South Florida’s luxury residential real estate market in 2025 has been marked by significant high-end transactions, with a notable division between ultra-wealthy buyers and the broader market. This year, the most expensive home sale in Florida occurred on the west coast for the first time in recent years.
In April, the DeGroote family sold their waterfront Naples estate for $225 million. This set a new record for Florida and became the second-most expensive home sale in U.S. history, surpassing Larry Ellison’s $173 million purchase of a Manalapan property in 2022.
Within South Florida’s tri-county region, one of the year’s top deals involved billionaire William Lauder selling an oceanfront lot in Palm Beach as part of a $350 million assemblage. The buyer is reported to be Charles Simonyi, known for his role at Microsoft as creator of Excel. Sources indicate that this off-market transaction exceeded $160 million for 2.3 acres of beachfront land that Lauder originally purchased for $66.3 million between 2019 and 2020 and later listed at nearly $178 million.
Christian Angle from Christian Angle Real Estate represented the seller while Ryan Serhant from Serhant brought the buyer. Additional sales tied to this assemblage included properties at 1066 North Ocean Boulevard ($18 million) and 1072 North Ocean Boulevard ($30 million).
Other major transactions include Vlad Doronin’s sale of his Star Island estate in Miami Beach to Michael Ferro of Merrick Ventures for $120 million—a record price for Miami Beach. Doronin had acquired it from Shaquille O’Neal in 2009 for $16 million.
Two separate Miami-Dade County properties each sold for $105 million this year: Mikhail and Mariana Peleg sold a waterfront lot on Indian Creek Island Road adjacent to Jeff Bezos’ holdings; developer Todd Glaser and Posner Group bought an estate on North Bay Road with plans to either resell or redevelop it at significantly higher prices.
Nelson Gonzalez (Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices EWM Realty), Zachary Vichinsky, and Brett Harris (Bespoke Real Estate) are among those representing these listings.
Jorge Mas flipped a Coral Gables compound next to Kampong Botanical Garden after acquiring it earlier this year; details have yet to appear in public records but sources confirm Mas acted as both buyer and seller within months.
William Wrigley Jr., heir to the chewing gum fortune, sold two waterfront parcels in North Palm Beach’s Lost Tree Village community off-market for $97.5 million—the highest price ever recorded there.
Other notable sales include Jerry Jordan’s Palm Beach lakefront estate at $86.5 million (with plans approved last year by Robert A.M. Stern Architects), Fort Partners’ penthouse at Seaway at Surf Club closing at $86 million—setting a condo record—and hedge fund manager Nick Maounis purchasing an estate on La Gorce Circle for over $74 million.
Ric Elias, CEO of Red Ventures, also completed an off-market deal involving his oceanfront mansion on South Ocean Boulevard; Patrick Dovigi sold his Bal Harbour property previously owned by Shari Arison for nearly $70 million through Douglas Elliman broker Dina Goldentayer.
These transactions highlight continued strong demand among high-net-worth individuals despite broader economic uncertainty affecting other segments of South Florida’s housing market.
