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The pandemic-era home price explosion was especially pronounced for luxury homes, but more than five years later, most of that growth has fizzled out. <\/p>\n
In a new report, Realtor.com examined luxury listings around the country and found that outside of two unique markets, pandemic appreciation in the upper echelons of the housing market hasn\u2019t been outdone in the years since.<\/p>\n
Only Minneapolis-St. Paul and Boise have seen recent prices best previous highs, with luxury homes now sitting at 5% and 4% above their pandemic peaks, respectively. While Minneapolis-St. Paul\u2019s luxury home prices only ticked up by 17.6% during the home buying boom, prices exploded by an astronomical 87% in Boise \u2013 and they haven\u2019t fallen back down to earth.<\/p>\n
Other luxury housing markets have held onto most of their massive pricing gains, even if they haven\u2019t been able to top them. Boston and Bend, Oregon each retained 89% of their previous run-ups and don\u2019t yet appear to have peaked. Boston\u2019s luxury market continues to benefit from wealthy home buyers working in financial services and life sciences, Realtor.com\u2019s report observes, while the well-to-do still flock to Bend\u2019s outdoor activities and lifestyle appeal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pandemic didn’t create the same luxury market everywhere, and the correction hasn’t played out the same everywhere either,\u201d Realtor.com Senior Economist Anthony Smith wrote in the report. \u201cTwo markets have surpassed their pandemic peaks entirely. Five have fallen below where they started before COVID arrived. The ones still holding their gains have something the others don’t: real reasons for buyers to be there that have nothing to do with low mortgage rates and remote work.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the other side of the coin, the Bay Area saw its pandemic luxury housing boom erased and then some. The deep market correction centered on San Francisco saw its price threshold for luxury homes retreat by nearly $700,000 under its pre-pandemic baseline. That makes the Bay Area\u2019s negative trend the most dramatic of any of the tracked markets in Realtor.com\u2019s report, which cites pandemic-era tech layoffs and an outflow of wealthy residents as the phenomenon\u2019s underlying forces. <\/p>\n
The same data suggests that the Bay may now be on the rebound. Affluent tech workers benefitting from the AI boom are cashing in and making bigger down payments for luxury homes, according to Realtor.com\u2019s analysis. That \u201csmall but highly compensated AI workforce\u201d is pushing demand on the high end of the market that is counteracting the Bay\u2019s broader luxury housing price correction.<\/p>\n
On a national level, some things have changed for good. Listings over one million dollars made up 13.8% of the U.S. housing market in May 2026, a much larger slice of the pie compared to 7% to 9% pre-pandemic. The so-called \u201cluxury threshold\u201d hovered around $1.28 million in May, designating the price where the top 10% of the country\u2019s most expensive homes begin. The month marked the 26th consecutive dip for the luxury threshold, though the 1.4% decline is minor compared to bigger drops around 5% at the start of last year.<\/p>\n