NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Jul 5, 2011) - Amid still-depressed housing numbers that dominate headlines, a new survey by the independent and objective New York City-based Luxury Institute and the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing shows high net-worth U.S. homeowners taking advantage of the downturn to trade up into higher-priced new primary residences. More than one-third (37%) of the wealthy value their homes at $1 million or higher, while 32% assess their primary residence to be worth $500,000 or less.
Lured by lower prices, one in four U.S. consumers with annual income of $150,000 or more have bought a residential property since 2008 at a median purchase price of $509,000, up 3.2% from the 2005 to 2007 period. Most new residences (83%) are single-family homes and two-thirds of these are in suburban settings. Seventeen percent plan to purchase additional property this year, while 23% of those younger than 50 plan to buy in 2011.
Seventy percent of wealthy homebuyers used a real estate agent to help with their property purchase and two-thirds of those say that they would work again with the same agent.
"Luxury homebuyers recognize that many premium homes are available at relative bargains," says Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute. "Similar to the luxury retail landscape, luxury home sales provide more evidence of durability at the high end of the market."
"Luxury is the good news story in real estate," says Laurie Moore-Moore, CEO of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing. "The number of wealthy households has jumped back to pre-recession levels and affluent home buyers are actively purchasing. The National Association of Realtors' statistics show that national home sales at $1 million and above were up more than 18% year-over-year in 2010. Strong activity continues this year as well."
For complete details from this WealthSurvey on wealthy homebuyer attitudes, plans and marketing preferences, visit LuxuryInstitute.com.
About Luxury Institute (www.LuxuryInstitute.com)
The Luxury Institute is the objective and independent global voice of the high net-worth consumer. The Institute conducts extensive and actionable research with wealthy consumers about their behaviors and attitudes on customer experience best practices. In addition, we work closely with top-tier luxury brands to successfully transform their organizational cultures into more profitable customer-centric enterprises. Our Luxury CRM Culture consulting process leverages our fact-based research and enables luxury brands to dramatically Outbehave as well as Outperform their competition. The Luxury Institute also operates LuxuryBoard.com, a membership-based online research portal, and the Luxury CRM Association, a membership organization dedicated to building customer-centric luxury enterprises.
About The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing (ILHM) www.LuxuryHomeMarketing.com
ILHM is an international training and membership organization serving real estate professionals who work in the luxury housing market. ILHM awards the prestigious Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist (CLHMS) designation to those who meet strict performance criteria. The designation is the official designation for a variety of national and international real estate brokerage brands. ILHM training is available through live sessions and online. 214-485-3000 info@LuxuryHomeMarketing.com
Contact Information:
For Further Information, Please Contact:
The Luxury Institute, LLC
Martin Swanson
Vice President
(914) 909-6350
mswanson@luxuryinstitute.com