No Shortage of High-End Buyers in Niche Vero Beach Housing Market

The Treasure Coast housing market has suffered from a slump lately, but backers of a $14 million oceanfront home are gambling it sells fast.

“We’re marketing this property to big-time stock brokers in New York who just got a $30 million bonus. This type of affluent demographic is more insulated to local market trends,” said Dave Brown, director of Watermark Commercial in Vero Beach.

The house is being constructed by area home builder David Farrow, CEO of Vero Beach-based Farrow Coastal Development, and marketed by Watermark Properties’ commercial division, founded by George Schmidt.

“This will be bought by someone with liquid wealth. We’re talking about celebrities, a very affluent demographic,” Brown said, who is marketing the property.

Brown said celebrities, who aren’t beholden to the Florida mortgage trends that might deter regular buyers, are looking to the Treasure Coast for second homes because of increased crime and traffic in other Florida hotspots such as Miami and West Palm Beach.

“They buy here because it’s an unspoiled, pristine environment that has access to the arts and theater. If they want to go to Palm Beach all they have to do is hop on a jet and they can be down there in 30 minutes.”

Bill Glynn, a Realtor with Michael Thorpe Real Estate in Vero Beach, said such homes appeal to “a very specialized niche market.”

“These properties sell, but they only appeal to one-tenth of 1 percent of the population,” Glynn said.

Sally Daley, owner of Daley & Co. Real Estate in Vero Beach, said high-end homes are selling faster than mid-priced homes.

“Savvy buyers in all price ranges are increasingly acknowledging that Vero remains undervalued compared to other coastal communities along the eastern seaboard,” Daley said.

“The key to this home’s appeal, beyond its unique amenities and features, is the appeal of its move-in ready condition eliminating the need for a busy home buyer… from enduring arduous permitting and construction timetables inherent in oceanfront construction.”

Brown’s listing falls into the upper tier market in Vero Beach — and into the upper echelons of that upper tier in fact.

The home, which has been dubbed SeaScape of Vero Beach, boasts no fewer than six bedrooms, eight-bathrooms, an 11-car garage, a private beach and a vanishing edge pool. This 12,365-square-foot home sits on 1.82 acres.

As we’ve seen in affluent markets elsewhere in the Sunshine State, such as the Naples housing market, the high end of the real estate market is not beholden to the trends dragging down prices and sales throughout much of Florida.

After all, when you don’t need a Florida mortgage loan in order to make a major purchase, a rise of a half percent in interest rates isn’t about to give you pause.