The latest trend for luxury homes? Keeping the price tag a secret

Asking prices are the latest secrets in the luxury real estate market, with agents choosing to make them “available upon request’ rather than advertising them.

There are multiple reasons for employing this strategy, ranging from trying to let the market set the price to maintaining a sense of privacy or exclusivity around the property, according to the Wall Street Journal. It can also be a sign of the agent and seller disagreeing over the listing price.

Developer Arnon Katz is currently using this strategy to market his 10,000-square-foot triplex on top of Hampshire House at Central Park South. Rather than assuming what buyers would be willing to pay for it, his team decided to reach out to agents and buyers who might be interested and see what they think it is worth.

Some marketers are not big fans of the strategy, however, since websites like Trulia and Zillow will not accept unpriced listings, thus limiting the amount of people who can see that the property is on the market.

“I tell clients it’s like being half pregnant,” Bradley Nelson, senior vice president of marketing at Sotheby’s International Realty, told the Journal. “Do you want to sell your house or do you not want to sell your house? You have to decide.” [WSJ] – Eddie Small