High-End Buyers Power Through Rate Pressures
U.S. luxury home prices surged to a record for the month of October 2025, climbing 5.5% from a year earlier to a median of $1.28 million, according to a new report from Redfin. High-end properties once again far outpaced the rest of the housing market: prices for non-luxury homes rose just 1.8% to a median of $373,249.
The figures, based on sales from August through October 2025, underscore a widening divide between affluent buyers and the rest of the market. Redfin defines luxury homes as those in the top 5% of local price tiers; non-luxury homes fall into the 35th-65th percentiles. All data reflect rolling three-month averages.
High-End Market Continues to Outperform
Price growth at the top of the market has been consistently stronger than in the middle for nearly two years. Economists say the gap reflects starkly different financial conditions for wealthy buyers, who are less exposed to elevated mortgage rates.
“Luxury buyers are still able to move forward in ways typical buyers can’t right now–whether that’s because they’re paying in cash, benefiting from stock-market gains, or taking out smaller loans,” said Sheharyar Bokhari, senior economist at Redfin. “Those advantages make them less sensitive to high mortgage rates, which helps keep demand at the top of the market steadier.”
Sales Tick Up–But From Depressed Levels
Closed sales rose in both segments, but activity remains near decade lows for October 2025. Luxury home sales increased 2.9% from a year earlier, while non-luxury sales edged up 0.7%. Despite the gains, elevated rates and prices continue to weigh on transaction volume.
“The luxury market has been a little more protected over the past year compared to non-luxury or starter homes,” said Jonathan Buch, a Redfin Premier agent in West Palm Beach, Florida. “Affordability challenges have made it more difficult to sell homes under $800,000, but high-end properties are still moving.”
Pending sales increased 2.1% year over year for luxury homes and 1.4% for non-luxury homes.
Inventory Builds, But Still Below Pre-Pandemic Norms
Inventory gains accelerated in October. The number of luxury homes listed for sale rose 6.4% from a year earlier to the highest October level in five years. Non-luxury inventory increased even more sharply–up 9.5%–to the highest level since 2019.
Still, both categories remain far below pre-2020 supply levels. New listings diverged: luxury listings gained 2.3% year over year, while new non-luxury listings slipped 1.7%.
Homes Taking Longer to Sell
Luxury and non-luxury homes each took six additional days to sell compared with a year ago. The typical luxury home spent 58 days on the market in October; non-luxury homes took 45 days.
Early-stage activity shows further slowing. Just 26.7% of luxury listings went under contract within two weeks, down 0.6 percentage points year over year. The share for non-luxury homes fell more sharply, down 2.9 points to 31.3%.
Metro Highlights: Where Luxury Markets Are Heating Up–And Cooling
Redfin’s analysis covers the 50 largest U.S. metros. Year-over-year changes for October 2025 include:
Prices
Biggest Gains: Warren, MI (+14.9% to $1.09M); Milwaukee, WI (+13.5% to $1.14M); San Jose, CA (+11.9% to $5.60M)
Declines: Tampa, FL (-2.9% to $1.44M); Oakland, CA (-2.4% to $2.93M)
Sales
Strongest Increases: Nashville, TN (+20.3%); Kansas City, MO (+16.5%); Riverside, CA (+16.4%)
Sharpest Drops: Philadelphia (-15.4%); Detroit (-14.5%); Nassau County, NY (-8.7%)
Active Listings
Fastest Growth: Tampa (+36.5%); Nashville (+17.1%); Baltimore (+16.4%)
Declines: Philadelphia (-18.3%); San Jose (-18.3%); Chicago (-13.1%)
New Listings
Largest Increases: Tampa (+31.6%); Kansas City (+25.2%); Washington, D.C. (+12.4%)
Largest Declines: Milwaukee (-24.9%); Anaheim, CA (-19.3%); Nassau County, NY (-15.0%)
Speed of Sales
Fastest Markets: San Jose (12 days); Oakland (17 days); Seattle (21 days)
Slowest Markets: Miami (139 days); West Palm Beach (120 days); Fort Lauderdale (113 days)
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