Luxury buyers are increasingly buying more than one home at a time — not always for investment, but to control the block they live on.
The practice, sometimes called landmaxxing, has wealthy buyers purchasing neighboring properties alongside their own, then tearing down or absorbing the additional homes to create larger, more private compounds. Corcoran Affiliates President Stephanie Anton and Concierge Auctions CEO Chad Roffers discussed the trend during a panel at Inman Luxury Connect in San Diego, moderated by Katie Kossev.
Luxury homebuying used to be about making a statement, Anton said. Now, she said, the priority has shifted toward privacy, security and flexibility for multiple generations of a family.
Anton pointed to Elon Musk’s Austin, Texas, properties as an example, saying he owns three homes worth about $20 million each on the same cul-de-sac. Chicago has seen a similar pattern for years, Anton said, with buyers in affluent downtown neighborhoods purchasing adjacent homes and demolishing them to create more space, privacy and security.
“We’re seeing that happen more and more as the very wealthy get wealthier,” Anton said.
A generational wealth shift
Anton connected the trend to a broader shift in how wealth passes between generations. Families are increasingly holding onto homes and passing them down rather than selling, she said, pointing to the tax advantages of keeping a property compared with buying new, particularly in California.
That shift is also bringing younger buyers into the luxury market earlier, Anton said. Buyers are increasingly younger, often receiving down payment help from parents or grandparents, and arrive at the table more informed than previous generations, using social media and AI tools to guide their decisions.
Roffers described these younger luxury buyers as decisive and well informed.
“They want accurate information. They want factual information. They don’t want a big sales pitch. They’re decisive,” Roffers said.
Where the money is moving
Panelists also tied landmaxxing to migration patterns among wealthy buyers, particularly the movement of money and residents from California to Florida. Anton pointed to Delray Beach and Palm Beach as destinations drawing Silicon Valley wealth, driven in part by differences in tax policy between states.
Roffers said sentiment, more than fundamentals, often drives these shifts. He pointed to Los Angeles, where he said the market has been affected by tax policy, including California’s Measure ULA, sometimes called the mansion tax, which applies to high-value property sales in the city.
“It’s not huge swings,” Roffers said of how sentiment affects transaction volume. “It’s just a little bit of a correction in sentiment” that can drive a much larger shift in transactions.
Advice for agents
When asked for advice heading into 2027, Roffers pointed back to the San Francisco market, which shifted from largely inactive to one of the hottest luxury markets in the country over several years. His advice: Avoid getting overly confident or overly discouraged based on current conditions, since consistency pays off over time.
Anton emphasized humility paired with a willingness to take chances, along with leaning on other agents for information.
“I always say to an agent, when a seller’s interviewing you, ask: Who else did you interview, and what were the different prices suggested?” Anton said.
