The $100 Million Home Has Its Best Year Ever
This banner year for trophy homes warrants an exploration of the market forces and trends that propelled the market to this new high
In 2015, we identified the $100 million home as the new benchmark for ultra luxury. Despite initial skepticism two years ago about the viability of homes offered at these rarefied asking prices, in 2016, a record-breaking 10 properties sold at and above this price point for a total value of $1.32 billion. The previous record, set in 2014, was five $100-million-plus homes sold in a single year. Currently, 33 nine-figure homes are publicly listed for sale around the world, up from 19 just two years ago.
Around the world, a record-breaking 10 properties sold at and above this price point, with a total value of $1.32 billion.
2016 saw new markets join the $100 million club, with $100 million+ homes sold for the first time in Los Angeles, Suzhou (China), and Texas.
$100M+ Publicly Reported Residential Sales Worldwide in 2016
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In California’s Holmby Hills, Hilton & Hyland Real Estate sold the iconic Playboy Mansion for $105 million—the first of Los Angeles’ two trophy home sales in 2016. Breaking the nine-figure mark for the first time on mainland China was Taohuayuan, or Utopia, in Suzhou, China. And in Texas, the WT Waggoner Ranch was the year’s highest, listed at $725 million, though its final sale price was not disclosed. This is a working ranch and not a pure-play residential sale; as such, it is not included in our aggregate count of 2016 nine-figure sales. Another Texan property was listed for $100 million and closed last year, though the final sale price was not disclosed.
2017 Top Residential Sales Worldwide (As of April 25, 2017)
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The remaining sales occurred in geographies where the trophy home is already an established market segment. Hong Kong posted four residential sales above $100 million. The $270 million (HK$2.1 billion) sale in The Peak neighborhood was the city’s highest-priced sale and the highest in an urban area, also setting the all-time price-per-square-foot record for Asia ($29,385). Of the three other properties that sold, two were residences in the new Mount Nicholson Project on The Peak, and one was a new development in Hong Kong’s Stanley neighborhood.
Two trophy homes sold in London—one in Kensington Palace Gardens for $119 million, and one in Belgravia for $101 million. East Hampton, New York, recorded its second-highest sale ever at $110 million. The Lily Pond Lane Estate, comprised of three adjoining parcels of land, was sold as one expansive piece of prime coastline.
More $100M+ homes sold in 2016 across the globe than in any year before, with 10 homes reaching this trophy sale price.
Also of note, five of the year’s sales were new developments or spec homes.
Already in 2017, the $100 million phenomenon shows no sign of waning, at least in Hong Kong. Two sales were announced at the beginning of the year, one for $360 million,17 (a “teardown”) and the other for $139 million, both at The Peak.
