Luxury home contracts in Palm Beach County increased significantly following Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City mayoral race. According to a report from Douglas Elliman’s Eklund-Gomes team, 29 contracts for luxury properties were signed between November 10 and November 16. The total asking price of these pending deals reached $235 million, with an average time on the market of 105 days.
In comparison, the previous week saw only 10 contracts signed, totaling $67.7 million in asking dollar volume.
The report covers single-family homes and condos listed at $3 million or more on the Beaches MLS. Last week, there were 63 new listings and a total of 1,181 active listings.
Of the properties that went under contract last week, 23 were single-family homes and six were condos. Condos had an average asking price of $3.8 million ($1,260 per square foot) and spent about 136 days on the market. Single-family homes averaged $9.2 million in asking price and spent around 74 days on the market.
The highest-priced property to find a buyer was a mansion at 16101 Quiet Vista Circle in Stone Creek Ranch, listed for $47.5 million. This gated community recently saw Mark Wahlberg purchase a home for $32.6 million. The seller is Dan Dagesse, chairman of Norwood-based DCD Automotive Holdings—the parent company of Nucar, which operates over 30 car dealerships across New England, the Mid-Atlantic region, and Pennsylvania.
Dagesse acquired the property for $2 million in 2018 and completed it in 2023 with AK Build & Design, Brenner Architectural Group, and Michael Gray Interiors involved in its development. The estate features seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms plus two half-bathrooms, spa facilities, gym, putting green, tennis court, club room with storage space, two-lane bowling alley, and a two-level pool. Colleen Nouhan with Premier Estate Properties has this listing.
Another notable contract was for a waterfront home at 631 Island Drive in Palm Beach listed at $37.5 million. Richard and Linda Schaps are selling this property; they purchased it for $7.9 million in 2012. Richard Schaps founded Van Wagner Group—one of the largest billboard and aerial advertising firms nationwide—and sold its billboard division to CBS Outdoor for $690 million in 2014; now the firm focuses on sports event advertising such as at the Olympics or Super Bowl.
Built on half an acre in 1961 according to records, this house offers seven bedrooms, seven bathrooms plus three half-bathrooms as well as direct water frontage spanning 130 feet with a dock included. Margit Brandt with Premier Estate Properties represents this listing.
