While nearly everyone has grown tired of the word “unprecedented” this year, there’s certainly no other way to describe the 2020 luxury real estate market and the resulting housing boom.

As the year draws to a close, the sheer volume of luxury homes for sale continues to skyrocket everywhere — from rural destinations to popular resort locations.

While this month showed the typical signs of a holiday slow-down, even the number of sales of single-family homes in big, metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Boston, and Chicago are overall higher than they were in November 2019.

So what does this luxury real estate boom mean?

Very simply, it means there has never been a better time for a homeowner to list their luxury property and upgrade to a new property with more amenities or double down and purchase that secondary home.

Along with lower mortgage rates and price points dropping, the affluent continue to turn their attention to creating a home that offers them all the attributes they need in order to maintain a certain quality of lifestyle.

These savvy buyers are also looking for…

• Investment opportunities
• Secondary residences
• Extra amenities

And anything else that will put them ahead of the crisis and help make them comfortable while doing so.

More than ever, affluent buyers are looking for help in how to adjust to this new way of life for the time being.

Like everyone else, affluent homeowners are preparing for a long, uncertain winter as COVID numbers continue to rise — meaning the luxury real estate boom is almost solely driven by the need for an all-in-one home base with a “sanctuary” feel.

Although there was a brief pause at the start of the pandemic, the bottom line is the luxury real estate market has more than bounced back and has done so with great momentum.

Looking forward, here are a few interesting trends emerging from this year’s luxury real estate boom:

RELOCATIONS TO TROPICAL AND RESORT MARKETS

Without the obligation of a commute, and difficult travel, most affluent clients are looking for homes that also feel like a vacation getaway. So, it makes sense that markets with more nature and lower COVID rates — like Lake Tahoe, Hawaii, the Caribbean, Breckenridge, or even Whistler in Canada — are getting ample attention from luxury real estate buyers.

In fact, winter ski resorts in both the United States and Canada have not only seen high sales volumes, but they have also continued to see inventory levels fall and prices increase over the last few months. There has even been an uptick in sales with buyers purchasing sight unseen, and sales of large, outdated properties that have either sat on the market for an extended period of time or have previously not been easy to sell.

THE RESURGENCE OF THE PIED-A-TERRE

For the affluent who aren’t quite ready to make a permanent move to a more rural or resort town, the “pied-a-terre” has reemerged as an easy option. These smaller units are perfect for the affluent client with school-aged children who aren’t ready to completely relocate, or for couples and families who want to stay extra safe during travel by skipping hotels and having a place of their own to stay in.

AN INCREASE IN SALES FOR ATTACHED PROPERTIES IN MAJOR METROPOLITAN CITIES

At the beginning of the pandemic, attached homes in major metropolitan cities saw a big decrease in popularity as folks sought more space and more nature to get them through lockdown.

Now, lower mortgage rates and price drops have led to a resurgence of interest in major metropolitan cities, even in smaller attached homes, with a 57% increase compared to last November.

As recently published in Luxury Home Marketing

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