homes in Palm Beach Gardens' premiere estate community of Steeplechase are selling well with prices continuing to fall, but at a more moderate pace than in previous years.

By late October 2011 there were 11 homes sold in Steeplechase compared with 10 homes sold for all of 2010. The 11 homes averaged $187 per square foot compared with $200 per square foot for homes sold in 2010, a decline of about seven percent.

In Steeplechase, larger homes usually sell for a higher dollars per square foot amount than do smaller homes. Homes over 4000 square feet averaged $234 per square foot while smaller homes, under 4000 square feet, averaged just $160/SF.

Overall prices in Steeplechase are down about 45 percent from the high point in 2006 making this an exceptional time to buy a home in this wonderful community. In late October, 2011 there were 13 homes on the market in Steeplechase ranging in price from the high $300,000's to nearly $2 million.

Steeplechase is a gated community in the heart of Palm Beach Gardens with just 324 custom homes, each set on an acre or more of land. The spaciousness of the lots affords residents the opportunity to have swimming pools, tennis courts, play areas, gardens and exquisite landscaping on their property. Privacy abounds!

The community is close to major roadways. shopping areas, schools and businesses such as Scripps Institute at Abacoa, downtown Palm Beach Gardens and West Palm Beach office buildings.

The Weiss-Clawson Team includes a resident expert at Steeplechase. If you are interested in more information about Steeplechase, or are considering buying or selling a home in Steeplechase, please contact The Weiss-Clawson Team directly. We look forward to hearing from you and to working with you.

Home prices in the Palm Beach Gardens area country club community of Ironhorse have stabilized in 2011 as sales remain on a brisk pace.

A total of 17 homes sold in Ironhorse from January through the end of October, about the same pace as in 2011. But prices declined only two percent from 2010. The average home in Ironhorse sold for $136 per square foot in 2011 compared with $139 per square foot in 2010.

Of the 17 homes sold so far this year, there were three foreclosures and two short sales. Distressed properties tend to push property values down throughout a community. But when they are sold or off the market, values tend to stabilize and can begin to rise.

In Ironhorse there are 23 homes on the market in late October with just one listed as a short sale.

Buyers who have been waiting for Ironhorse home prices to stabilize might find that this period, from October to January before the height of the winter season, is the best time to buy your Ironhorse home.

Ironhorse Country Club is a unique community of just 324 homes set adjacent to the beautiful Loxahatchee Nature Preserve. The country club is owned separately from the residences so there is no mandatory membership for homeowners. Yet many of the homes back onto the championship Arthur Hills golf course so owners can benefit from the beautiful open vistas.

The Weiss-Clawson Team includes a resident expert in Ironhorse. We research communities throughout Palm Beach Gardens and West Palm Beach to provide the most up to date information to our clients. If you are interested in buying or selling a home in Ironhorse or anywhere throughout Palm Beach County, we would like to work with you. Please contact The Weiss-Clawson Team directly. We look forward to hearing from you.