In Q2 2026, the median sale price for townhouses and condos in the Village of Key Biscayne reached $1,525,000. That was 27.1 percent higher than a year earlier, across 53 closed sales. The figure is accurate. Mostly, though, it records which apartments changed hands. Within each price tier, values rose much less. Below $2 million, where most of the island's 1960s and 1970s towers trade, the difference between two similar listings usually comes from the building's structural bill, and the median doesn't capture it.
That bill appears first in the listing paperwork. Many Miami condo listings include a field for declared special assessments. A September 2026 listing poll reported by Islander News found that roughly one in four listings that answered the question declared one. It also found that a blank field doesn't mean the building has no assessment. On an island with almost no new condo construction in a generation, that blank field can carry more weight than the median does.
Where the 27 Percent Came From
Berkshire Hathaway EWM split Key Biscayne condo sales at the $2 million line for Q2 2026, and Islander News published the breakdown.
| Key Biscayne condos, Q2 2026 | Under $2 million | Over $2 million |
|---|---|---|
| Closed sales | 35, down 21% | 19, up 217% |
| Median sale price | $1.14 million, up 6% | $2.91 million, up 19% |
| Available inventory | 66, down 23% | 43, down 16% |
| Months of supply | down 3% | down 63% |
Working back from those percentages, Q2 2025 had roughly six condo sales above $2 million and about 44 below it. So the upper tier made up around one in eight condo sales in that quarter and about one in three this year. Even if no individual apartment had changed in value, a pool with three times as many top-tier sales would have pulled the combined median sharply higher.
The rest of the Q2 data shows the same pattern. The average townhouse and condo sale price rose 44 percent to $2,189,906, and dollar volume rose 62.4 percent to $116.1 million. Closed sales rose only 12.8 percent. When the average climbs much faster than the number of sales, the spending is concentrated at the top. The two sources count slightly differently. The EWM split covers condos only and totals 54 sales and 109 available units. The MLS table combines townhouses and condos and shows 53 sales and 107 active listings. The direction of every figure matches.
For a buyer shopping under $2 million, the relevant number is the 6 percent increase in that tier, not 27 percent. For a buyer above $2 million, the 19 percent increase came with nearly two-thirds less months of supply. That tier is where the island actually got tighter.
An Island That Stopped Building Condos in 1999
The upper tier draws on a short list of buildings because Key Biscayne built its towers early and then mostly stopped. Islander News published a history of the island's high-rise era with these dates:
- 1964: Island House, completed December 15
- 1968–69: The Sands, with first occupancy in September 1968
- 1971: Casa del Mar, the first 12-story Commodore Club, and The Towers of Key Biscayne
- 1980s: Commodore Club West, among other projects
- 1999: the final tower at The Ocean Club, described as the island's last condo building before Oceana
- 2015: Oceana Key Biscayne, built by Coastal Construction on the former Sonesta Hotel site
Oceana has 142 residences in two towers on a 10.3-acre oceanfront parcel. Project materials describe the site as the last one available for construction on the island. The project's own completion date varies by source: its information page says late 2014, while the contractor lists 2015.
Public reporting doesn't break the 19 high-end sales down by building. So the idea that the newer towers drove the top-tier surge is an inference from the building list, and no published tally confirms it. The list does settle one thing. Nearly every condo on Key Biscayne sits in a tower built decades before Florida's current safety rules, and those rules apply differently depending on a building's age.
Below $2 Million, a Building's Age Shapes the Real Cost
The September 2026 listing poll looked at active Miami condo listings that answered the assessment question. Among listings in buildings finished before 1998, 35.9 percent declared a special assessment, or 1,470 of 4,090. Among listings in buildings finished in 1998 or later, the rate was 10.8 percent. Listings in buildings from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s were near 40 percent, and listings in buildings from the 2010s were at 4.3 percent. These are Miami-wide figures, not a Key Biscayne count. Still, every Key Biscayne building in the 1964 to 1980s history above falls in the pre-1998 group.
The 1998 cutoff follows a county rule change. When Miami-Dade rewrote its recertification rule on June 1, 2022, condominiums of three or more habitable stories within three miles of the coastline and built in 1998 or later moved to a 25-year inspection clock, with inspections every ten years after that. For a 1971 tower, the 40-year and 50-year inspections have already happened, and the open question is how the repairs they identified are being paid for.
The Sands is an earlier example from the island. In an earlier Islander News report written before the 2025 reserve deadline had passed, the building's president said its 40-year and 50-year recertifications were complete and concrete restoration was underway. A former association officer described paying earlier assessments of $187 a month for five years. A newer five-year plan offered owners a choice of $1,100 a month or $50,000 up front, on top of regular dues. Those figures are historical and shouldn't be read as current charges. They do show how an assessment like that compares with a 6 percent price change on a $1.14 million apartment.
An older tower isn't automatically the riskier purchase. The same poll noted that some well-run 1970s associations finished their structural work early and funded their reserves, so the large bill is already behind them. For example, two apartments at $1.1 million in buildings of the same age can carry very different costs. One building may be at the end of its concrete program. The other may not have started. The documents that separate them are:
- The most recent reserve study
- The last two annual budgets
- The milestone inspection, including what Phase Two found
- A written explanation of why there won't be an assessment next year if none is declared now
The Rules Behind Those Assessments Are Settled for Now
The current framework is HB 913, which Governor DeSantis signed on June 23, 2025. Most of it took effect July 1, 2025. The Senate bill summary lays out the provisions that matter most in an older tower:
- The deadline for completing the first structural integrity reserve study moved from December 31, 2024 to December 31, 2025.
- The threshold for including a component in the reserve study rose from $10,000 to $25,000. A unit-owner-controlled association that is required to have a reserve study may fund reserves through a special assessment, loan or line of credit if a majority of its voting interests approve.
- A unit-owner-controlled association that completed a milestone inspection in the prior two years may pause or reduce reserve contributions for up to two consecutive annual budgets adopted by December 31, 2028, so it can pay for the recommended repairs. The pause requires a vote of a majority of the total voting interests, and the association must complete a reserve study before contributions resume.
- Counties must require associations to begin repairs within 365 days of receiving a Phase Two inspection report.
The pause provision affects how a buyer should read the budget. Low reserve contributions in a 1970s tower's current budget may mean that money is going into repairs during an authorized pause, so the budget should be read alongside the milestone report.
The 2026 session didn't change these rules. SB 722, which would have changed reserve study coverage and allowed some reserve waivers, died in the Senate Regulated Industries Committee on March 13, 2026. HB 657, a broad community associations bill, passed the House and died in the Senate Rules Committee on the same day. Any assessment a Key Biscayne association levies this fall falls under HB 913.
How Quickly Condos Sell, and How Much Sellers Negotiate
Key Biscayne condos sell faster than the county average. In Q2 2026, the median time to contract for Key Biscayne townhouses and condos was 40 days, down 51.8 percent from a year earlier. Sellers received 93.3 percent of their original list price. Supply was 7.4 months, compared with 12.3 months across Miami-Dade. Pending inventory rose 60 percent, and active listings fell 10.8 percent to 107. Forty of the 53 closings were paid in cash.
The more recent data points the same way. The September 2026 update from MIAMI REALTORS® placed Key Biscayne among its hottest million-dollar condo and townhome markets in August. That segment had a $1.49 million median, 111 active listings, seven months of supply and 52 median days to contract.
The typical gap of roughly 7 percent from original list to sale price applies across the whole market. In practice, assessment status often explains why one older-building listing sells near asking while another sits. A buyer who finds an unfunded structural program has a specific, documented reason to negotiate. A seller whose association has already paid for its concrete work has a strong point to put in front of buyers. The Q3 2026 local data is scheduled for release on October 16, 2026. That release will show whether the shift toward the top tier continued past June.
A Few Distinct Questions
Did Key Biscayne condo values rise 27 percent in 2026? Not for a typical apartment. In Q2 2026, the median rose 6 percent for condos under $2 million and 19 percent for condos over $2 million. The combined figure rose more because a much larger share of sales came from the upper tier.
Does a declared special assessment mean a building is unsafe? No. An assessment is a charge beyond the regular budget. It can pay for concrete restoration, a roof, a seawall, elevators, insurance or catching up on reserves. Many well-run buildings carry one because they are doing the work.
Is the 2025 condo law still the one that applies? Yes. HB 913 governs reserve studies, funding options and the repair timeline. Both major 2026 reform bills died on March 13, 2026.
On Key Biscayne, apartments at the same price can carry very different structural bills, and that difference sits in the reserve study and the milestone report. If you'd like help reading a specific building's reserve study, budgets and Phase Two findings before you make an offer, in English or Italian, Max Mlekus can go through them with you. Let's Connect.
