The analysis draws on closed single-family and condo transactions recorded in BeachesMLS via Spark API. For each sale, we capture the actual property tax bill from the listing record, monthly HOA/association fees, lot size, and sale price. The dataset covers 12 communities with sufficient transaction volume to produce reliable medians: Bears Club, Old Palm, Lost Tree Village, Admirals Cove, Old Marsh, Jupiter Hills, Frenchman's Creek, Frenchman's Reserve, Loxahatchee Club, Mirasol, PGA National, and Jonathan's Landing.
Med Price, HOA, and N from BeachesMLS closed SF transactions. Club Init from published fee schedules where available; "Verify" = not publicly documented, available through PBL advisory. Character types defined in our Community Character Guide. See companion articles for full detail on each metric.
Property Taxes, HOA Fees, and What Sellers Were Paying
Property taxes are the single largest recurring cost of homeownership in Palm Beach County. For a new buyer, year-one property tax typically runs 1.5% to 2.0% of the purchase price, depending on the taxing jurisdiction. (For the full mechanics of how Florida property taxes work, including homestead, Save Our Homes, and portability, see our Complete Property Tax Guide.) These 12 communities span the Town of Jupiter, City of Palm Beach Gardens, Village of North Palm Beach, Village of Tequesta, and unincorporated Palm Beach County. Each carries a different millage stack. The jurisdiction for any specific property is visible on the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's parcel record (pbcgov.org/papa).
The table below shows what sellers were paying, not what a new buyer will pay. The "Med Tax" column is the seller's most recent tax bill, often reduced by years of Save Our Homes cap benefit holding assessed value below market value. The "Eff Rate" column (median tax divided by median sale price) reflects this gap: it reads 0.60% to 1.08%, well below the 1.5% to 2.0% a new buyer should expect. HOA fees, by contrast, transfer unchanged to the new owner. They are the one cost component in this table that a buyer can take at face value.
Single-Family Homes by Community
Source: BeachesMLS via Spark API. Closed SF transactions. Med Tax = seller's last tax bill (reflects SOH-capped assessed value, not purchase price). Eff Rate = median tax / median sale price (underestimates new buyer's rate). HOA annualized from monthly listing data (transfers unchanged to buyer).
A note on sample sizes: Bears Club (N=12), Jupiter Hills (N=8), and Old Marsh (N=15) have thin transaction volumes. Medians based on fewer than 20 observations should be treated as directional, not definitive. Communities with N>50 (Admirals Cove, Frenchman's Creek, Jonathan's Landing, Mirasol, PGA National) produce statistically more reliable medians.
If you have seen a cost comparison from another source that uses MLS tax data at face value, the buyer's actual tax bill will be materially higher. The effective rates in MLS data (0.60% to 1.08% in this dataset) reflect what sellers were paying under years of Save Our Homes cap protection. A new buyer's year-one rate, based on actual FY 2024-25 millage rates, runs 1.5% to 2.0% of the purchase price. On a $10M home, that difference is $80,000 to $100,000 per year. Over a 10-year hold, the cumulative understatement exceeds $1M. Any cost comparison that does not distinguish between seller tax data and buyer tax reality will systematically understate your actual carrying cost.
The carry rate table below expresses these same seller figures as a percentage of home value. This is useful for comparing the proportional burden across communities, but it understates what a new buyer will pay because the tax component is the seller's capped bill. A new buyer at any of these communities should plan for a year-one tax rate of approximately 1.5% to 2.0% of the purchase price (varying by jurisdiction), plus the HOA shown. For a $10M purchase, that means $150,000 to $200,000 in year-one property tax before HOA is added.
Carry % = (seller's median tax + annual HOA) / median sale price. The tax component reflects the seller's assessed value (often reduced by SOH cap). A new buyer's carry rate will be higher because the property reassesses at the purchase price.
HOA Fees: The Cost That Transfers to You Unchanged
Unlike property taxes, HOA fees do not reset when a home changes hands. The fee the seller was paying is the fee the buyer will pay. This makes the HOA comparison below the most directly actionable data in this article for a new buyer. Fees range from $343 per month at PGA National to $2,347 per month at Frenchman's Creek, an annual spread of $24,048. The chart shows each community's annualized HOA with median lot size for maintenance context.
Source: BeachesMLS via Spark API. Median monthly HOA annualized. Lot sizes from MLS closed SF transactions.
MLS listing records show that higher-HOA communities in this dataset typically bundle more services into their monthly fee. The "Association Fee Includes" field on Frenchman's Creek, Old Palm, and Bears Club listings shows coverage for landscaping, exterior maintenance, and security. At communities with lower HOA fees (Lost Tree Village, Old Marsh, Jupiter Hills), MLS records indicate coverage limited primarily to common areas and gate security, with landscaping and exterior maintenance left to the homeowner.
A lower HOA does not necessarily mean lower total operating cost. Frenchman's Creek charges $20,556 more per year in HOA than Lost Tree Village. But Lost Tree homeowners pay for landscape maintenance, exterior upkeep, and supplemental services separately. The actual gap in total operating cost depends on the specific property, lot size, and service choices. When comparing communities, request the HOA's schedule of included services and estimate what you would pay out of pocket at a lower-HOA community before concluding that a lower fee means a lower total cost.
Admirals Cove warrants special attention. The median single-family HOA is $949 per month, but the range within the community spans $826 to $3,176 per month depending on the sub-section. Buyers evaluating Admirals Cove should confirm the HOA for the specific property, not assume the community-wide median applies.
Why MLS Tax Data Understates What a Buyer Will Pay
The cost stack table above shows what sellers were paying. A buyer's year-one reality will be different, and the difference is significant enough to change the ranking between communities.
When a property changes hands in Palm Beach County, the property appraiser reassesses it at or near the sale price. The seller's tax bill, which may reflect a decade or more of Save Our Homes cap benefit holding the assessed value well below market value, no longer applies. A home with a $5M assessed value that sells for $10M will be reassessed at approximately $10M. The new buyer's year-one tax bill is calculated on that full amount, using the applicable millage rate for the property's taxing jurisdiction.
The effective rates shown in our cost stack table (median seller tax divided by median sale price) reflect this mismatch. Because the numerator (seller tax) is based on a capped assessed value and the denominator (sale price) is full market value, the effective rate systematically understates the actual millage rate that a new buyer would pay. In other words: if you multiply our effective rate by your purchase price, you will get a number that is lower than your actual year-one tax bill.
The only accurate way to estimate your year-one property tax is to use the actual millage rate for the specific parcel. Millage rates are published by the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser (pbcgov.org/papa) and vary by taxing jurisdiction. They include county, municipal, school district, and special district levies. We pull the actual millage for every property our clients evaluate and apply it to the expected assessed value to produce a year-one tax estimate. The HOA component, by contrast, transfers unchanged to the new owner and is accurately represented in the MLS data shown above.
This distinction matters for community comparison. A community that appears to have the lowest carry cost on seller data may rank differently once both properties are reassessed at the same purchase price under their respective actual millage rates. The relative ranking of HOA fees is reliable because HOA transfers at face value. The relative ranking of property taxes requires parcel-level millage data to be accurate for a new buyer.
Homestead Exemption and Save Our Homes
Florida's homestead exemption removes the first $25,000 of assessed value from all property taxes, and an additional $25,000 from non-school taxes. On a $10M home, the direct dollar savings from this exemption is modest: approximately $1,100 to $1,500 per year. The compounding advantage comes from the Save Our Homes cap: once a property is homesteaded, its assessed value cannot increase by more than 3% per year (or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower), regardless of how much the market value rises.
on a $10M Purchase
Illustrative model. 10% annual appreciation is conservative relative to 2020-2023 corridor performance but above long-term averages. Actual savings depend on community-specific millage rates.
By year five, the homesteaded owner saves $33,900 annually, and the cumulative savings over the five-year period total $93,525. The gap widens every subsequent year the market appreciates above 3%. The cap resets to full market value upon sale, so this advantage is earned through residency and holding period.
For buyers maintaining a primary residence outside Florida, the homestead exemption does not apply. Non-homesteaded properties are assessed at full market value each year with no cap on increases. Seasonal buyers should model their annual tax at full market value when budgeting.
For relocators establishing primary residency, the homestead declaration must be filed by March 1 of the tax year. Florida homestead carries both property tax and asset protection benefits, but it requires the property to serve as the owner's primary residence. Coordination with legal and tax advisors is essential, particularly for buyers maintaining residences in multiple states.
Lot Size as a Cost Driver
Lot size drives landscaping, irrigation, exterior maintenance, and property insurance costs in ways that do not appear on any standard cost sheet. The median lot size across these 12 communities ranges from 0.09 acres at PGA National to 1.19 acres at Bears Club estates, a 13x difference in maintenance footprint.
Source: BeachesMLS via Spark API. Closed single-family transactions.
Professional landscape maintenance in south Florida, including weekly mowing, irrigation management, pest control, fertilization, tree trimming, and seasonal plantings, typically runs $2,000 to $4,000 per month for a well-maintained half-acre property. At 1+ acres, those costs scale proportionally and can exceed $5,000 per month. Bears Club estates at 1.19 median acres carry four to six times the maintenance footprint of communities like Frenchman's Creek (0.22 acres) or Jupiter Hills (0.12 acres). Request actual maintenance budgets from current homeowners or the community's property management during due diligence.
Condo and Villa HOA Comparison
For buyers evaluating a different entry point, or a secondary residence within a golf community, condo and villa HOA fees are significantly higher than single-family HOAs at the same community because they typically include building insurance, exterior maintenance, and roof reserves. Not all 12 communities offer condo or villa inventory. Bears Club, Old Marsh, Old Palm, and Loxahatchee Club are single-family-only communities.
Source: BeachesMLS via Spark API. Closed condo/villa transactions.
Lost Tree Village condo HOA at $42,708 per year is higher than the combined single-family tax and HOA at several other communities in this analysis. The magnitude of condo fees should be evaluated against what they replace: a condo or villa owner is not responsible for roof replacement, exterior painting, landscape maintenance, or building insurance as individual line items.
What This Analysis Does Not Include
This article covers the two cost components that MLS data can document with precision: property taxes and HOA fees. Three additional categories carry significant annual cost and can shift the ranking between communities. We do not publish specific figures for these because they vary by property, membership category, and carrier, but the structural differences across communities are worth understanding before you begin comparing.
Property Insurance. Insurance premiums are not available in MLS data, but the structural risk profile differs meaningfully across these 12 communities. Admirals Cove, Frenchman's Creek, Lost Tree Village, and Jonathan's Landing sit on or near the Intracoastal Waterway and carry higher flood zone exposure. Bears Club, Mirasol, Old Marsh, Old Palm, Frenchman's Reserve, Loxahatchee Club, and PGA National are inland and generally qualify for lower flood insurance requirements. Construction year matters: homes built to post-2002 Florida Building Code (especially post-2007) receive significantly lower windstorm premiums than older construction. Roof age is also a major factor; Florida carriers increasingly require roof replacement after 15 to 20 years as a condition of coverage. A buyer comparing Admirals Cove to Old Marsh at the same purchase price may find the tax-plus-HOA ranking reverses once waterfront insurance exposure is priced in.
Club Membership. Every community in this analysis is a private club community, and membership cost is often the largest single financial commitment after the home purchase itself. Initiation fees at the top-tier clubs in this corridor are in the mid-six figures. Annual dues, dining minimums, and capital assessments add a recurring cost that can exceed $40,000 to $60,000 per year at the upper end. At the other end, some communities offer optional or tiered membership structures at a fraction of the equity-club rates. The spread in annual club cost across these 12 communities is wide enough to change a buyer's total cost ranking entirely. We do not publish specific club fees because they change periodically and vary by membership category, but we maintain current information across all 12 communities and incorporate it into every client cost model.
Special assessments are a real and recurring risk. HOA communities in Florida levy special assessments for infrastructure repair, hurricane damage, seawall and bulkhead work, club renovations, and reserve shortfalls. These can range from $10,000 to well over $100,000 per homeowner depending on the scope. A community's assessment history is not visible in MLS data. Before committing, request the community's financial statements, reserve study, and assessment history for the past five years. A well-funded reserve reduces future assessment risk; an underfunded one increases it.
When tax, HOA, insurance, club dues, maintenance, and assessment risk are stacked together, the total annual cost of ownership at these communities is materially higher than the tax-plus-HOA figures alone suggest, and the ranking between communities can shift. We build a complete cost model for every client evaluating properties in this corridor: estimated year-one tax at the actual millage rate for the specific parcel, HOA for the exact sub-section, insurance range based on construction type and flood zone, current club dues for the relevant membership category, estimated maintenance based on lot size and home age, and assessment history with reserve adequacy. If you are comparing specific properties across these communities, that model is available as part of our advisory process.
Bottom Line
Annual ownership costs across these 12 golf communities vary far more than most buyers expect before they begin comparing. HOA fees range from $4,116 to $28,164, and that gap is reliable: HOA transfers unchanged to the new owner. Property tax is the more complex variable. The effective rates in the MLS data range from 0.60% to 1.08%, but those rates reflect what sellers were paying under Save Our Homes cap protection. A new buyer's property reassesses at the purchase price, and the actual year-one tax bill is determined by the millage rate for the specific parcel, not the seller's historical bill. The only way to compare annual tax cost across communities for a new purchase is to use the actual millage rates from the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's records, applied to the expected assessed value. We do this for every property our clients evaluate.
For buyers comparing communities: HOA data from the MLS gives you an accurate, apples-to-apples comparison. Property tax does not. The seller's tax bill underestimates what you will pay, and the degree of understatement varies by how long the seller held the property. Use the HOA data in this article and combine it with parcel-level millage rates to produce a real comparison.
For relocators establishing primary residency: File homestead exemption before March 1 of your first tax year. The Save Our Homes cap compounds to $33,900 in annual savings by year five on a $10M home in an appreciating market. Cumulative five-year savings exceed $93,000. Non-homesteaded seasonal buyers should model annual taxes at full market value with no cap.
For a complete cost model on specific properties: We build a full annual cost stack for every address under consideration: year-one tax at the actual millage rate for the specific parcel, HOA for the exact sub-section, insurance range by construction type and flood zone, current club dues by membership category, maintenance estimate by lot size, and assessment history with reserve adequacy. If you are evaluating properties across these communities, contact us to build the model before you commit.
All property tax figures in the main cost stack are actual tax bills recorded on closed MLS listings in BeachesMLS, accessed via Spark API. These reflect the seller's most recent annual tax bill at the time of listing. Many sellers carried Save Our Homes cap benefit that held their assessed value below market value. Effective tax rate is calculated as median annual tax divided by median sale price. This blended ratio reflects the seller tax/sale price relationship in the dataset; it is not the actual millage rate for any jurisdiction and will understate a new buyer's year-one tax rate.
The 1.5% to 2.0% year-one tax estimate for new buyers is based on FY 2024-25 millage rates published by PBC municipalities (see our Complete Property Tax Guide for the full breakdown by jurisdiction). Actual year-one tax depends on the specific parcel's millage stack, assessed value, and any applicable exemptions. Buyers should confirm the millage rate on the PBC Property Appraiser's parcel record (pbcgov.org/papa).
The "Historical Carry Rate" table divides seller's median tax + annual HOA by median home price. Because the tax component reflects the seller's assessed value (often held below market by Save Our Homes cap), this ratio understates the carry rate a new buyer would experience. It is included to show proportional cost burden across communities on a directional basis, not as a year-one estimate for a new buyer.
HOA and association fees are monthly figures from the MLS listing record on closed sales, annualized by multiplying by 12. HOA fees transfer to the new owner unchanged upon sale. Descriptions of what each HOA covers are based on the MLS "Association Fee Includes" field on closed listings. This field is not uniformly populated; buyers should verify current coverage with each community's management office.
Lot sizes are from the MLS lot size field on closed single-family listings, converted to acres. Landscape maintenance cost ranges cited in the lot size section are directional characterizations from south Florida residential properties, not a formal survey.
Taxing jurisdictions referenced (Town of Jupiter, City of Palm Beach Gardens, Village of North Palm Beach, Village of Tequesta, unincorporated Palm Beach County) are the municipalities in this corridor. Specific community-to-municipality assignments vary by parcel and are not mapped in this article. Buyers should confirm jurisdiction on the PBC Property Appraiser parcel record.
The Save Our Homes table uses 10% annual market appreciation and 0.75% effective rate for illustration. The 3% cap is the statutory maximum under Article VII, Section 4, Florida Constitution.
Insurance, club membership, and special assessment content is based on structural characteristics of each community (location relative to Intracoastal, construction era) and general market knowledge of south Florida private club economics. No specific premium, initiation fee, or assessment amount is published. Directional characterizations (inland vs waterfront risk profile, upper vs lower tier club cost) reflect practitioner observation. Buyers should obtain specific quotes, current fee schedules, and community financial statements during due diligence.
Transaction Data: BeachesMLS via Spark API. Closed residential sales, single-family and condo/villa.
Property Tax Data: Annual tax amounts from MLS listing records on closed transactions (seller tax bills). Year-one buyer estimates from FY 2024-25 millage rates; see Palm Beach Luxury Property Tax Guide.
HOA/Association Fee Data: Monthly fee amounts from MLS listing records, including master and sub-association fees.
Taxing Jurisdictions: Palm Beach County Property Appraiser public records (pbcgov.org/papa).
Florida Homestead Exemption: Florida Statutes Section 196.031. Save Our Homes cap: Article VII, Section 4, Florida Constitution.
