Fewer Luxury Sales As Prices Rise

Sales of homes priced at $2 million or more are dwindling, according to new Redfin data, attributed to Wall Street volatility and global economic uncertainty.

Homes priced at $2 million or more were down 3.9 percent annually in the fourth quarter, the first time in more than 2 years that luxury home sales have done so YOY. The average sales price for luxury homes, a 5 percent total market share of the country's housing stock, grew to an average $1,772,000 in the fourth quarter, 4.7 percent year-over-year. For the remainder of the national housing stock, prices grew 4.3 percent to an average of $341,000 in the fourth quarter of 2018.

The typical luxury home that sold in the fourth quarter went under contract in 74 days, up from 65 days in both the second and third quarters of 2018. Last quarter’s average is comparable to 2017, when luxury homes that sold in both the second and third quarters took an average of 73 days to go under contract and 78 days in the fourth quarter. Compare that with non-luxury homes: Homes that sold in the final quarter of last year took 56 days to go under contract, down from 63 days in the fourth quarter the year before.

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