Luxury sales down in core global cities but on the rise in emerging markets

London, New York and Hong Kong give way to Auckland and Jackson Hole, per Christie's

Little Jennie Ranch near Jackson, Wyo (credit: Christie's)
Little Jennie Ranch near Jackson, Wyo (credit: Christie's)

Are Jackson Hole and Auckland the new London and New York?

A new Christie’s International Real Estate survey shows that while global luxury home sales – defined as properties valued at north of $1 million – were up 8 percent last year, luxury sales in Manhattan, Hong Kong and central London all declined to the tune of 5 percent, 12 percent and 4 percent, respectively.

The luxury market in Miami is also softening, with sales down 1 percent in 2015. And just last month, there were only 152 homes in Miami that transacted for more that than $1 million – down 23 percent from April 2015, Bloomberg reported.

Meanwhile, it appears wealthy buyers may be drifting toward less conventional markets worldwide in making their purchases – with luxury deals up 63 percent in Auckland, New Zealand and 45 percent in the resort town of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

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That’s not to say all core urban luxury markets are weakening – sales were up 21 percent in Paris and 48 percent in the Toronto metro area – but the growth in high-end deals globally is slowing down from recent years. The 8 percent rise in global luxury sales last year, for example, was down from a 16 percent increase in 2014.

These numbers tend to indicate not only the effect of global economic uncertainty and exchange rate shifts, but also how investors are looking to grasp residential real estate opportunities in cheaper markets with more room for growth, according to Christie’s International Real Estate CEO Dan Conn.

“It’s not that people have shifted out of New York and have gone to Auckland,” Conn said. “They will still invest in New York. But when they look at where they go next, the next opportunity is a place that was historically overlooked. [Bloomberg]Rey Mashayekhi