The luxury market is on a tear, according to Redfin’s latest report.
Luxury sales rose 2.9 percent year over year in October — a gain that’s three times greater than non-luxury sales (0.7 percent). Luxury inventory and home sale prices also posted record-breaking annual gains for October, rising 6.4 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively. The median luxury home sold for $1,278,950; however, sales prices in key California and Florida markets reached as high as $7 million in October.
Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari
Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari said the luxury market’s performance has been buoyed by recent stock market gains, which have enabled luxury homebuyers to make majority- or all-cash offers.
“Luxury buyers are still able to move forward in ways that many typical buyers can’t right now, whether that’s because they’re paying in cash, benefiting from stock-market gains, or taking out smaller loans,” he said in the report. “Those advantages make them less sensitive to high mortgage rates, which helps keep demand at the top of the market steadier.”
“In contrast, a lot of middle-income buyers are holding off until monthly payments come down or their financial outlook improves,” he added.
Like the non-luxury market, the luxury market’s momentum was highly regionalized.
Listings rose the most across the South and Mid-Atlantic, with Tampa, Florida (+36.5 percent); Nashville (+17.1 percent), and Baltimore (+16.4 percent) recording the most significant gains in active listings. Tampa (+31.6 percent) also led the way in new luxury listings, followed by Kansas City (+25.2 percent), and Washington, D.C. (+12.4 percent).
The boost in listings improved affordability in Tampa, with the median sales price dropping 2.9 percent to $1.44 million. However, double-digit declines in listings pushed sales prices up by as much as 15 percent in Warren, Michigan (+14.9 percent to $1.09 million), Milwaukee (+13.5 percent to $1.14 million), and San Jose, California (+11.9 percent to $5.60 million).
The typical list-to-sale timeline in October was 58 days (+6 days from October 2024); however, homebuyers in San Jose (12 days), Oakland (17 days), and Seattle (21 days) snapped up homes at record speed. They sold the slowest in Miami (139 days), West Palm Beach (120 days), and Fort Lauderdale (113 days).
“The luxury market has been a little more protected over the past year, compared to non-luxury or starter homes,” West Palm Beach-based Redfin Premier Agent Jonathan Buch said. “Affordability challenges have made it more difficult to sell homes priced under $800,000, but high-end properties are still moving.”
