High-end home buyers were out in force in November. Getty ImagesLuxury home buying activity jumped in November across some of the most affluent pockets of the U.S., according to reports Douglas Elliman released Thursday.
In Manhattan, Miami and Palm Beach, Florida, dealmaking on homes priced above $5 million surged compared to the same time last year.
In Manhattan, for example, “the luxury market’s new contract signings experienced an annual surge that was triple the rate of the overall market,” the report said.
The New York City borough saw 20 contracts signed on co-ops priced above $5 million in November, a 66.6% jump from the 12 signed in November 2023. Over the same period, condo deals in that price bracket grew from 32 to 60, an increase of 87.5%, according to the data.
Despite the timing, the uptick in activity appears to be unrelated to the election, according to Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of the appraisal company Miller Samuel and the author of the reports.
In Manhattan “contracts were up sharply in November, just as they have been in every month since July,” Miller said. “These don’t show evidence of some post-election bump, or if it does, it’s very subtle.”
The more obvious factor affecting luxury activity is the financial markets, according to Miller.
“That really is the commonality across these markets,” he said.
“As one moves higher by price tranche, the reliance on interest rates is diminished,” Miller explained, instead, high-end buyers are looking to the performance of financial markets, which “have been relatively strong.”
In Florida’s Palm Beach County, “new signed contracts above the $1 million threshold surged for the fourth time as new listings rose modestly over the same period,” the report explained.
At the top end of that threshold, single-family homes in Palm Beach priced above $5 million saw signed contracts increase from 11 last November to 14 last month, a rise of 27.2%. Condos meanwhile—though a small sample size—tripled from one to three over the same time.
Luxury single-family home sales also tripled in Miami-Dade County. New signed contracts on homes asking $5 million or more rose to 21 in November from seven at the same time last year.
Miami’s condos meanwhile ticked up from nine to 10 over the same time.
