View of luxury waterfront homes and boats along the intracoastal waterway near Jupiter Inlet in Jupiter, Florida in Palm Beach County
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A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Economic uncertainty is creating a divide in the luxury real estate market between ultra-rich buyers and the merely wealthy, according to a new report from brokerage Coldwell Banker.
A survey of some 200 agents specializing in luxury property found that ultra-wealthy buyers, defined as individuals worth at least $30 million, are still making big-ticket purchases despite trade war and recession fears. They are also driving a substantial rise in all-cash offers. Meanwhile, affluent but less wealthy buyers are more sensitive to interest rates and are acting more cautiously, according to the report.
Just over half of the surveyed agents said they had seen a slight or substantial increase in cash purchases by clients in 2025. Only 3.9% reported a decrease in those buyers in the first five months of 2025, while 45.4% said cash purchases had held steady, according to the report.
Jason Waugh, president of Coldwell Banker Affiliates, told Inside Wealth that high interest rates are a major factor behind the surge.
“Cash provides a buyer with control. It provides leverage, speed and security,” he said. “But it’s really the elevated borrowing costs that continue to remain so high. Why absorb those costs if you have the cash to close on a real estate purchase, right?”
Waugh, who got his broker license nearly 32 years ago, said real estate can be more attractive during times of economic uncertainty. Just over two-thirds of surveyed agents reported that affluent clients were maintaining or increasing their exposure to real estate, while only 11.3% said clients’ interest had decreased in favor of equities and other financial assets. The remaining 20.6% of agents said clients had put plans on hold due to economic or stock market uncertainty.
“It’s been a roller coaster, and the business is cyclical. I think at the end of the day, real estate is a hard asset that can preserve wealth and is a hedge against inflation,” he said. “I think that data really confirms that narrative that folks see real estate as a great way to to accumulate wealth even in the the most uncertain and volatile economic environment we’ve navigated in well over a decade.”
That said, while luxury home sales rose overall in the first five months of 2025, they took a hit in May, the first full month after April’s stock market dip. The report, citing data from the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, said luxury single-family home sales dipped 4.7% year over year while attached property sales plummeted by 21.1%.
Agents are also seeing more clients reduce list prices in 2025 compared to recent years, according to Waugh. The median sold prices for luxury single-family and luxury-attached properties currently stand at $1.7 million and $1.25 million, respectively, according to the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing.
Waugh added that buyers at all price points are more discerning than they were a few years ago. They’re now asking for top-end appliances like smart fridges, spa-level amenities, and indoor-outdoor living features from a fireplace to a whole kitchen.
First-time luxury buyers are especially choosy, he said.
“They may be stretching themselves, given the current rate environment, so they’re going to be a lot more discerning in terms of evaluating where they live, the amenities, the condition of the property at move in,” he said. “It’s a completely new environment this year than the prior couple years.”
