Luxury Home Prices Still Rising
April 15, 2008In a time where sales of new and existing homes are sluggish in general, sales of multi-million dollar homes are surprisingly strong. Luxury homes, costing $5 million and above, climbed 31 percent during the first quarter last year over the previous year, according to DataQuick, a real estate research firm. This year, values in the luxury market are continuing to rise with no end in sight.
Analysts say it’s a matter of supply and demand. Multi-million dollar homes tend to be situated in high demand areas with one of a kind views and access to sophisticated amenities. There are only so many of these properties available. While there are still an increasing number of high-priced homes on the market, there are even more affluent buyers looking for the right property. A growing number of those prospective buyers are wealthy foreign buyers from Asia and Europe looking for an opportunity to capitalize on the weakened U.S. dollar.
“The very wealthy are pouring more money into residential real estate,” said the founder of Institute for Luxury Home Marketing. “While Europeans have always invested in American properties, new buyers are increasingly from brazil, Russia, India and China.” Luxury homes in the U.S. hold great appeal to buyers worldwide and make an excellent long-term investment.
