The largest and most heavily populated cities across the U.S. continued their fall from grace at the tail end of 2020 as well-heeled home buyers directed their attention from metropolises to suburban living, according to Monday’s luxury market report from realtor.com.
The online property portal tracks the top 5% most expensive residential listings in 95 counties for its luxury index, and it was suburbs and secondary luxury markets that had the most prosperous fourth quarter in 2020.
Those increases are being underpinned by the seemingly insatiable appetite for more square footage, more privacy and more green space—amenities that are scarce in city centers.
“Suburbs and secondary markets in Colorado and California saw especially strong growth, which follows the widespread trend of buyers choosing the suburbs over urban life during the pandemic, while big city markets like the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Boston and Hawaii saw the largest luxury home price declines,” she added. Danielle Hale, realtor.com’s chief economist, said in the report.
