BrightMLS recently presented a report on the high-end market overview. Per BrightMLS, the regional listing service:
“The luxury housing market in the Mid-Atlantic is outperforming the overall housing market. Luxury home shoppers, less sensitive to elevated interest rates and more confident in their financial situations, drove strong sales in the first quarter of 2024.
Luxury homes are in demand. Sales activity in the luxury market continues to be brisk. In the first quarter of 2024, there were 2,648 luxury home sales across the Bright MLS service area. While luxury sales are down 16% from the fourth quarter of 2023, sales are tracking 12% higher than a year ago. By contrast, during the first quarter of 2024, overall home sales are 5% lower than they were last year.”
Bright continues with
“Cash is king in the luxury market. In the first quarter of 2024, nearly one-third of luxury sales (30.1%) were all-cash sales. In 2022, roughly one-quarter of luxury homes were purchased with all cash. Luxury buyers are more likely than other buyers to purchase with all cash, which is a key reason the luxury market has been so resilient amidst elevated mortgage rates. Second-home luxury markets are particularly attractive to cash buyers. In the first quarter of 2024, more than half of luxury sales in the Del/Mar Coastal region, which includes Maryland and Delaware beach properties, were all-cash sales. More than two out of five luxury sales on the Maryland Eastern Shore, which includes Chesapeake Bay communities, were all cash.