Luxury Home Market Activity Slowing

New York, NY, October 1, 2025-"Luxury homeowners who kept buying and selling real estate even as the overall housing market contracted in recent years are slowing their roll,” according to the Wall Street Journal. 

“The number of luxury-home sales nationwide dropped 0.7% during the three months ended Aug. 31, compared with the same period last year, according to data from real-estate brokerage Redfin, which said luxury sales nationwide dropped to the lowest level for that period since it began tracking the market in 2013.

“Price growth also slowed. During the three months ended Aug. 31, the median sale price for luxury properties-defined as the top 5% of the market-increased 3.9% year over year to $1.25 million, according to Redfin. But that is down from a 6.1% year-over-year price jump for the three months ended Aug. 31, 2024. 

“‘The luxury market seems to be weaker than the rest of the housing market right now-which is already pretty weak,’ said Chen Zhao, head of economics research at Redfin, citing a 0.6% drop in nonluxury sales during the period, compared with the luxury market’s 0.7% drop. ‘It kind of speaks to the economic uncertainty of the moment and some of the volatility we’ve experienced.’

“For the past few years, luxury homeowners, who are less impacted by interest rates, have propped up the housing market with discretionary purchases. Following the tariff shock of early April, however, buyers and sellers across the spectrum saw dramatic swings in household wealth that took a toll on spring and summer purchasing.”