Asking prices for properties in the luxury housing market fell in September, but listings at the top of the market sold faster than they did a year ago.
The national entry point to luxury, the 90th percentile of listing prices, slipped to $1,199,321, down 3.6 percent from a year ago and 0.1 percent from August, according to Realtor.com’s September Luxury Housing Report released Wednesday. September was the 30th consecutive month of annual declines; the threshold is the lowest since January 2023, 14.1 percent below the May 2023 peak of about $1.4 million.
The report also compared public elementary school ratings across 43 luxury markets. The metros with the two highest ratings were the only two among the 10 most expensive markets to post annual price gains.
Florida markets lead on school ratings
Naples-Marco Island, Florida, ranked first with an average rating of 9.3 out of 10 for the elementary schools assigned to its luxury listings. Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, Florida, followed at 9.1. Naples’ luxury threshold rose 8.9 percent from a year ago to $3,692,892, and Crestview’s rose 2.4 percent to $2,865,779.
Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, Connecticut, ranked third on schools at 8.5, but its threshold fell 15.6 percent to $3,597,500, the steepest annual decline among the 10 most expensive markets. The metro held the top spot in June and is now 14.3 percent below that peak.
Kahului-Wailuku, Hawaii, ranked last at 5 despite the second-highest luxury threshold in the country at $3,789,000. Some lower-priced markets outscored the most expensive ones. Luxury starts at $900,388 in Jacksonville, Florida, and $780,487 in San Antonio, and both metros averaged higher elementary ratings, 7.8 and 7.4, than New York’s 6.7, where luxury starts at $2.62 million.
Anthony Smith
“School ratings are one local factor that can go hand in hand with price strength, as in Naples, Florida, but they don’t make a market immune,” Anthony Smith, senior economist at Realtor.com, said in a statement.
The ratings come from GreatSchools.org and cover assigned public elementary schools. They exclude private schools, school choice programs and lottery-based admissions.
Luxury homes sell faster as price cuts rise elsewhere
Luxury listings at the 90th percentile spent a median of 76 days on the market in September, three days fewer than a year earlier. Listings at the 95th percentile spent 86 days, and those at the 99th spent 100 days, each three days fewer than last September. The typical U.S. listing spent 61 days on the market, unchanged from a year ago.
Luxury supply grew at a slower rate than the overall market. Million-dollar listings rose 1.2 percent from a year ago, and total active listings rose 5.4 percent. That brought the million-dollar share of listings down 0.5 percentage points to 12.5 percent.
“Luxury prices keep drifting lower, but buyers haven’t gone quiet. Homes are selling faster than a year ago in every tier,” Smith said.
Across the broader market, sellers cut prices at a higher rate. Realtor.com’s September housing trends report found that 20.8 percent of active listings had a price reduction, the highest September share since 2018. The number of homes under contract fell 4.1 percent from a year earlier. The national median list price fell 1.4 percent to $419,250, the 11th consecutive month of annual declines.
Sales at the top of the market rose on a closed-sale basis. Sales of homes priced at $1 million or more increased 4 percent from a year ago in September, the only price band to post an annual gain, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said Tuesday as the association reported September existing-home sales.
Overall sales fell 2.2 percent year over year to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.99 million, and the median existing-home price rose 1.3 percent to $417,500. Inventory reached 1.60 million homes, the highest level since November 2019, according to NAR.
Los Angeles holds top threshold
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California, remained the most expensive luxury market at $3,949,634. Its lead widened as Kahului-Wailuku’s threshold slipped 3.1 percent from August. Naples moved up to third.
Realtor.com’s analysis covers the 43 metros that averaged at least 500 million-dollar listings over the 12 months through September and is based on listing prices.
By the numbers
- $1,199,321: Luxury entry point (90th percentile), down 3.6 percent year over year
- $1,885,731: High-end luxury threshold (95th percentile), down 3.5 percent
- $5,128,119: Ultraluxury threshold (99th percentile), down 5.3 percent
- 4 percent: Annual increase in sales of homes priced at $1 million or more in September, the only price band to grow, according to NAR
- 76 days: Median time on market for luxury listings, three days fewer than a year ago
- 9.3: Naples-Marco Island’s average elementary school rating, highest among 43 luxury markets
