Palm Beach County crossed $1 million in average sale price for the first time in history. Here is what that milestone means for sellers across all three counties right now.

South Florida Home Prices Just Hit a Record. Here Is What Sellers Need to Know Before Summer 2026.

This analysis originally appeared on Landmark Signature Realty. Darek Homel is the Broker-Owner of Landmark Signature Realty LLC, a hybrid flat-fee brokerage serving Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties.

Palm Beach County’s average sale price hit $1,025,233 in Q1 2026. That is the first time in the county’s history that the average has crossed $1 million. The 11% year-over-year gain is not a luxury outlier story driven by a handful of waterfront estate sales. The median sale price, which removes those outliers, rose 3% to $518,500. Both numbers moved up together, which means appreciation is broad-based across price ranges, not concentrated at the top.

If you own a home in South Florida and you have been thinking about selling, this is the market data you need to understand before you make that decision.

What the Record Numbers Mean County by County

The three-county picture in 2026 is more nuanced than a single headline suggests, and understanding the differences between Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade is what separates a well-timed sale from a missed opportunity.

Palm Beach County is the clear leader. Average sale price up 11% to $1,025,233. Median up 3% to $518,500. Single-family sales up 14.3% year-over-year in March 2026, the strongest performance in the tri-county region. Under-contract activity is up 11%, which is a leading indicator pointing to strong Q2 closings. New listings are down 11%, and inventory is down 8%. That combination of rising demand and shrinking supply is the textbook condition for sustained price appreciation.

Broward County tells a more layered story. The average sale price jumped 32% on paper to $807,000, but that number is distorted by 56 additional sales above $1.5 million compared to the prior year. Strip those luxury outliers out, and the median sale price is actually down 1% to $450,000. New listings fell 15%, the steepest drop in the tri-county area. Inventory is down 7%. The sub-$500,000 segment has 9.37 months of supply, giving buyers real leverage below that threshold. Above $1.5 million, Broward is a different story entirely, with the luxury segment actively absorbing inventory.

Miami-Dade is running two markets simultaneously. Single-family home medians are holding above $670,000, and the $1 million-plus segment remains active on cash and international demand. The condo market is a different reality. Condo inventory sits at 13-plus months of supply, well into buyer’s market territory, with SB 4-D reserve compliance pressure continuing to weigh on older buildings. Cash buyers make up 37.1% of Miami-Dade transactions, compared to 44.8% in Palm Beach and 36.8% in Broward. International capital from Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, and Portugal continues to flow in, particularly in the luxury and ultra-luxury segments.

Why Inventory Tightening Is the Real Driver

Record prices do not appear without a structural cause. The reason South Florida is outperforming the rest of Florida, and most of the country, comes down to one word: supply.

New listings are down 11% in Palm Beach and 15% in Broward. Inventory in both counties reversed a multi-year climb for the first time since the pandemic peak. The primary reason is the lock-in effect. Homeowners who locked in sub-4% mortgages between 2020 and 2022 are not willing to sell and trade into a 6.36% rate on their next purchase. That decision, made by hundreds of thousands of Florida homeowners, is quietly keeping inventory compressed and sustaining upward price pressure even as buyer demand moderates slightly from its peak.

Palm Beach and Broward are now running approximately 3% above 2016 to 2019 average inventory levels. That is still elevated versus the pandemic lows, but the trend has decisively reversed. We are no longer accumulating inventory. We are working through it.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.36% as of May 14, 2026, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, down 45 basis points from 6.81% at the same time last year. The Fed held rates steady at 3.50% to 3.75% for the third consecutive meeting at its April 29 FOMC, with the next meeting scheduled for June 17 to 18. Markets are not pricing in cuts this year. The rate environment is not improving quickly, which means the lock-in effect is not going away anytime soon.

The Insurance Catalyst Most Sellers Are Not Factoring In

Citizens Property Insurance rate cuts take effect June 1, 2026, just over two weeks from today. These are the most significant reductions South Florida homeowners have seen in years, and most sellers have not yet connected them to their listing strategy.

The county-level numbers are meaningful:

• Palm Beach County: average 11.9% premium reduction
• Broward County: average 14.1% premium reduction
• Miami-Dade County: average 13.9% premium reduction

Source: Governor DeSantis press release and the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, April 2026.

Here is why this matters for a seller right now. Insurance directly affects a buyer's purchasing power. A buyer financing a $700,000 home at 6.36% who saves $800 per year on their Citizens premium has more room in their monthly budget. That translates to either a higher offer tolerance, faster decision-making, or both. Buyers who were on the fence about affording a specific price point may cross the threshold once their insurance quote reflects the new rates.

Sellers who list now and close in June or July will be marketing to buyers who already know the cut is coming and are factoring it into their calculations. That is a tailwind worth listing into, not waiting on.

The broader insurance market is also improving. State Farm filed for a 10% statewide rate reduction. Patriot Select plans a reduction of 11.3%. Seventeen new insurers have entered the Florida market since the 2022 and 2023 tort reform laws took effect. The era of Florida being uninsurable is over. That narrative shift matters for buyer confidence, particularly for out-of-state buyers who were scared off by insurance headlines over the past few years.

The School-Year Window Is Closing in Six Weeks

South Florida real estate runs on two distinct buyer clocks. The first is the snowbird clock, which runs from November through April and is driven by retirees and second-home buyers following the weather south. The second is the school-year clock, which runs May through June and is driven by families who need to close before August so their children start the new school year in the right district.

Right now, sellers are inside that second window. And it closes in roughly six weeks.

Data from HomeLight and Redfin shows South Florida homes take an average of 71 to 88 days from list to close when you account for financing, inspections, and appraisals. A family that needs to be settled before mid-August has to go under contract no later than mid-June. That means they need to find the home and write an offer by late May or the first week of June at the very latest.

This is not a soft deadline. School enrollment cutoffs, lease expiration dates, and corporate relocation packages all converge on the same calendar. The buyers making decisions right now are motivated in ways buyers in September are not.

Sellers who list in mid-May with professional photography, accurate pricing, and strong digital marketing are positioned directly in front of that motivated buyer pool. Sellers who wait until late June are outside it.

What Pricing Looks Like in 2026

The buyers active in South Florida right now are not the buyers of 2021. They have more choices, more time to compare, and they are doing serious research before writing offers. The 2026 market does not reward sellers who test the market with an optimistic number and plan to negotiate down.

Industry data across Palm Beach and Broward consistently shows the same pattern. Homes priced 3 to 5% above market value tend to sit. After 30 to 45 days on the market without a contract, buyer perception shifts. The home starts to feel like it has a problem. Subsequent price reductions attract attention, but rarely recover the initial positioning. Correctly priced homes in this market attract showings in the first two weeks and generate offers.

Days on market increased 8% in Palm Beach County to an average of 96 days. That is not a crisis number, but it is a signal. Buyers are taking their time. Pricing is doing more work than it did in 2022 or 2023, when multiple offers arrived regardless of list price.

For sellers in Broward’s sub-$500,000 segment, where inventory sits at 9.37 months of supply, the pricing discipline matters even more. Concessions, whether rate buy-downs, closing cost contributions, or inspection repair credits, are tools worth discussing with your broker before you list rather than after a buyer requests them.

South Florida Remains an Exception in a Softening National Market

The national housing picture in 2026 is one of gradual rebalancing. Inventory is rising in most major metros. Days on market are climbing. Price growth is moderating. Several major Florida markets, including Tampa, Orlando, and Cape Coral, are seeing price declines or flat appreciation as pandemic-era construction adds to supply.

South Florida is not those markets.

The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro ranked second in the U.S. in 2026 Corporate Headquarters Relocation Momentum Rankings per CBRE. Florida ranked first in economic performance in the Rich States, Poor States 2026 report. Foreign buyer investment in South Florida reached $4.4 billion in 2025, up 42% year-over-year. Cash transactions remain at 44.8% in Palm Beach County, 37.1% in Miami-Dade, and 36.8% in Broward, far above the national average of 31%.

These are not conditions that reverse quickly. Limited land, strong domestic and international demand, a no-income-tax environment, and a diversified economy insulate South Florida from the kind of inventory-driven correction happening in markets that overbuilt during the pandemic.

Realtor.com projects South Florida as the only major Florida metro expected to post positive price growth in 2026. That projection was made before the Citizens insurance cuts, before the Q1 data confirmed the record Palm Beach average, and before the inventory decline in both Palm Beach and Broward was confirmed.

What Sellers Should Do Right Now

If you own a single-family home in Palm Beach County priced between $500,000 and $1.5 million, you are in the most favorable seller segment in the tri-county market. The window to capture school-year buyers, benefit from the pre-insurance-cut momentum, and avoid hurricane season (which traditionally slows activity from August through November) is right now.

The first step is understanding your net proceeds. Listing price is a starting point. What matters is what you walk away with after professional fees, closing costs, mortgage payoff, and any concessions. A flat-fee hybrid model like ours changes that math meaningfully. Sellers who want to stay involved in the process pay less. Sellers who want full service get it.

You can run your own estimate at landmarksignaturerealty.com/sell/calculator using your home’s price range, payoff amount, and the service tier that fits your situation.

If you want to talk through the market data for your specific neighborhood and price point, I am available for a free 30-minute consultation at calendly.com/darek-p0is/30min.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the best time to sell a home in South Florida? The peak selling window in South Florida runs from March through June, when buyer activity is highest, and homes move fastest. May and June consistently produce the strongest sale prices, while the school-year deadline creates urgency among family buyers. Sellers who list now, in mid-May, still capture this window before summer slows traffic.

Are home prices still rising in South Florida in 2026? Yes, and faster than most of Florida. Palm Beach County’s average sale price reached $1,025,233 in Q1 2026, up 11% year-over-year and the first time the county has crossed the $1 million average mark. South Florida is the only major Florida metro projected to post positive price growth in 2026, per Realtor.com.

How long does it take to sell a home in South Florida right now? Days on market have increased modestly in 2026. Palm Beach County is averaging 96 days from list to close, up 8% year-over-year. Correctly priced homes in high-demand neighborhoods move faster. Overpriced homes by even 3 to 5% tend to sit and ultimately sell for less than if they had been priced right from day one.

Is Palm Beach County still a seller’s market in 2026? For single-family homes priced between $500,000 and $1.5 million, yes. Inventory is down 8% year-over-year, and new listings fell 11%, keeping supply tight enough to sustain upward price pressure. The sub-$500K segment sits at 6.53 months of supply, which still slightly favors sellers.

How does the June 2026 Citizens insurance rate cut affect home values? The Citizens rate cuts taking effect June 1 reduce annual premiums by an average of 11.9% in Palm Beach County, 14.1% in Broward, and 13.9% in Miami-Dade. Lower insurance costs translate directly into increased buyer purchasing power, which supports asking prices. For a buyer at 6.36% on a $700,000 home, an $800 annual reduction in insurance is material.

Should I sell my South Florida home before or after summer 2026? Before. The spring selling window is still open, but it closes fast. Families who need to move before the August school year are making decisions now. Once June turns to July, buyer urgency drops, hurricane season begins, and competition from new fall listings begins to build. Listing in May or early June maximizes your position in this cycle.

What is the average home price in Palm Beach County in 2026? Palm Beach County’s average sale price reached $1,025,233 in Q1 2026, up 11% year-over-year. The median sale price, which strips out luxury outliers, is $518,500, up 3% from Q1 2025. Both figures represent the highest levels ever recorded for the county.

Sources: MIAMI Realtors Q1 2026 Housing Report; Freddie Mac PMMS May 14, 2026; Florida Governor’s Office press release on Citizens rate cuts; CBRE 2026 Corporate HQ Relocation Momentum Rankings; BeachesMLS Q1 2026 data; Realtor.com 2026 Florida Housing Forecast.

Darek Homel is the Broker-Owner of Landmark Signature Realty LLC (License BK3416208), a hybrid flat-fee brokerage serving Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties. He holds the CIPS, CLHMS Guild, CNC, SRS, ABR, and SFR designations and has 15 years of experience in South Florida real estate. Landmark Signature Realty is not a discount brokerage. It is a hybrid brokerage where your level of involvement determines your cost.

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