West Palm Beach Real Estate | West Palm Beach Realty
West Palm Beach, the oldest city in Palm Beach County, is today a city of contrasts when it comes to West Palm Beach real estate options and life style opportunities. Located across the intracostal from the barrier island of Palm Beach, West Palm Beach is currently home to a diverse population of 80,000+.
Cultural events and shopping lure more residents downtown to an ever growing inventory of condos and apartments. See the West Palm Beach Condos page in this site for more information. Waterfront homes, gated communities, golf course homes and older historic neighborhoods present the West Palm Beach real estate shopper with an almost dizzying array of residential choices. And buyers are doing a lot more than window shopping.
Resale homes in the recently completed Waters Edge at Briar Bay community are already commanding listing prices well above new construction price tags. Single family homes in the community were originally priced from the high $200,000s to the mid-$300s. Four and five-bedroom models completed in 2003 and 20004 are now being listed in the high $300,000s to the mid-$400s. The community has a gated entry and offers residents a fitness center, a full-service clubhouse and 6 lighted tennis courts. In 2003, the average monthly homeowner association fee was around $140.
Aficionados of water sports who are looking at West Palm Beach real estate have come to the right place. The gated Banyan Lakes community offers West Palm Beach real estate in one of the few water/jet ski lakes in Palm Beach County. Custom-built single-family homes on 1-acre lots are priced from around $400,000 to the high $700s, and up. The lake has a ramp for docking boats.
West of the city, West Palm Beach real estate offerings lean toward gated country club communities like Ibis Golf & County Club. Many of these communities continually reinvent themselves with new neighborhoods and new homes in existing neighborhoods. The Sand Cay community in Ibis is currently alive with activity. New single-family homes, from four different builders, are either Mediterranean or Palm Beach contemporary in style, in keeping with the old-fashioned small town feel of Sand Cay. The community is built around a centrally located park with a fountain that serves as a neighborhood gathering place. The new homes include several three-bedroom models priced from the $500,000s and a two-story model starting over $800,000.
Buyers seeking West Palm Beach real estate in older, more traditional neighborhoods won't be disappointed. Homes built during the real estate boom in the 1920s can be found in a number of West Palm Beach neighborhoods including Northwood Hills, Old Northwood (the city's oldest historic district), the Central Park area, Flamingo Park, which is known for Mission-style homes and
Grandview Heights. Common architectural styles include Mission Revival, Mediterranean Revival and Frame Vernacular (simple wooden houses that are raised above the ground and surrounded by shaded porches). Cost of West Palm Beach real estate in one of the historic areas ranges widely. In the late summer of 2003 the average sale price in Northwood Hills was just over $125,000. The top price was in the mid-$300s, and the bottom range was under $50,000.
