Dr. Roy A. Periana and wife, Irma, bought a three-bedroom, three bath at 232 Cove Place in Jupiter Inlet Colony from Daniel Berk for $850,000 on March 3.

Berk paid $510,000 for the 1,997 square foot house, which was built in 1965, in March 2002.

The property was listed as high as $995,000.

Dr. Periana is an internationally recognized chemist who heads the energy department at the Florida facilities of the Scripps Research Institute, which is headquartered in La Jolla, Calif. He joined Scripps Florida in 2007 when he was appointed as professor.

Dr. Periana worked as an associate professor at the University of Southern California from 2001-2007. He was also a program manager at the chemistry laboratory of SRI International in Menlo Park, Calif.

A native of Guyana, he earned his B.Sc. in 1979 from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in 1985 from the University of California in Berkeley

Home sales in Jupiter Inlet Colony increased 120 percent compared to sales in 2006. The median sales price dropped from $1.4 million to $1.1 million.

BlockShopper Metrics started tracking home sales in South Florida in 2001.

Address: 232 Cove Place
Buyer(s): Roy A Periana and Irma A Periana
Seller(s): Daniel Berk (Declaration of Trust) and Daniel Berk (Individually and as Trustee)
Sale date: Mar. 3, 2008