Homes & Estates Florida Portfolio Volume 2 | Page 8

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TECH TITANS
Power Markets with strong tech centers also continued to
demonstrate strength last year. Greater Seattle and Greater Tacoma,
Portland, Raleigh-Durham, San Francisco and Silicon Valley all had
high 2017 sales-price-to-list-price ratios of 99% to 100%. Seattle,
in particular, soared. 2016 might have started well for the Emerald
City, but luxury home sales doubled in 2017 and prices climbed by
a median of $200,000, from $1.3 to $1.5 million. Days on market
also decreased from 20 days to 13, while the sales-price-to-list-
price ratio rose to nearly 100%. Austin, also a robust tech hub, saw
shorter days on market last year, as compared with 2016. Median
prices here rose from $700,000 to about $900,000 in 2017. Days
on market decreased 30%, from 90 to 60 days. The median sales-
price-to-list-price ratio remained steady at 97%.
“It’s not a secret that the tech sector’s explosive growth has fueled
the real estate booms in many cities,” says Hogan. “Austin has Dell.
Raleigh has Cisco. Seattle has Microsoft and Amazon. Silicon Valley
speaks for itself. All of these companies bring high-paying jobs to
these markets, and they naturally lift up the luxury real estate sector.”
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ATTACHED APPEAL
The luxury condo market appears to be having a moment. Median
home prices for high-end condos remained constant at $850,000 —
not only year-to-year, but throughout 2017. As previously reported,
the number of sold luxury condominiums in 2017 only decreased
slightly from 2016 — while new listings jumped 20%, comparatively.
Average days on market decreased slightly from 35 to 33 in 2017.
Significant luxury median markets with shorter days on market than
in 2016 were Austin, Boston, Boulder, Denver, Sacramento, St. Louis
and Portland. Fast-selling markets included Dallas, Montgomery
County, Seattle, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Raleigh-Durham and
Nashville.
“This was an interesting development for us to see, since the
high-net-worth money has trended toward single-family detached
properties over the last few years,” says Hogan. “We may regard the
luxury condo activity as a reflection of where the investment money
is going. Now that investors and speculators are not expecting to
see large investment gains in the single-family detached segment,
are they moving to find opportunity in the luxury townhouse and
condo market?”
*Data based on closed and recorded transaction sides of homes sold in the top 10% of 45 luxury metro markets between the periods of 1/1/16 to 12/31/16 and 1/1/17 to 12/31/17, as gathered
from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) databases and from the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) and select cooperating brokerage firms, compiled by The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing.
6 | Homes & Estates | Florida Collection