Despite a general slowdown in the everyday housing market, the luxury market is booming, and The Coldwell Banker Luxury 2026 Mid-Year Report explains why.
There is an abundance of confidence in the luxury real estate market right now as luxury buyers make bold moves and reposition real estate as part of a long-term wealth strategy. The mid-year report reveals that the luxury market is expanding, concentrating and evolving all at once with implications for agents, developers and anyone watching at the top of the market for signals about what comes next.
5 luxury real estate trends to watch
Here are five trends to watch:
1. Buying the compound, the house next door or the entire block
Luxury buyers want it all, and they aren’t willing to compromise. Privacy, space, land and location all play into it for this sector of the market.
It’s not enough to buy the estate; luxury buyers want to own the entire block to ensure they have control over who lives next to them, across the street or they buy an entire island to have to themselves. According to the mid-year report, searches for large estates, castles and private islands increased 146 percent year over year.
2. International buyers are back
The United States is seeing an increased interest in real estate from international buyers. Global luxury property searches for U.S. real estate from luxury shoppers jumped 100 percent in the first five months of 2026. Despite a lot of rhetoric about people leaving California, plenty of foreign buyers are showing interest in the state, along with New York and Florida. Not surprisingly, New York had the most inquiries from global buyers.
Luxury buyers are drawn to lifestyle, weather, shopping, dining, nightlife, along with an abundance of things to do, and those states offer exactly that.
In my Orange County, California market, for example, I see renewed interest by Asian buyers, particularly in the $10 million market on up. They are focusing on acquiring these properties to refurbish and modernize as a luxury flip, or buy and rent them out.
There is strong demand for luxury rentals that command anywhere between $25,000 to $100,000 per month that are situated in many prestigious gated communities along the coast, and savvy buyers who are able to invest in these properties are taking advantage of generous returns.
3. Real estate is the piggy bank
Luxury buyers are pouring their money into real estate. They view it as a safe bet to park their wealth. It may be used to help defer taxes on capital gains from other real estate transactions or simply as another asset to invest in.
According to the Mid-Year report, the top 10 percent of the single-family home sector in 120 U.S. markets shows a $3.7 billion increase in total real estate dollar volume for 2026 year over year.
A notable sale recently took place in Laguna Beach, California, for $110 million, which was a beachfront property in a prestigious gated community. The property was never publicly listed and shattered a previous record set in the same neighborhood for a $70 million sale that happened in 2021.
Meanwhile, in my other market of Northeast Florida, a record-breaking sale recently took place whereby an oceanfront home that sits on 4.5 acres sold for $20 million. The buyer is a multifamily general contractor who has plans to refurbish the main home and build on two lots of the undeveloped land on this property.
Recent transactions like these prove that ultra-luxury buyers are comfortable putting a significant amount of money into a large real estate purchase.
4. Liquidity is redrawing the luxury mark
One of the most significant findings of the report was that unlike today’s everyday buyers, the luxury buyers in the market right now are not holding back.
The top 1 percent to 5 percent of the luxury market is fueling nearly 60 percent of the growth. In Orange County, California, out of 310 closed transactions priced at $5 million on up within the last three months, nearly 50 percent of those were cash purchases.
5. Luxury inventory is constrained
There is luxury inventory on the market, but not all of it is what buyers are looking for. Some of it is outdated, functionally obsolete, doesn’t have quite the view buyers want or amenities buyers expect for the price point and/or is going to take a lot of reimagining to bring it to today’s standards.
Today’s luxury buyers are looking for turnkey and move-in ready. Most end-users want something they can just move into and just enjoy. So, when a property comes on the market that is truly turnkey, luxury buyers jump without hesitation.
There was recently a turnkey property that came on the market in a highly desirable coastal community in Orange County in the low $6 million range, and it quickly went under contract within a couple of days of coming on the market for $1 million over its asking price. There were multiple offers, which is why the property sold for such a tremendous amount over what it came on the market for.
As the great generational wealth transfer takes place, more luxury buyers will enter the marketplace, ready to buy their slice of paradise. This will create increased demand for more quality luxury properties.
Today’s luxury market is more active than ever, with discerning buyers making bold moves. Buyers have the utmost confidence in the luxury market, choosing to park their wealth in high-dollar real estate, buying compounds sitting on large tracts of land to afford space and privacy and have strong liquidity to pay cash.
At the same time, there are plenty of luxury buyers who are selective about what they buy, and the property has to check all the right boxes. So, they patiently wait for just the right thing.
As a result, they could be competing with multiple offers. International buyers have reengaged with the luxury market in the United States. The higher the price point, the more engagement there is by ultra-high net worth luxury buyers. Agents who serve as true advisors understand the nuances, challenges and intrinsic complications to help their clients successfully navigate the luxury market.
