The U.S. housing market remains largely frozen, but mansions have been hot lately as wealthy Americans turn to high-end properties amid market volatility and economic uncertainty.
In Los Angeles County, for example, the number of such homes sold between Feb. 1 and May 1 totaled 160, up 29% from the same period a year earlier. That includes Beverly Hills, where sales leapt 33% to 16.
Manhattan has seen a 21% jump to 150, and Miami-Dade County is up 48% to 49 homes. Elsewhere, sales in Palm Beach, Fla., have surged 50% to 18 homes, and sales in Aspen, Colo., are up 44% to 23.
By contrast, the overall housing market has been subdued as high mortgage rates and home prices keep most Americans on the sidelines.
Meanwhile, Trump’s on-again, off-again trade war—which began in February—has roiled financial markets as well as the economic outlook.
One New York entrepreneur who recently bought four Manhattan condos told the Wall Street Journal that the risk of more stock market pain is too high for the reward, especially amid inflation, saying “real estate is safer, less volatile.”
Some real estate agents also cited the perceived safety of real estate, with one saying clients had even sold their stocks at a loss to buy property.
That tracks with earlier predictions of real estate looking safer. In March, National Association of Realtors chief economist Lawrence Yun noted that real estate wealth was at all-time highs while stocks wobbled.
“Well, in respect to real estate, it’s so much harder than stocks in terms of negotiation of deals, time spent, and the involvement of multiple parties in the ownership,” he said at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting earlier this month. “Usually when real estate gets in trouble, you find out you’re dealing with more than just the equity holder.”
