A million bucks won’t even buy you a luxury home in America anymore
A million bucks — yes, $1 million — used to be the golden ticket to luxury real estate. Now it’s hardly enough for general admission.
According to a new analysis from Realtor.com, the threshold for entering the top 10% of US home listings has crept up to nearly $1.3 million, leaving $1 million properties stuck in the middle of the pack.
In 2016, it took less than $800,000 to qualify for the same tier, and $1 million would have landed a buyer in the top 5%. Today, it would take closer to $2 million to achieve that distinction.
The report notes that inflation in luxury pricing has been dramatic. A home that carried “luxury” cachet at $1 million nine years ago would now command about $1.6 million. At the extreme end, the top 1% of listings nationwide start around $5.4 million.
Where that luxury line falls depends heavily on geography.
Two small Western towns led the rankings: Rifle, Colorado, near famously upscale Aspen, where the entry-level luxury price sits at a staggering $16.5 million — and Heber, Utah, outside Salt Lake City, at $6.8 million.
Key West-Key Largo, Florida, was the only other non-metro in the top 10, with homes at the 90th percentile beginning at $4.5 million. The rest of the list was dominated by high-cost coastal markets, including Hawaii.
Large metros continue to concentrate the lion’s share of seven-figure listings.
The New York City region held the top spot with nearly 12,000 homes priced above $1 million — about a third of its total supply.
Los Angeles followed with nearly 11,000, though those represented more than half of its overall inventory.
Rounding out the top 10 were greater Miami, Seattle, Dallas, San Diego, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta and Washington, DC. Together, these markets accounted for 36% of the nation’s million-dollar-plus homes.