Take your pick
Looking for the life of luxury? Then you’re in luck. According to Realtor.com, the luxury real estate market isn’t as inventory-strapped as more affordable housing is. In fact, there’s actually a pretty wide selection of luxury properties as we kick off 2018.
Loads of luxury
According to data from Realtor.com, the luxury market hasn’t experienced the same inventory shortage as other areas of real estate — and that’s giving deep-pocketed buyers a wider array of properties to choose from. Since 2016, luxury home inventory has jumped 3.4 percent.
Forecast predicts boost in housing inventory, sales in 2018
Luxury properties are staying on the market longer, too, giving buyers more time to shop around and find the perfect home. Nationally, luxury homes took about 116 days to sell in 2017 — up 5.3 percent from the year prior.
Like the rest of the market, though, prices on luxury homes have risen over the last year. Still, they’re only up 5.1 percent, compared to the near-7 percent jump seen by the overall market.
Are home prices finally dropping? They just might be
Top luxury markets
The fastest growing luxury markets were scattered across the U.S., with luxury sales skyrocketing in Marin, California; Brooklyn, New York; Eagle, Colorado; Summit, Utah; Walton, Florida; and the Hawaiian islands of Maui and Kauai. Northern California, also saw booming luxury sales in 2017.
“Despite showing only one county in the top 10 fastest-growing markets, Northern California has six counties in the top 20,” Realtor.com data analyst Nicolas Bedo reported. “Marin (No. 10), Sonoma (No. 12), San Francisco (No. 13), San Mateo (No. 17), Alameda (No. 19) and Santa Clara (No. 20).”
Eagle, Maui and Kauai were particularly popular with vacation and second-home buyers. All three markets saw prices rise 5 to 6 percent faster than the overall local market. Prices in Maui increased nearly 33 percent over the year.
Get today’s mortgage rates
The newly passed tax legislation will have a big impact on luxury buyers — particularly in high-tax states like California and New York. Want to make sure you’re getting the most value for your luxury home purchase? Shop around and get the absolute best mortgage rate possible.
