View of the houses and boats in front of the luxury sea along the intracoastal river route near Jupiter in Jupiter, Florida, in Palm Beach County, in Palm Beach County
Ryan Tishken | Istock | Getty images
A version of this article appeared for the first time in the Wealth Bulletin Inside Wealth of CNBC with Robert Frank, a weekly guide of the high -level high -level investor and consumer. Register To receive future editions, directly to your entrance tray.
Economic uncertainty is creating a division in the luxury real estate market between ultra -rich and merely rich buyers, according to a new report by the Coldwell Banker runner.
A survey of about 200 agents specialized in luxury properties found that ultra -rich buyers, defined as individuals with a value of at least $ 30 million, are still making purchases of large tickets despite the commercial war and the fears of recession. They are also promoting a substantial increase in offers of all in cash. Meanwhile, rich but less rich buyers are more sensitive to interest rates and are acting more cautiously, according to the report.
Little more than half of the agents surveyed said they had seen a slight or substantial increase in cash purchases by customers in 2025. Only 3.9% reported a decrease in those buyers in the first five months of 2025, while 45.4% said that cash purchases had remained stable, according to the report.
Jason Waugh, president of Coldwell Banker affiliates, told Inside Wealth that high interest rates are an important factor behind the increase.
“The cash provides control to a buyer. It provides leverage, speed and security,” he said. “But in reality they are high indebted costs that continue to be so high. Why absorb those costs if you have cash to close in a real estate purchase, right?”
Waugh, who obtained his runner license almost 32 years ago, said that real estate may be more attractive in times of economic uncertainty. Little more than two thirds of the agents surveyed reported that rich clients maintained or increased their real estate exposure, while only 11.3% said that the interest of customers had decreased in favor of actions and other financial assets. The remaining 20.6% of the agents said that customers had suspended the plans due to economic uncertainty or the stock market.
“It has been a roller coaster, and the business is cyclical. I think that at the end of the day, real estate is a hard asset that can preserve wealth and is a coverage against inflation,” he said. “I think the data really confirms that narrative that people see real estate as an excellent way to accumulate wealth even in the most uncertain and volatile economic environment that we have sailed in more than a decade.”
That said, while luxury housing sales increased in the first five months of 2025, they received a success in May, the first full month after the fall of the April market market. The report, citing data from the Marketing Institute in Luxury's home, said that luxury single -family housing sales fell 4.7% year after year, while attached properties sales collapsed at 21.1%.
Agents are also seeing that more customers reduce list prices in 2025 compared to recent years, according to Waugh. The median prices sold for single -family and luxury single -family properties and a luxury currently has $ 1.7 million and $ 1.25 million, respectively, according to the Marketing Institute in the home of Luxury.
Waugh added that buyers in all prices are more demanding than a few years ago. They are now asking for high -end appliances such as smart refrigerators, spa level services and exterior interior life functions from a fireplace to a complete kitchen.
Luxury buyers for the first time are especially selective, he said.
“They can be stretching themselves, given the current rate environment, so they will be much more demanding in terms of evaluating where they live, the comforts, the condition of the property in the move,” he said. “It is a completely new environment this year that the previous years.”
