Florida island with America’s most expensive zip code has a $500,000 membership fee and homes up to $85million

Florida is officially home to the most expensive zip code in the United States, beating out opulent enclaves across California and New York.

Homes on the ultra-exclusive Fisher Island, which sits just south of Miami Beach, have a median sale price of $9.5million, according to a recent analysis from PropertyShark.

For nearly nine years, Atherton, California, had reigned supreme as the single most pricey place to live, but it’s now more than $1million cheaper on average than Fisher Island.

Just over a century ago, Fisher Island wasn’t an island at all. It was attached to Miami Beach until 1905, when a canal was dug so ships could more easily access the city’s port.

Once a 21-acre piece of land that had nothing but trees, it was artificially expanded to its current 216-acre profile with dredged sand from the canal cut. 

Now, Fisher Island is unrecognizable from the untamed wilderness it used to be. It is dotted with glittering condo buildings and spectacular mansions while also boasting a deep sea marina that can accommodate 250ft yachts.

The island’s most expensive property is the nearly 10,000sq ft penthouse atop the 10-story Palazzo Della Luna condominium building on the northern coast.

The five-bathroom, eight-bedroom residence comes with multiple pools, two wet bars, an outdoor kitchen and a stellar view of the Miami skyline – all for $85million.

Fisher Island is pictured from the east, with skyline of Miami in the background. It has become one of the most exclusive places to live in the United States and is now officially the most expensive zip code as well

Properties like this that have spacious living areas replete with five-star niceties are more the norm than the exception on Fisher Island, according to two realtors who spoke with the Daily Mail.

But many other places around the country – Los Angeles, Malibu and Honolulu to name a few – have luxury real estate in this price range.

What makes Fisher Island truly stand out is that there is no bridge connecting it to the mainland, which has allowed it to become a mecca of privacy for extremely wealthy individuals and celebrities.

It is only accessible via yacht, helicopter or the 24/7 ferry that runs about every ten minutes, according to Karla Abaunza, who has lived on the island since 2001.

Residents can drive onto the ferry with their car or walk on and sit in the ship’s air conditioned waiting area, which has sofas and TVs to occupy travelers for the seven-minute-long ride across the bay.

Although the ferry holds 15 to 20 cars, many residents instead drive their complimentary golf cart to the terminal, park it and catch an Uber on the other side.

‘Here, every unit comes with a golf cart, which makes it really cute and different,’ Abaunza told the Daily Mail. ‘I would say everybody rides around the island on the golf carts. I myself barely use my car. Honestly, I don’t even leave the island unless I have a doctor’s appointment.’ 

The only way for a non-resident to visit is to be sponsored by someone who owns property there.

The coastline of Fisher Island, which is only accessible by sea or air, is dominated by gorgeous Mediterranean-style condo complexes. Units can go for tens of millions of dollars 

Oprah Winfrey, Julia Roberts, Mel Brooks and Boris Becker have all had homes on Fisher Island at one point or another, and any remaining A-listers have kept a low profile ever since.

Abaunza said she ran into Robert De Niro outside the island’s grocery store about 15 years ago. He was staying as a hotel guest, she said.

Karla Abaunza has lived on Fisher Island for 24 years. She is a real estate agent who owns the firm Luxury Living Realty

Abaunza is a real estate broker and owns Luxury Living Realty, a firm that has the vast majority of its listings on Fisher Island.

She is currently trying to sell an $8.5million condo that overlooks downtown Miami and another $10.8million unit that has stunning ocean views.

Since Abaunza has lived on the island for 24 years and has been a member of the island’s vaunted country club since 1994, she bills herself as a Fisher Island Resident Specialist.

‘When you buy on Fisher Island, other than buying a beautiful property, you’re buying a lifestyle,’ she said. A lifestyle that she described as feeling like you’re on vacation all the time, she added. 

There is a nine-hole golf course, a 22,000sq ft spa, a private beach that stretches over a mile, 18 tennis courts with every surface type – hard, clay, and grass – and seven restaurants, all of which can deliver right to your door.

The balcony and view of a condo on Fisher Island that is selling for $10.8million

Residents of Fisher Island need to pay a one-time equity fee of $500,000 in order to access all the facilities available to club members. They also pay $40,000 in dues every year on top of that

Three of the eateries, including a Greek restaurant called Theapolis, are located at what used to be a winter getaway for the Vanderbilt family from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s.

The Vanderbilt mansion has now been converted into the main clubhouse, complete with a ballroom, a snooker club and a luxurious adult-only lounge with bar.

And the hangar where the Vanderbilts once kept their planes has been converted into a state-of-the-art fitness center that spans 25,000sq ft.

All of this splendor and more comes at a massive price, even beyond the initial millions or tens of millions needed to buy a home on the island. 

To take full advantage of all the amenities, residents have to pay an equity membership fee to join the club.

They are also spurred to do so because much of the socialization between the island’s roughly 800 inhabitants takes place at events sponsored by the club.

As of October 15 of this year, the one-time equity fee jumped to $500,000, Abaunza said. On top of that, members have annual dues of about $40,000, she added.

The extreme cost associated with simply owning property on Fisher Island has attracted radically successful business owners, entrepreneurs and celebrities who often have large families, said Dora Kovacs, a real estate partner at B & S Luxury.

The view of Miami from a Fisher Island condo going for $8.5million

A bedroom inside the $8.5million Fisher Island property offering sweeping views

Dora Kovacs, a real estate partner at B & S Luxury, told the Daily Mail that there are two residential projects on Fisher Island that are under construction

‘I would like to highlight that there’s not the P. Diddy kinds of celebrities there,’ Kovacs said. ‘It’s people with class who like the exclusivity.’

Abaunza told the Daily Mail that many of the families she’s gotten into homes on Fisher Island in the last four to five years have been from the Northeast. 

She said that one of the major draws for them was the private school for kids pre-K up to eighth grade.

This is one of the main factors that is driving more people to live on the island full time, though the majority are snowbirds that live there from around November to April. 

Demand for the Fisher Island lifestyle appears to be on the rise, with two new major construction projects on the way, Kovacs said.

One of them is a new community of private villas, most of which have already been sold. 

‘Believe it or not, [one sold for] $56million. Small money,’ Kovacs joked. ‘I believe two villas are still available.’ 

Another is a massive condo complex, Six Fisher Island, which is scheduled to be completed in November 2026. There will be 50 units, with the least expensive starting at $15million.