RealEstateNews 2.10.24
Weekly News Roundup
- Luxury Real Estate Trends
- Market Adjusts to Higher Interest Rates
- Trump’s Gaza Real Estate Deal
Luxury Real Estate Trends
Growing demand for indoor-outdoor spaces, affluent women leading decisions in the market and an increased need for multi-generational living are among the expected trends for luxury real estate in 2025. This is according to the Coldwell Banker Global Luxury program, which recently released its 2025 Trend Report. Gen X — describing those 44 to 59 years old — are expected to steadily become more dominant owners of luxury homes in 2025. The report says the number of Gen X individuals who own luxury homes has grown by 10% over the past five years, outpacing all other age groups.
With this spike in luxury homeownership among Gen Xers, the group is also responsible for leading the trend of a growing demand for multi-generational living in this market. Baris said this is because the generation is prioritizing homes with more space and less required maintenance to accommodate their adult children and their aging parents and for themselves to grow into as they age themselves.
Referred to as “She-Elites” in the report, affluent women are expected to continue to emerge as luxury real estate leaders in 2025. While men are said to dominate luxury homeownership in older age groups — 59% of men ages 35 to 64 — women under 35 years old make up 54% of luxury property owners, the report said. It also said women with a net worth of $5 million or more own about 15.2% of the nation’s luxury real estate. Source: USA Today
Market Adjusts to Higher Interest Rates
Mortgage rates steadied, hovering just below 7% this week, but remain more than 80 basis points above their September low. Some home sales data began to show the effects of higher rates. Pending home sales—an early-stage indicator based on contract signings for existing-home sales—slipped 5.5% in December and were below the year-ago pace. However, new-home sales ticked higher, to 3.6% month over month and 6.7% year over year.
The latest Realtor.com New Construction Insights report showed that in the fourth quarter, the median list price of new homes slipped 0.7% to $449,967, and the price premium for new homes over existing homes shrank, which might help to explain the mixed trends in home sales. Perhaps most interestingly, the report showed that while both new- and existing-home sellers will occasionally offer mortgage rate buydowns to buyers, the share of new homes with this incentive is nearly four times as large as the share among existing homes. Put simply, if you’re after a seller-funded mortgage rate buydown, you’re more likely to find it in a newly built home.
The Winter 2025 Wall Street Journal/Realtor.com Housing Market Ranking released this week has pinpointed St. Louis as the top luxury housing market in the U.S. for the third straight quarter while Detroit comes in at No. 2. These metros topped the list due to a lack of housing supply, which keeps competition elevated. In the overall housing market ranking, while many of this quarter’s top markets are familiar, including No. 1 Canton, OH, the biggest climber into the top was newcomer Trenton, NJ. Source: Realtor.com
Trump’s Gaza Real Estate Deal
Donald Trump has said the United States could take control of the Gaza Strip and suggested the permanent resettlement of its 1.8 million residents to neighboring Arab countries. The announcement came during Tuesday’s talks with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, at the White House. President Trump outlined a vision where the US would assume responsibility for the clearance of unexploded bombs, with plans to transform the region into what he described as the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Rebuilding Gaza could take decades and cost billions, as Israel has destroyed much of its infrastructure seeking out Hamas. UN officials estimate that 50 million tons of rubble must be cleared before reconstruction can start. While the husband of Ivanka Trump will hold no formal role in the new Trump administration, Affinity Partners, the investment firm Mr Kushner set up in 2021, certainly has experience with five-star real estate projects on sites hit by war. It is constructing luxury villas on the Albanian island of Sazan, once given over to the military and home to a Soviet submarine base.
Mr Trump said Palestinians should leave the enclave permanently, indicating he supports resettling them in countries like Egypt and Jordan. Mr Trump said that the 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza should relocate to neighbouring countries that he described as having “humanitarian hearts” and “great wealth”. He proposed distributing the population across several locations, specifically mentioning Jordan, Egypt, and other Arab states as potential hosts. However, such population displacement faces strong opposition from the US regional allies. Source: The Telegraph