Lisa Barton

While no sector of real estate has been able to escape the declining market conditions, the luxury market (homes valued at $1,000,000 or more) have traditionally been slightly more protected from depreciation. Right now, the percentage of distressed sales for luxury homes in Ponte Vedra Beach and Jacksonville are significantly less than the local average of all homes for sale.  Many sellers in the luxury market have the personal wealth to wait-out the economic conditions, rather than sell their home at a loss. According an article in the Business Section of the Florida Times Union, there is a high inventory for homes on the market for above a million dollars. Keep in mind though, buyers in the luxury market are still looking for deep discounts--just as buyers are in general.

According to the Florida Times Union, data from the Multiple Listing Service indicates that sales in the $1 million or more market are up 6% this year.  Positive signs can be taken from this trend. The luxury market is often the first to recover and this increased activity may indicate that the housing market is at or near the bottom. Combine this with low mortgage rates and the fact that the banks are relaxing lending requirements for jumbo loans, and you’ll find it’s a great time to be a luxury home buyer!

 In my office (Prudential Network Realty Ponte Vedra), we’ve definitely seen an increase in buyer interest and in actual sales of luxury homes. Our high-end listings are seeing much more traffic than they were during the past two years and we’ve had several sales of high-end homes this year.