Ultra-wealthy home buyers went on a shopping spree at the end of last year, according to new data from real estate brokerage Knight Frank.
Sales of $10 million-plus homes across a dozen financial centers spiked in the fourth quarter of last year, rising to 558 transactions, Knight Frank said in a report on Monday. That marks a more than 30% spike over the prior year.
Strong economic sentiment, a surging stock market and new wealth creation among the super rich at the end of last year helped propel the spate of trophy-home sales in a handful of cities.
Dubai logged the most $10 million home sales in both the fourth quarter and in all of last year. But the fourth-quarter spike was notable, with such deals nearly doubling from a year ago.
Such deals also surged in New York, where there were 87 sales of at least $10 million, almost doubling from a year earlier. Miami and Palm Beach—the location of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home—also saw a revival of trophy home sales in the fourth quarter, according to Knight Frank.
Beyond basic wealth creation and optimism at the end of 2024, local regulations and taxes also played a role in which cities came out on top.
Hong Kong drove the fourth-quarter surge in activity, as trophy sales rose 380%, from several very slow post-Covid years.
Meanwhile, $10 million-plus deals slumped in London and Singapore.
“The total for London in 2024 was impacted by speculation over new regulations for wealthy non-domiciled residents,” according to the report.
In Singapore, a 60% stamp duty rate for most foreign buyers has stymied deal making since the tax hike took effect in April 2023.
“Dubai still dominates in terms of sales volumes, but New York, Hong Kong and Palm Beach are back, confirming that super prime demand remains global,” said Liam Bailey, Knight Frank’s global head of research, in the report. “A positive wealth creation backstory points to continued healthy deal flow in 2025.”
It’s yet to be seen how the U.S.’s fast-changing trade policy under Trump and a volatile stock market will hit super-prime home sales, though broadly speaking, U.S. stocks are still forecast to rise this year. For instance, UBS’s Chief Investment Office put out a note to investors on Monday advising them to buy the dip amid tariff-induced volatility, saying “we continue to expect the S&P 500 to end the year higher.”
