Are Palm Beach Gardens Owners Reading a Seasonal Market the Wrong Way? Reading Redfin, Realtor.com and the Census Seasonal Homes

How do the Palm Beach Gardens price figures compare?

Three sources give three medians, and each is correct for what it measures. Redfin's $799,471 is the median sale price across all home types for the three months ending August 2026. Realtor.com's $730,000 is the median sold price for the city in August. The postal area figure from Realtor.com is $836,000 for June. The Redfin figure is 9.5% above the Realtor.com city figure, computed here, a gap that comes from the window, the month and the method, and does not mean either page is wrong.

The year-earlier values show the direction. Redfin's rise of 14.2% implies about $700,062 a year earlier, and Realtor.com's rise of 9.77% implies about $665,027. The postal area's rise of 21.16% implies about $690,000. Three sources all say sold prices rose over a year, by 9.8% to 21.2%, which is a wide range for what should be the same market. The spread is a reminder that medians depend on which sales fall in the window.

Listing prices tell a different story. Realtor.com's city median listing price of $846,750, down 5.51%, implies about $896,127 a year earlier, which is $231,100 above the year-earlier sold median of $665,027 and 16.0% above the current sold median of $730,000. The postal area listing median, up 18.30%, implies about $717,667 a year earlier. The city listings fell and the postal area listings rose, and the two pages are for different months, so a seller should not draw a trend from the pair.

Per-foot prices are flatter. Redfin shows $356, up 3.2%, which implies about $345 a year earlier, and Realtor.com shows $400, down 0.31%, and $395 for the postal area, up 5.80%. A median price up 14.2% with a per-foot price up 3.2% points to larger homes selling, or a different mix, since price per foot corrects for size. This is an inference from the two figures.

One caution on the three-year figures. Realtor.com shows the postal area sold median up 22.67% in three years, which implies about $681,500 in mid-2023, while the city sold median is up 14.96%, which implies about $635,000. Both rose, but the city's listing median is down 4.33% over the same three years. Sold prices up and listing prices down is an odd pairing, and it is most likely a change in which homes are listed, not a fall in value. Read the three-year columns as context and the one-year columns as the better guide.

The Census puts the owner estimate at $684,900, plus or minus $35,982, which is 85.7% of the Redfin median and 93.8% of the Realtor.com city sold median, computed here. It is a median of owners' own estimates over five years, so it lags a market that has risen. The practical range for the middle of the market runs from about $730,000 to about $836,000, and homes above or below depend on condition, lot and water access.

Sources as cited. Ratios and year-earlier values in this section are computed from the published figures and percentages.

How fast do Palm Beach Gardens homes sell, and at what discount?

Redfin rates Palm Beach Gardens as not very competitive, with a Compete Score of 27 on a scale to 100. Multiple offers are rare, the average home sells about 5% below list price and goes pending in around 85 days, and even the hottest homes sell about 1% below list in around 48 days. That is a market in which a seller should expect to negotiate.

The sale-to-list ratio is 95.4%, up 0.2 points, and only 6.8% of homes sold above list, up 0.7 points. Realtor.com agrees in substance: its city page shows homes selling 3.75% below the ask in August 2026, a ratio of 96%, and its postal area page shows 4.64% below the ask in June, a ratio of 95%. A ratio near 95% means the typical seller gave up about $5,000 on every $100,000 of the asking price, computed here. On the Redfin median of $799,471, a 4.6% gap is about $36,800.

The pace has improved. Redfin shows 79 days on market against 96 a year earlier, a drop of 17 days, and Realtor.com shows 74 days, down 11.63%, which implies about 84 days a year earlier. The postal area shows 71 days, down 11.39%. Faster sales and a lower discount fit a market that is improving slowly from a slow base, though 74 days is still more than ten weeks.

Rentals add a second supply. Realtor.com counts 752 rental listings in the city, down 16.05%, which implies about 896 a year earlier, and a median rent of $2,850, down 5%, which implies about $3,000. Fewer rentals and lower rents are a mixed signal. Some owners who would have let a home may have sold it, and some who sold may have left the rental pool, and the pages do not say which. An owner who rents a home should compare its net rent with the price a buyer will pay today.

Sales volume is up. Redfin counts 435 homes sold in August, up 20.8% from 360, so the sample behind the median is large. Active listings fell: Realtor.com shows 934, down 14.30%, which implies about 1,090 a year earlier, and still up 56.87% over three years, which implies about 595 in 2023. Supply is below last year but well above where it was three years ago, which is why buyers still have choices.

Price drops are common. Redfin shows that 29.3% of listings had a price drop, down 2.9 points, which implies about 32.2% a year earlier. Nearly three listings in ten are cut, and the figure is falling slowly. The two pages also disagree on the label: Realtor.com calls the city a seller's market and its postal area balanced. A seller should treat the label as less useful than the discount.

Sources as cited. Year-earlier values and differences are computed from the published percentages.

What does the seasonal housing count mean for sellers?

The Census records 21,501 housing units in the postal area, of which 19,000 are occupied and 2,501 vacant, a vacancy rate of 11.6%. Of the vacant homes, 1,714, or 68.5%, are classed as seasonal, recreational or occasional use, which is 8.0% of all units. Another 474, 19.0%, are for rent, 88, 3.5%, are for sale only, 39, 1.6%, are sold and not yet occupied and 186, 7.4%, are held for other reasons.

Why does that matter for a price page? Part-year owners decide to sell on a different clock. A household that lives elsewhere for most of the year may list in spring, after leaving, or in autumn, before arriving, and it may accept a lower price to be done with a home it does not use daily. That is an inference from the pattern of vacancy, not a measured behavior, and the pages do not separate such sales from the rest.

Redfin's migration data fit the picture. In April to June 2026, New York buyers searching to move into Palm Beach Gardens led all other metros, with a net inflow figure of 3,577, followed by Washington at 1,077 and Boston at 911. Chicago, at 807, and Los Angeles, at 630, came next. These are search patterns of home buyers, not completed moves, and they show where the demand comes from: northern metros, where a second or retirement home is common.

Outbound searches go the other way. Orlando, at 902, Cape Coral, at 756, and Sarasota, at 300, led the metros that Palm Beach Gardens buyers searched to move to, and 23% of buyers searched to leave the metro. Redfin does not say whether those searchers sell first, but a household moving to another Florida city has its own timeline, and a seller in that position often wants a fixed closing date.

There is a second reading of the seasonal count. A postal area where 8.0% of all units are part-year homes has a thinner year-round buyer pool than the unit count suggests, since part-year owners are also part-year buyers. In practice, sales cluster in the months when owners are in town, and a listing that goes live in the slow months can sit. A seller who does not want to plan a listing around the calendar can ask for a private offer at any time of year.

For a seller of a part-year home, a private sale has practical value. There are no showings to arrange from a distance, no neighbors talking about it, no sign in the yard and no inspection repairs to arrange, and the closing date can be set to suit a travel schedule. That is the first, second and fifth benefits at once. It is not a claim that the price will be higher, and the owner should compare the offer with what a public sale would net after costs.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates, table B25004, via Census Reporter, and Redfin as cited. Shares are computed here.

What do owners, renters and homes in the postal area look like?

Owners are the majority. Of 19,000 occupied homes, 14,567 are owner-occupied, 76.7%, and 4,433 are rented, 23.3%. The median household income is $125,497, and the median owner value of $684,900 is 5.5 times that income, computed here. The median rent is $2,578, which is 24.6% of annual income at the median, so a typical renter needs about a quarter of the median income to pay it.

Housing types vary. Of the units, 11,359, or 52.8%, are detached houses, 3,538, or 16.5%, are attached, which makes 69.3% houses of one kind or another. Buildings of two to four units hold 7.8% of units, buildings of five to nineteen hold 14.5% and buildings of twenty or more hold 8.2%. The mix means that a large share of sellers here own condominiums, whose prices and fees differ from those of detached houses, so a postal area median blends the two.

The stock is of middle age. The median build year is 1995, and the Census shows 6,230 units built in the 1980s, 4,514 in the 1990s, 5,093 in the 2000s and 2,699 in the 2010s, with only 2,226, or 10.4%, built before 1980. Homes of this age usually have modern wiring and plumbing, but roofs, air conditioning and windows may be due for replacement, and in a coastal state with insurance costs that matter, a buyer's inspector will look closely at each.

Owner tenure is short. Of 14,567 owner households, 364 moved in during 2023 or later and 2,613 between 2020 and 2022, so 2,977, or 20.4%, moved in since 2020. Another 5,581, 38.3%, moved in between 2010 and 2019, so 58.7% of owners arrived since 2010. Another 3,487, 23.9%, arrived between 2000 and 2009, 1,906, 13.1%, in the 1990s and 616, 4.2%, earlier. Only 17.3% have been owners since before 2000.

The age mix is older than most. Of 43,676 residents, 17.8% are under 18, 4.9% are 18 to 24, 8.4% are 25 to 34, 10.5% are 35 to 44, 27.2% are 45 to 64 and 31.2% are 65 or older, which is 13,627 people. Nearly a third of residents are retired age, and for many of them a sale is tied to a move closer to family, a smaller home or a change of state. Readers comparing markets can also read the Beach Park brief and the Marathon brief.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates, tables B25003, B25024, B25034, B25038, B19013, B25064, B25077 and B01001, via Census Reporter. Shares are computed here.

What do costs, bedrooms and a private sale mean for an owner?

Housing costs bite harder than the price pages suggest. Of 14,567 owner households, 7,153, or 49.1%, have a mortgage, and 7,414, or 50.9%, do not. Among owners with a mortgage, 2,459, or 34.4%, spent 30% or more of income on housing, and 1,259, or 17.6%, spent half or more. Even among owners without a mortgage, 1,414, or 19.8% of those with a computed figure, spent 30% or more, and 882, or 12.4%, spent half or more. In Florida, taxes, insurance and association fees can account for that.

Renters carry more. Of 4,433 renter households, 4,094 have a computed burden, and 2,299 of them, 56.2%, spent 30% or more of income on rent, while 1,339, or 32.7%, spent half or more. Over a year, the median rent of $2,578 is not high against a median owner income, but many renters earn well below the median. The cost to rent is a reason some landlords sell, since rents on Realtor.com are down 5% in the city and 9.47% in the postal area.

Homes are mid-sized to large. Of owner households, 6,940, or 47.6%, live in a three-bedroom home, 3,455, or 23.7%, in a four-bedroom and 1,421, or 9.8%, in a home with five or more bedrooms, so 81.1% live in a home with three or more bedrooms. Among renters, 39.9% live in two-bedroom homes, 26.4% in one-bedroom homes and 33.0% in homes with three or more.

Fees are simple arithmetic, and no rate is assumed here. Each 1% of a $450,000 sale is $4,500, of a $725,000 sale is $7,250 and of a $1,200,000 sale is $12,000. Three percent is $13,500, $21,750 and $36,000, and five percent is $22,500, $36,250 and $60,000. A seller can put their own quoted costs into those rows. On the Redfin median of $799,471, 1% is $7,995. With homes selling about 5% below list on average, a seller should add the discount to the fees when comparing a public sale with a direct offer.

Insurance and upkeep are the unlisted costs. The Census cost-burden tables include taxes, insurance and association fees in the housing cost, which is why half of owners without a mortgage still show some with a heavy burden. A buyer looks at the same total, and a home with an old roof or a high insurance bill sells at a larger discount. A direct buyer that takes the home as it stands removes the need to repair before a sale, which is the fifth benefit of selling off-market.

Maison Off-Market buys luxury homes and estates directly from their owners and speaks only to sellers. A private sale has no showings and no neighbors talking about it, a closing date that suits the seller, no commission costs, no closing costs and no inspection repairs. It does not say that a private sale always beats a public listing, and in a market where the typical home sells 5% below the ask and spends around 85 days to go pending, an owner is right to compare an offer with what the same home would net after costs. If you would like a private, no-obligation offer for a home in Palm Beach Gardens, call 401-219-4207 or use the contact form on this site.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates, tables B25091, B25070 and B25042, via Census Reporter. Fee illustrations are arithmetic only and assume no commission rate.

Methodology and limitations

Each page's date, title and place were read before use. The Redfin page is for the three months ending August 2026, although its migration section covers April to June 2026. The Realtor.com city page is for August 2026 and the postal area page for June 2026, so the two are not compared as a trend. No Zillow page for the city was found that matched the place, and none is cited. Only established data publishers and the Census are cited. The Census figures are five-year estimates for the postal area that includes Palm Beach Gardens, which also covers part of the surrounding area. Percent changes were taken as printed, and ratios, sums, fee figures and year-earlier values are this brief's arithmetic. No community inside the town is named.

Conclusion

The record for Palm Beach Gardens shows a median sale price near $800,000, a typical sale about 5% below the ask, around 85 days to go pending, 435 sales in a month and a postal area in which 1,714 homes are seasonal. The useful number for an owner is a closed sale of a comparable home nearby, and a private buyer can price the home in front of them.