Record $35M mansion deal signals emergence of ‘ultra-luxury’ Orlando housing market

Former Orlando City owner Flavio Augusto da Silva's $35 million sale of his Windermere mansion set a Central Florida record, but it's part of a recent trend in local real estate.

That's according to luxury Realtors, who told Orlando Business Journal the Feb. 18 home deal is an example of the growth of the region's "ultra luxury" market, defined as homes that trade hands for $10 million or more.

While metro Orlando recorded zero of these deals in 2019 or 2020, there were four in 2021, six in 2022 and one so far in 2023, according to Compass Real Estate and Orange County Property Appraiser data.

To see more of the home, check out the gallery above.

The 26,000-square-foot custom mansion is an anomaly due to its rare combination of quality construction and location in the sought-after community of Isleworth, local Compass Real Estate agent Toni Marie Cafferty told Orlando Business Journal.

Still, the deal is another sign that the upper limit of the local luxury home market is pushing upward, Cafferty added. "Central Florida now has become an ultra luxury market when it has not been one before."

In fact, Cafferty said Orlando's high-end real estate sector is developing a reputation that puts it on par with Miami or Palm Beach, the sites of some of Florida's ritziest homes and wealthiest buyers.

For example, the most expensive home sold in Miami-Dade County in the last six months was a $36 million deal in November, according to Realtor.com. That is comparable to the recent $35 million sale here.

However, the upper end of the luxury real estate market in Palm Beach County is on another level, with the priciest recent home sales ranging from $45 million to $66 million.

Here's a closer look at how the median sales price of a luxury home in the Orlando area compares to other Florida markets, per the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing's February report:

The upward march of luxury home prices in Central Florida since 2020 is driven by deep-pocketed people moving from across the U.S. to Florida, said Align Real Estate LLC founder Tiffany Pantozzi, who was not involved with the record sale in Orlando. Indeed, Orlando Business Journal previously reported migrants from states like California, New York and Virginia flocked to Central Florida in 2020, bringing higher-than-average incomes with them.

"More affluent people are bringing their money to Florida and Central Florida," Pantozzi said.

Still, local luxury home sales declined in January. There were 98 luxury home sales in metro Orlando that month, down from 164 in December, according to the Dallas-based Institute for Luxury Home Marketing. 

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