Palm Beach sees rise in property values for first time since 2006

It has been revealed that property prices in Palm Beach have seen a slight rise, which will come as welcome news to an industry that has suffered from dropping prices over the past six years.

The town of Jupiter in Palm Beach County saw the largest rise in property prices with a 2.7% increase, while other towns and cities, especially those close to the ocean, saw significant rises. These include Ocean Ridge, Highland Beach, Palm Beach, Atlantis, Tequesta, Boca Raton, Gulfstream, Manalapan and Palm Beach Gardens.  The rises, however, were not confined to ocean towns and cities, with many inland also seeing a welcome rise to property prices that had taken a 12% drop as recently as 2010.

Speaking about the news, property appraiser Gary Nikolits said: “Compared to where we were six years ago, this is good news,” while the Director of Residential Appraisal Services for the Property Appraisers Office, John Thomas, added: “Since people in the middle income and below are having a hard time in this economy, the properties that they would buy are having a difficult time as well. Those areas are very desirable, and as they say, they aren't making any more ocean. Those cities are doing very well.”

Although the demand for houses at the luxury end of the scale is not seeing dramatic rises, prices for houses which are currently priced at $1 million or less are starting to show high demand and, as people were staying in their homes longer due to the low prices, demand is currently far higher than supply. This is expected to change if prices keep rising.