The South Florida
Waterfront Index.
What waterfront actually costs, county by county — the median asking price per square foot for single-family waterfront listings against comparable dry-lot inventory, computed from every active and pending listing in the South Florida MLS feed.
Data as of October 13, 2026 · refreshed daily · source: BeachesMLS / Trestle feed
The waterfront premium, by county
Single-family homes only, priced per square foot of recorded living area, asking prices of active and pending listings.
| County | Waterfront $/sqft | Dry-lot $/sqft | Premium | Waterfront listings | Median DOM (wf / dry) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami-Dade | $1,154 | $438 | +163% | 413 | 83 / 48 |
| Broward | $598 | $382 | +57% | 886 | 58 / 47 |
| Palm Beach | $466 | $409 | +14% | 1,233 | 49 / 49 |
Why the counties diverge: the MLS waterfront flag means different water in each county. In Miami-Dade it is dominated by bay and ocean-access frontage; in Broward, the dockable canal grid; across Palm Beach County's western communities, it is often a lake lot with no navigable access — which compresses the county-wide premium even while true ocean-access corridors like Jupiter, Palm Beach, and Manalapan command far more. Reading the flag without reading the water is how buyers overpay.
Waterfront also sells slower everywhere — a longer median time on market than dry-lot homes across South Florida. Bigger checks mean smaller buyer pools; patience is structural, not a defect of any one listing.
Where waterfront asks the most
Cities ranked by median waterfront asking $/sqft (single-family, minimum 25 active waterfront listings — smaller ultra-luxury enclaves trade too thinly to rank fairly).
| City | Median $/sqft | Median ask | Waterfront listings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miami Beach | $2,961 | $14.15M | 80 |
| Coral Gables | $2,603 | $12.79M | 25 |
| North Palm Beach | $1,495 | $7.45M | 29 |
| North Miami | $1,310 | $3.2M | 35 |
| Jupiter | $1,234 | $4.67M | 70 |
| Fort Lauderdale | $1,160 | $4.6M | 248 |
| Lighthouse Point | $1,026 | $4.2M | 55 |
| Pompano Beach | $784 | $1.74M | 76 |
| Boca Raton | $668 | $2.62M | 208 |
| Wilton Manors | $649 | $1.2M | 28 |
Methodology & citation
Universe: every active and pending single-family listing in the Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade MLS feed (BeachesMLS / Trestle) with a recorded living area above 400 sqft and a list price above $100K. Waterfront status is the listing's MLS waterfront flag. All figures are median asking values, not closed prices, and refresh daily. Compiled by XI Realty (Eleven Realty Partners, LLC), the South Florida brokerage of Guillermo & Nicolas Diaz.
Cite freely with attribution: “XI Realty South Florida Waterfront Index” with a link to this page. Journalists: deeper cuts (ocean-access vs. lake, dockage, by-city premiums) are available on request — nicolasdiaz@xi-realty.com.
The index, city by city
What waterfront costs in each city — waterfront vs dry-lot medians, the split by kind of water (ocean, Intracoastal, canal, lake), and the share with a private dock or a route to the ocean.
Buying or selling on the water?
The index is the market-wide view. For a specific property, Deal Radar™ reads the water itself — dockage, access, and what the premium should actually be.