What is luxury?
In Shakespearean England, the area closest to the stage was reserved for the poorest Londoners who paid a penny to stand and watch the famed playwright’s masterpieces. Fast-forward nearly 500 years, and getting a spot near the stage — standing or seated — is now considered a luxury, with concertgoers sometimes shelling out hundreds or thousands of dollars to be close to their favorite artist.
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The same shift has happened with food — Can you imagine that oysters were once considered a low-class meal? — and fashion — red has cycled between being luxurious and scandalous, with Italians embracing the hue as a symbol of ultimate luxury and the Irish considering it a color of the working class.
Stephanie Anton
It’s also happened in real estate as neighborhoods, boroughs, and urban and suburban areas fall in and out of popularity. Washington D.C.’s semi-forgotten Swampoodle neighborhood, for example, has done a 180 and become one of the most desired and expensive areas to live in.
Corcoran Affiliates President Stephanie Anton spends much of her time thinking about luxury, even taking time during her recent European vacation to help open a new Corcoran location in Spain and learn how the latest luxury trends are influencing the way homebuyers think about building their property portfolios.
“I mean, I think there’s this concept of quiet luxury,” she said. “And we’re continuing to hear that, but it’s only getting more and more true, which is that I think the affluent consumer sees their home as a haven. And it’s less about showing off, and it’s more about protecting their family and creating a space like a bubble.”
Anton will speak about quiet luxury and other emerging trends at Inman Luxury Connect in San Diego this July.
“I’m excited to hear outside of my bubble,” she said. “What I always love about Inman is seeing all my friends in the industry and hearing sort of what they’re seeing and hearing, and if it’s any different, because I learn so much every time.”
The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Inman: What are you most excited about for this year’s Luxury Connect?
Anton: I’m excited to hear outside of my bubble. We got acquired by Compass International Holdings in January, and we’re just focused on navigating that. Normally, I’m much more connected to the industry, but we’ve just had so much on our plates. I’ve been busy with my business.
I interviewed two other speakers last week, and they said the same thing about connecting with other leaders and unpacking the whirlwind we’ve been in this year. You mentioned the transition into Compass International Holdings. How has that been for you? It’s something everyone has had their eyes on.
Sure. I mean, it’s still the early days. I have to continue to remind myself that it’s only been four months, and a lot of the focus has been on the company-owned business. So for our affiliate business, we haven’t really felt disruption. Mostly, what we’re feeling is opportunity and the things to come. Early next year, we’ll be getting some of the technology, and I think it’ll be more tangible for the franchisees.
Because Corcoran has company-owned and franchised, I hear from my colleagues, but it’s not really [different] in our day-to-day. Compass is a holding company, just like Anywhere. And so we just sort of swapped it. But I think some cool things are coming down the pike.
We’ve done a lot of coverage about Compass’s tech, and I agree, it’ll be exciting to see how that unfolds. So, let’s talk about what’s happening in the luxury space. Your session is about evolving global wealth trends, what today’s luxury homebuyers want and how agents can proactively use those insights. What are some of the things that you’re seeing?
Yeah, it’s been interesting because I’ve been in luxury real estate for 25 years and always sort of deep in the research and deep in sort of the global side of the business. And it’s funny because I was thinking about this and preparing to talk to you to say like, ‘What are the trends?’
There’s not anything like earth-shatteringly new. But what’s interesting is the things that have been happening for five or 10 years are accelerating. And I think that they’re more true than ever today. So one of the reasons I love luxury is that it always leads us out of difficult markets. It has more resilience. And that’s more true now than ever.
So I was in Europe, I was in Italy for vacation. And then I went to Spain because we launched an affiliate there. I’ve just spent a lot of time with a bunch of new folks coming in and talking about what they’re seeing and hearing. And there are a couple of things.
There’s this concept of quiet luxury, and we’re continuing to hear that, but it’s only getting more and more true. I think the affluent consumer sees their home as a haven, and it’s less about showing off, and it’s more about protecting their family and creating a space like a bubble. A place for their family to really be insulated.
It’s not necessarily about having a masseuse come in and give a massage every now and then. It’s about having a dedicated space. It’s not about having a lockless or keyless entry system to your home. It’s about being able to walk up to your front door, having it open, walking into the house, and having all your lights turn on and your climate control happen automatically. And so it’s all about a sort of ease. It’s really next level.
That reminds me of a few luxury stories I wrote in 2020 about how the pandemic was driving wellness additions, so it’s interesting to see how that’s continued. I’d like to talk a little more about quiet luxury. I’ve been tapped into conversations on social media about quiet luxury, but in terms of fashion.
It’s been interesting to see people push away monogrammed or obviously branded pieces and latch onto more subdued styling — I can’t tell you how many Carolyn Bessette Kennedy-inspired videos I’ve seen this year. I remember the LV Neverfull was considered a coveted starting luxury piece when I was in my 20s, and now I see people kind of talking down on that bag. So, there’s definitely a shift happening. How does that play into real estate?
I think younger consumers are more into brands, but older consumers are not. They still want the luxury brands. I wore my Neverfull a year ago, and one of the interns was like, ‘Oh my God, I want that.’
But I think there is some fatigue, and as you get more mature as a luxury consumer, your needs change, too. I’m blown away at these young kids and how much access they have to money, and to go to great restaurants and drive really nice cars. And this next generation, there’s a lot of money that’s going to be transitioning to them over the next 10 years. It’s trillions of dollars. And so that’s a big thing driving this industry, too.
The parents are thinking about how to transfer their real estate to their children. And so now, there’s this new generational wealth, almost like feudal times in England, where people are inheriting money because they’re inheriting real estate. It gives them such a competitive advantage in the economy today. It’s fascinating.
Yeah, it’s interesting to watch Gen-Z. I’m a millennial, and the world of luxury, at least as something I could readily attain, wasn’t on my radar. I was happy with my Juicy Couture bag and Taco Bell.
Although I will tell you, I was walking through Heathrow Airport last Thursday, the line at Taco Bell was so huge. And I was like, ‘Why are they doing this for Taco Bell?’ I think it was because it was an American thing. But I was a little horrified.
I eat much better these days, but I’ll never let go of Taco Bell. My coworkers make fun of my obsession all the time. But back to Gen-Z, how might this impact luxury real estate once they reach their prime homebuying age and begin building their own portfolios? How will agents need to adjust to how this generation thinks about luxury?
I think one of the most interesting realities of this is that, yes, they’re inheriting real estate wealth. But those who aren’t, while this transition of wealth is happening, many of them can’t afford to buy a significant home today. And the entry price for real estate has gotten so much higher. And so we’re seeing more than ever, parents and grandparents helping their children and grandchildren.
So I think one of the offshoots of that is that they’re now beginning to look for homes that can accommodate their parents and grandparents in ways we never saw domestically before. You used to see that in places like India, China and other parts of the world, where, culturally, you take care of your parents and grandparents. In the U.S., we don’t really have that. But people are buying compounds more than ever now. And partly it’s because the parents are helping to fund the purchase.
Part of it’s sort of the changing demographics of our society. Part of it is some of the reality of access to real estate. And frankly, limited inventory, too. People are thinking about homes differently.
