LIFE IN THE QUINN GROUP
It was a full week around here, and that is about as typical as it gets.
Happy anniversary to us!
But before I get into that, I do want to say that June 8th marks our one-year anniversary and we snuck away on a Margaritaville cruise and just got to relax, reflect, and recharge.
Anne hosted a facial evening with some of her closest friends — Siw Sleigh came over with her hydrofacial machine, the wine came out, and the girls had themselves a proper spa night. Wednesday took us to Palm City for the soft opening of Fantini's Fusion Kitchen, Jimmy Fantini's newest venture. Great turnout, good energy, and a room full of people who wanted to see him succeed. Thursday night we were back at the original Fantini's in Jensen Beach — same plaza, elevated space — listening to jazz and catching up with our accountant and friend Jeff Clark and his wife over pizza. Saturday the Treasure Coast Bourbon Club reconvened informally. Mike, Josh, Chris, and I ran a 12-year blind tasting and reminded ourselves why we do this. Sunday evening we drove down to the Founders Club in Sunrise for Al and Adrian's party — Al's birthday landed on Flag Day, and we watched the fights from the White House lawn while eating well and spending time with people we genuinely like.
On the business side, we put our listing at 475 Sunflower Place in the Pines under contract, moving David and Frangie Minsky one step closer to the next chapter. We also helped Bella — a friend of Anne's daughter — get her first home under contract on a new construction property. First-time buyers getting to the finish line in this market is worth celebrating.
And Sean finally got back on the tennis court after a few months nursing a knee. The comeback has officially begun.
WHEN FAMILY CALLS
Some of the most meaningful work we do never fits neatly into a transaction summary.
Over the years, Anne and I have worked with a number of families navigating real estate decisions that were not really about real estate. An aging parent who can no longer manage the home. A divorce that has to be settled before anyone can move on. An estate that falls to adult children who live out of state and are already overwhelmed.
In each of these situations, the house is the least complicated part of the problem. What the family actually needs is someone who can bring order to a moment that feels like anything but.
We have developed a systematic approach to these situations — a process that creates a clear path forward regardless of the emotional weight surrounding it. The properties themselves may show deferred maintenance or vacancy. A buyer who senses distress may try to take advantage of it. Our job is to hold the line. The seller's circumstances are not a discount.
What we have found, consistently, is that these properties are marketable. They sell for market value. They close within normal days on market. The difference is preparation, pricing discipline, and having someone in the room who does not get pulled into the emotion of it.
If you know a family working through something like this, we are glad to be a resource. A conversation costs nothing, and sometimes just having a plan on paper makes everything else feel more manageable.
WHAT'S HAPPENING OUT THERE: TWO THINGS WORTH KNOWING
Real estate scams are becoming more common, and more sophisticated.
A recent survey of top agents nationally found that nearly two-thirds reported an increase in scams, many of them driven by AI tools that make fraudulent communications harder to detect. The five most active schemes right now are seller impersonation — where scammers pose as homeowners to list and sell properties they do not own — wire fraud, fake rental listings built from stolen listing photos, fake video meeting links designed to install malware, and deed and title fraud targeting vacant land and vacation homes.
The through-line in all of them is urgency. These scams are engineered to catch people at the exact moment they are least likely to slow down and question what they are seeing. The best defense is simple: verify everything by phone using a number you already know, and never wire money based on instructions that arrived by email. If something feels off, it probably is.
The second thing worth knowing is that life, more than anything else, is what is moving today's sellers.
Nearly half of homeowners who would otherwise consider selling are sitting on the sidelines to protect a low mortgage rate — that lock-in effect is real and it is limiting inventory across the country. But among those who are selling, the motivations are deeply personal. Relocating to be closer to family. Downsizing after the kids are gone or a spouse has passed. Managing an inherited property. Responding to a divorce or a financial change. These are not market-timing decisions. They are life decisions, and they happen regardless of where rates are.
We see this every week in our own practice. The families we work with are not watching the Federal Reserve. They are responding to something that happened at the kitchen table. If you find yourself in that position — or you know someone who is — the market is moving, and there is a way forward.
MARKET UPDATE: MARTIN AND ST. LUCIE COUNTIES — MAY 2026
The two counties that make up the Treasure Coast are telling related but distinct stories this month, and it is worth looking at them separately.
MARTIN COUNTY
Single-family homes in Martin County had a strong May. Closed sales rose 11 percent year-over-year to 209 transactions, and the median sale price climbed 6.4 percent to $648,500 — the kind of price appreciation that reflects genuine demand, not just a thin market. Dollar volume came in at $202 million, up 1.5 percent. New listings increased 7.2 percent to 237, and new pending sales jumped 23 percent to 195. That pending number is particularly meaningful heading into summer — it suggests the pipeline is healthier than the season might imply. Active inventory fell 25 percent from a year ago to 757 homes. That is a significant supply contraction, and it is the primary reason prices are holding and moving up.
The condo and townhouse side of Martin County is more nuanced. Closed sales were up 14 percent to 96 units, which sounds healthy, but the median sale price dropped 5.7 percent to $250,000, and dollar volume fell 12 percent to $34.1 million. Inventory is down 21 percent to 576 active listings, yet prices are still softening. That tells you buyers in this segment have pricing power even as supply tightens — likely a reflection of the broader condo market pressures playing out across Florida, including insurance costs and HOA reserve requirements that are making buyers more selective. New pending sales in the Martin County condo market were up 53 percent — a number worth watching. If that converts to closings over the next 60 to 90 days, the price picture may stabilize.
ST. LUCIE COUNTY
St. Lucie County single-family tells a different story. Closed sales were down 5.5 percent to 500 transactions, and dollar volume fell 8.1 percent to $218 million. The median sale price held flat at $400,000 — no change from a year ago. Active inventory dropped 11 percent to 2,316 homes, and new listings ticked up 1.3 percent to 627. New pending sales were essentially flat at 570, down less than one percent.
What this says is that St. Lucie County single-family is in a holding pattern. Prices are stable, but transaction volume has softened. Buyers are present but deliberate. Sellers who are priced right are closing; those who are not are sitting.
The St. Lucie condo market was the most active segment by percentage change — 99 closed sales, up 30 percent year-over-year, with dollar volume up 28 percent to $34.3 million. But median price still fell 6.4 percent to $299,500, and new listings dropped 19 percent to 121. Inventory is down 20 percent to 692 units. More sales at lower prices with less supply coming on — buyers are finding value and moving on it.
THE TAKEAWAY
Across both counties, the consistent theme is inventory contraction. Supply is down significantly year-over-year in every category. That is keeping prices from falling in the single-family market and, in Martin County, pushing them higher. The condo segment in both counties is working through price correction despite tightening inventory — a dynamic driven less by local demand and more by the statewide recalibration of what condos are worth when insurance and carrying costs are factored in.
If you are a single-family seller in Martin County and you are priced correctly, this is a good market. If you are a condo seller in either county, the conversation has to start with an honest look at where buyers are actually landing — not where you hoped to be six months ago.
As always, the numbers above are county-wide. The picture on the water, or in a specific community, can look very different. Call us and we will walk you through what is happening in your neighborhood specifically.
The Quinn Group
Sean Quinn and Anne Warner
Waterpointe Realty Group 3727 SE Ocean Boulevard, Suite 100, Stuart, FL (772) 486-6883 | [email protected]
Bringing professionalism back to real estate one transaction at a time.
