Buying a Condo in Palm Beach Gardens

Houses rose 4.7%, condos 0.8%: what the split tells you

Palm Beach Gardens' all-homes value is up 35.5% over five years and 4.4% in the last year, driven by houses. Condos barely moved. A typical condo now costs about 40% of a typical house, and that ratio has been widening.

For a buyer, it means a condo here is a far cheaper entry into the same city, the same shopping along PGA Boulevard and the same access to I-95 and the Turnpike. It also means you should not expect condo resale gains to track the house numbers. Buy a condo here because the monthly cost and the lifestyle fit, and check the building as carefully as you would anywhere.

Who is buying, and what the bedroom figures show

Census data puts the median age in Palm Beach Gardens at 51.8, and 32.5% of residents are 65 or older. About 8.8% of housing units are seasonal homes. Many condo buyers are retirees and part-year residents who want a smaller home with less maintenance near golf and the coast.

• 1 bedroom: about $212,686
• 2 bedrooms: about $356,751
• 3 bedrooms: about $697,545

The second bedroom adds about $144,000, and the third almost doubles the price again, because three-bedroom homes here are mostly houses and townhomes. The two-bedroom condo is the core of the market, and it is where most condo searches in this city should start. It also holds resale demand from the next wave of retirees and downsizers, who tend to want a guest room.

1990s buildings and the 30-year milestone

The median year built for housing in Palm Beach Gardens is 1995, much newer than Miami or Miami Beach. But that also means a large share of condo buildings are turning 30 right about now. Under Florida law, condo buildings of three or more habitable stories need a milestone structural inspection by December 31 of the year they turn 30, then every 10 years, plus a Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) every 10 years.

Only 16.9% of housing units here are in buildings of 10 or more units. Much of the condo stock is low-rise and garden-style, and two-story buildings may fall outside the milestone and SIRS rules. For any building, ask for:

• The milestone report, if the building is covered, and whether phase two repairs were recommended
• The SIRS or reserve schedule, and the actual reserve balance
• Two years of board minutes, looking for roof, paint, paving or concrete projects
• The current budget and the change in the master insurance premium

For budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, owners in covered buildings cannot waive SIRS reserves. Once the association documents reach you, a resale purchase gives you 7 days to cancel, not counting weekends or legal holidays. Spend that week on the minutes and the reserve numbers rather than the floor plan.

Condo fee, master association fee, club fee

Many Palm Beach Gardens condos sit inside larger communities, which can mean two or three separate charges:

• Condo association fee for the building: insurance, reserves, exterior maintenance.
• Master association fee for the community: gates, roads, landscaping, common areas.
• Club membership in golf and country club communities, which may be mandatory, optional or tiered, sometimes with an initiation fee or capital contribution at purchase.

Add all three before comparing condos. A unit that looks cheap can cost more per month than a larger unit in a community without a mandatory club. Ask whether a capital contribution is due at closing; in some communities it is a significant line on the buyer's side.

Financing and closing costs

Conventional lenders need the condo project to be warrantable. Projects with pending litigation, major unfinished repairs or a high share of units held by one owner can fail that review. If you plan to use an FHA or VA loan, the project needs that agency's approval. Have your lender review the condo questionnaire before you pay for inspections.

On a $315,671 condo with 20% down, the loan is about $252,537. Florida note stamps at $0.35 per $100 are about $884, and intangible tax at 0.2% is about $505. Deed stamps of $0.70 per $100 are usually paid by the seller, and who pays for the owner's title policy follows county custom and the contract.

Homestead for retirees, and cheaper nearby options

If the condo will be your permanent Florida home, homestead takes up to $51,411 off the assessed value in 2026, which is a meaningful share on a $315,671 condo, and caps future assessment increases at 3% or CPI. Part-year owners who stay residents of another state or Canada get no exemption and face a 10% annual cap on non-school levies. Amendment 3 on the November 3, 2026 ballot would change homestead and non-homestead rules if 60% of voters approve it, so check the outcome before you budget.

If the budget is tight, nearby Palm Springs and Greenacres have typical all-homes values of about $268,845 and $280,329, while Jupiter runs about $704,524. Send me your budget, bedroom count and whether you want golf, and I will shortlist communities with the fee layers already added up.