Lots of great news for those in Palm Beach Gardens...
Written and researched by Elyse Schneiderman 
Home sales are up in this part of the county. Buyers have returned. The Palm Beach Post and other real estate magazines claim that home prices have stabilized. Nobody can say that the prices will be higher in a few years, but I do not feel they will be lower. Rentals are very scarce, and the rental market seems to be doing quite well. Also, there are new homes being built again. Mirasol is built out and there will be no new homes to choose from in this area if a buyer wants a country club, except at Old Palm.
Boat sales are the highest that they have been in 10 years after hitting record lows. Boat sales, translated, means more disposable income. Shopping centers are finding new tenants. In the LA Fitness Plaza at PGA National (where the old Walgreens used to be) a Health Food and Grocery Store has leased the space that has been empty for a few years. Next door a new restaurant, Brooklyn Water Pizza and Pasta has taken over several spots. They are a relative of Brooklyn Water Bagel which is also booming with customers in Palm Beach Gardens and other new locations. Downtown at the Gardens is busier than the new owners projected. The attractions geared towards children have been a huge success and filling all the restaurants (because of the average prices and family geared eating).
Restaurants are busy, demonstrating that people are eating out again, and the economy in Florida is growing.
The two magnet high schools in Palm Beach County, Suncoast and Dreyfus School of the Arts were rated in the top 50 high schools Nationally (Suncoast #14). The new JCC to be located on Hood Road will be completed in a year and will offer more events to the community. The live telecast events that they sponsored through the 92nd Street Y were hugely attended. I attended their “evening with Madeline Albright” and found it amazingly interesting. I was also told the interview with Sandra Day O'Connor was fabulous, too. Take advantage of all the things going on around us.
CONTRACTS SINCE JANUARY 1, 2012
The numbers below demonstrate that buyers are back and sales are remarkably different
than the past couple ofseasons:
BallenIsles - 29 sales, 12 under contract
Mirasol and Mirabella - 36 sales, 50 under contract
PGA - 107 sales - 52 under contract
Admirals Cove - 24 sales - 9 under contract
Frenchmans Creek - 12 sales 3 under contract
Old Palm...
Is booming. The luxury buyers are back. The maximum for this community is 310 homes. As of two weeks ago they had sold 160 homes, most in the past year. There are now 29 children living in Old Palm. Old Palm is unique in that it really has people of all ages; and if you want to be catered to, it is the place to go. Edmund James Hair Salon has opened another location in Old Palm for their residents. Old Palm is very private and intimate, with touches that larger clubs cannot offer their members. The starting range at Old Palm is about $1,300,000 and goes up to $10,000,000. Many of their expensive 1 acre lots are already sold.
As I have repeatedly said, there is something for everyone in this area, ranging from as little as $150,000, in PGA or Ibis, to the very expensive.
PGA...
Is booming again, too. I listed and sold a small home in less than a week. If a home is priced to sell, it sells. For those who might be interested in PGA, I need to warn of one issue if you join their club (which is a wonderful club for the price), but it now seems almost impossible to get any return of your membership money if you leave. I have several clients who bought homes years ago and were told they would have their membership deposit returned when they sold. (I, myself, lived in PGA and had my initiation fee returned nine months after we sold in 1999). Today, however, they are not returning the money, but PGA still remains a very nice place to live.
New Activity for kids:
The Black Sparrow Pirate Ship, just written about in the Palm Beach Post, is a boat ride around Peanut Island (with Pirates, Treasure Hunts, Face Painting and various other activities for kids). It is a 75 minute boat ride - three times a day.
The JCC will relocate to a new facility on Hood Road, and the new location will open its doors for the public (activities, bridge, lectures, events, etc, etc, for all age groups) in one year. The Pre-School will likewise move to Hood Road.
The Meyer Academy (Kindergarten through eighth grade), presently located in West Palm Beach, will be moving to the new JCC grounds on Hood Road one year after the new JCC opens.