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“The end of 2020 was when the true ultra-luxury market in Fort Lauderdale started to truly gain traction and show increased demand for these premium properties,“ said Julie Jones, a real estate agent with Douglas Elliman. Fort Lauderdale saw a handful of homes listed this year for over $30 million— something that, five years ago, she never thought she would have seen.

“It’s a whole new market for Fort Lauderdale,” Ms. Jones said. “You can have $35 million residences next to a $4 million teardown. There’s still a lot of rejuvenation that’s happening.“

Price Growth on the Way

With so many companies opening up regional offices in South Florida or extending their remote-work policies, Florida is continuing to see high levels of in-migration. In 2022, it was the nation’s fastest-growing state, increasing in population by 1.9% to more than 22.2 million between 2021 and 2022, according to the U.S. Census.

That has helped Florida’s real estate market remain buoyant, even as the rest of the country sees declining home sales amid rising interest rates.

“The fact that business people learned to work remotely made Fort Lauderdale a place where people can actually come and live,” Ms. Jones said.

Realtor.com predicts that in 2023, the number of sales in South Florida will dip slightly by 2%, while price growth will continue to increase, by 3.4%.

Mr. De Ona is confident that the trend will continue long beyond 2023.

“We’ll continue to see healthy prices down here,” he said.