Not too long ago – it feels like just yesterday for us – the big thing in the housing market was luxury homes. Mini-mansions were all the rage with the average American buyer, who prized the space and upscale feeling of these luxury properties. But then the bubble burst and everybody swung the complete opposite way, looking for smaller and cheaper places. With the recession now behind us, equity rising and buyer confidence slowly returning to normal, luxury houses are starting to make their comeback.
A new report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows that Americans are back on the hunt for bigger and better homes now. In 2007, the median size of a newly built home was 2,295 square feet. Two years later, that dropped off to 2,159. Now it’s shot up to even greater levels of square footage, totaling 2,384.
On top of that, over 40 percent of new homes being put on the market have at least four bedrooms, a pretty sizable upswing from just 34 percent a couple years prior. Many of today’s top sellers are now the homes with the biggest kitchens and largest master suites, clearly showing that the average buyer is setting their sights back on luxury.
“The housing market is being driven by the move-up buyer, the luxury buyer,” said Brad Hunter, a chief economist and consulting director with Metrostudy. “And those who have strong incomes, secure jobs, their stock portfolio is doing well – they are able to buy whatever they want. And what they are buying is larger houses.”
You’ll find few places better for this than Salt Lake City. Consistently ranked as one of America’s best-performing cities, with one of the strongest housing markets and job sectors around, Salt Lake City real estate is a hotspot. Reach out to the Muve Real Estate Group for available high-end homes for sale!
