Luxury Insider

One coastal market that remains strong is Seattle, where jobs are plentiful and home inventories remain lean, though they have crept up slightly from a year earlier. But many other coastal markets are suffering hangovers from the boom of recent years. The dominant story in the Seattle housing market over the past five-plus years has been historically low interest rates leading to record first-time buyers and record home sales - primarily in the more-affordable price ranges. During this time of abundance for much of the housing market, luxury real estate sales were slowly recovering from the residual effects of the dot-com decline in early 2000, which saw luxury home sales plummet in a matter of months, causing values to fall and a surplus of inventory to flood the market. However, time and a stronger economy have helped heal the luxury market, and 2006 is showing continued signs of improvement for the values of luxury residential properties.

Focusing our attentions a little further north, Canadians have now begun to embrace the concept of a luxurious lifestyle; more luxury homes are being bought now than ever before. One particular city leading the way is the capital, Ottawa. Luxury home purchases have been particularly fluid there, with the number of luxury home purchases over $1 million increasing by 33%. Rothwell Heights is one neighborhood which has been of particular interest to many buyers looking for waterfront homes. A significant number of our Canadian luxury home buyers are leaning towards the purchasing of properties without any need for renovations, and many are initially foreigners, both from other counties and from abroad. Ottawa is a beautiful place, particularly in May to June. Ever since Canada protected the Dutch royal family and helped to liberate the country in World War II, the Netherlands has sent thousands of tulip bulbs to Ottawa every year as a gift. There is an annual tulip festival in May, and tulip bulbs sprout all around the city. There does not seem to be a simple explanation for the strong increase in luxury home purchases, although from discussions and recent press, the prime source appears to be a general confidence in the state of the Canadian economy as well as a general desire to live in luxury.

An article about the U.S. Luxury Real Estate market would not be of any substance without a mention of New York, New York: Bright lights, Broadway, and arguably the world’s foremost city of museums, galleries, celebrity, and big spenders. The New York residential real estate market is rarely slow, and when it is, the market tends to pick up fast shortly after. Currently the home of the U.S.’s priciest zip code, Sagaponack, with a median house value of over $2.5 million, New York is truly in a class of its own. After this year’s long and relatively quiet summer, buyers have begun to pick up steam in October and November - and this action is still fast-paced leading toward the end of the year. Similar to a number of the world’s highly priced luxury property markets, New York has had its fair share of pessimistic market predictions… however, there has been little sign of any form of a crash. New York seems to be, as ever, a city where demand rarely falters and confidence in the market seems as strong as ever. According to Forbes.com, this year’s two most expensive recognized property purchases are both within five miles of Manhattan. After all, it is New York, and buyers with the money are willing to pay excessive prices for a bite of the Big Apple.