Luxury Homes Sales Report October 2020

Luxury Home Sales Are Strong

If the pandemic is slowing the housing market, you certainly couldn’t tell by looking at luxury home sales in Tallahassee through September of 2020.

Thus far in 2020, homes priced above $800K are trailing both 2019 and 2018. But if we move the low point to $850K, it’s the best year ever.

When it comes to million-dollar homes, we have seen just one fewer sale in 2020 than in 2018 (the top year for million-dollar home sales).

Why Are Luxury Home Sales Strong In 2020

You might think that luxury home sales are strong due to low mortgage interest rates, but that is not really the case.

The graph above shows the percentage of luxury home buyers financing their purchases. Even as rates have tumbled in 2020, we’ve seen a rise in the number of people paying cash for a luxury home.

The solid green line shows the percentage of people financing their luxury home purchases each year, and due to the relatively low number of purchases, the percentage moves around a bit.

In 2020, 31% of luxury home buyers paid cash, the highest percentage since 2015. If we look at the raw numbers, the eleven buyers who paid cash for their luxury homes represent the most cash purchases of luxury homes ever recorded.

This suggests that it is more than just low mortgage interest rates moving the luxury homes market. It’s really hard to glean more information from the data because we’re only looking at 0 to 11 cash sales in each of the past 18 years.

Luxury home sellers should take note. You are in one of the best markets ever for selling a luxury home. Buyers are out shopping. Both those with cash and those who are financing the sale. Take advantage of these conditions and get your home sold before market conditions swing in the other direction.

How Long Does It Take To Sell A Luxury Home?

The next two graphs require an extensive analysis of the MLS data to produce. Each compares all copied listing data to ensure that time on the market and initial asking prices are accurate.

As you can see, luxury homeowners that successfully sold were on the market a lot longer than what Realtor reports would show. The MLS allows its users to manipulate listings to always appear fresh, but the reality is that many have been listed numerous times. Our report scrubbed the bogus versions and compared the final sales date with the initial listing date.

As you can see in the graph, sellers who successfully sold with their first agent (green) this year took 9 months to sell, while those that sold with a second (or more) had an estimated sales date 13 months after their initial listing date.

If you are planning on selling a luxury home, make sure you pick an agent that will get you sold so you don’t have to waste time failing to sell.

How Much Are Luxury Home Sellers Receiving?

When we compare final sales prices to initial asking prices, it’s fairly obvious the luxury home sellers are not getting what they expected.

Look at the range between fresh and stale listings. From 82% for sellers using the second (or later) agent to 95% for agents who successfully sold with just one agent.

It’s clear, selecting the right agent is typically worth more than 10% to your bottom line (a six-figure difference for this group of homes). Don’t let a discount agent fool you, the few percent you save on fees ends up costing you a whole lot more.

Luxury Homes Sales In Tallahassee

The following table shows all luxury homes sold in Tallahassee going back to 1991. You can sort the table by any field in the table heading.