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It’s no secret that real estate prices skyrocketed across much of the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic. But what you might not know is that it was luxury homes that led the trend.
Cramped Americans, seeking more space while working remotely, took advantage of historically low mortgage rates and snapped up larger, high-end houses as quickly as they could find them.
While median home prices rose by around 35% over the past four years, luxury home prices spiked by almost 50%. Warm-weather destinations such as Reno, NV; West Palm Beach, FL; and Lake Havasu City, AZ, even saw these prices more than double.
But some luxury markets resisted the pandemic price-increase frenzy—in fact, they barely budged.
Take Washington, DC, for example. Luxury homes in the nation’s capital are about 1% less expensive than four years ago, according to listing data compiled by the Realtor.com® data team.
With this in mind, we set out to uncover the cities where luxury housing prices rose the least—and in one case even dipped—since the start of the pandemic. These are the places where you can still get a bargain on a high-end house, relative to other markets where luxury housing prices continue to skyrocket to new heights.
For this analysis, we’re defining a “luxury” home price as the price point for the most expensive 5% of all listings in a particular metro. In other words, the price for the most expensive home—out of every 20 for sale—in any given market. We compared this top 5% price point from April 2020 to April 2024.
(Getty Images)
Several markets where high-end home prices haven’t skyrocketed are dense population centers that people left during the pandemic, when remote-work options allowed folks to live farther from their big-city jobs.
These already high-priced housing markets meant there wasn’t much room for prices to grow, especially given buyers’ ongoing affordability challenges, points out Hannah Jones, a senior economic analyst at Realtor.com.
For instance, Seattle’s luxury home price threshold rose by around 24%, less than half the increase for luxury homes in general.
“In a place like Seattle, luxury prices, especially—but home prices overall—kind of settled down during the pandemic because people were moving out of these large coastal cities,” Jones says. “So it makes sense that they didn’t see that same pandemic price hike.”
It also comes down to supply and demand: As well-paid office workers gained the freedom to work remotely during the pandemic, demand surged in areas away from the nation’s dense, coastal population centers. That meant luxury prices in these cities didn’t see the same upward pressure as in more suburban and rural metros.
But there are also several smaller and medium-sized cities where luxury prices have stayed more stable than the rest of the country. Many are in the Midwest, where home prices have been historically lower.
In Toledo, OH, for instance, you can get a luxury home for less than the national median price of $430,000. The most expensive 5% of home listings in Toledo start at $336,000. That’s right—you can find sprawling houses, on sizable lots, with classic Midwestern charm—all with affordable price tags.
We also found minimal luxury home price growth in cities such as Tulsa, OK, and Wichita, KS.
“These places didn’t see that same pandemic boom in prices all around,” Jones says. “So it makes sense that they haven’t seen the same kind of four-year luxury price growth.”
The initial economic conditions in these cities—and a potential lack of speculative investment—might have insulated them from the broader price fluctuations, Jones adds.
Or, in some of the markets on our list, the slower luxury price growth might be driven by affordability seekers rather than high-end buyers.
For example, home shoppers flocked to Stockton, CA, over the past four years, fleeing the exorbitant housing prices of neighboring cities like San Francisco. In Stockton, median home prices rose by close to 60%, while luxury home prices grew only by about 19%.
“People were moving from areas often looking for affordability within California, but they weren’t looking for the luxury homes there,” Jones remarks.
So what does this all mean for homebuyers today? It depends on your individual circumstances and the market you’re shopping in, but luxury homes might be relatively more affordable than they were before.
Here’s a look at the 10 cities that have seen the most stable luxury prices over the past four years. We included only the single city with the lowest luxury price growth per state, to ensure geographic diversity.
1. Washington, DC
Most expensive 5% of listings, April 2020: $2,995,900+
Most expensive 5% of listings, April 2024: $2,972,500+
Increase: -1%
Number of listings above $2,972,500 in April 2024: 115
(Realtor.com)
2. Toledo, OH
Most expensive 5% of listings, April 2020: $324,670+
Most expensive 5% of listings, April 2024: $335,700+
Increase: 3%
Number of listings above $335,700 in April 2024: 18
3. Winston Salem, NC
Most expensive 5% of listings, April 2020: $938,888+
Most expensive 5% of listings, April 2024: $998,450+
Increase: 6%
Number of listings above $998,450 in April 2024: 24
(Realtor.com)
4. Wichita, KS
Most expensive 5% of listings, April 2020: $765,000+
Most expensive 5% of listings, April 2024: $895,858+
Increase: 17%
Number of listings above $895,858 in April 2024: 34
5. Stockton, CA
Most expensive 5% of listings, April 2020: $849,003+
Most expensive 5% of listings, April 2024: $1,004,188+
Increase: 18%
Number of listings above $1,004,188 in April 2024: 18
(Realtor.com)
6. Suffolk, VA
Most expensive 5% of listings, April 2020: $632,765+
Most expensive 5% of listings, April 2024: $749,900+
Increase: 19%
Number of listings above $749,900 in April 2024: 21
7. Tyler, TX
Most expensive 5% of listings, April 2020: $1,022,273+
Most expensive 5% of listings, April 2024: $1,219,167+
Increase: 19%
Number of listings above $1,219,167 in April 2024: 31
(Realtor.com)
8. Tulsa, OK
Most expensive 5% of listings, April 2020: $1,068,488+
Most expensive 5% of listings, April 2024: $1,300,000+
Increase: 22%
Number of listings above $1,300,000 in April 2024: 47
(Realtor.com)
9. Tallahassee, FL
Most expensive 5% of listings, April 2020: $669,443+
Most expensive 5% of listings, April 2024: $814,638+
Increase: 22%
Number of listings above $814,638 in April 2024: 54
10. Seattle, WA
Most expensive 5% of listings, April 2020: $2,350,000+
Most expensive 5% of listings, April 2024: $2,912,450+
Increase: 24%
Number of listings above $2,912,450 in April 2024: 81
Allyn Maycumber Broker/Associate ERA Mount Dora Florida– 407-467-3862
