The Biello & Black Group is pleased to introduce the Sotheby’s International Realty® 2022 Luxury Outlook report, an ambitious exploration into high-end residential markets across the globe. 2021 proved to be a perfect storm for the high-end housing market as the starts-and-stops of the pandemic’s reopening fueled even stronger demand for larger homes and inventory struggled to keep pace. In this report, we follow the trends that are likely to shape the coming months across the world’s prime housing markets, from the resurgence of urban cities to the return of the international buyer.
The past year has been unprecedented on many fronts, including unexpected shifts in housing demand. Here in Philadelphia, the luxury market was active in the suburbs and tempid in the city. This year, garages, walk-in closets, and full baths replaced hardwood floors, granite countertops, and stainless-steel appliances as the three most popular features in home listings, one study says in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Mirroring universal trends explored in this report. While the value of what defines a “luxury” property can vary widely around the world , the most expensive home sold in the US last year was a $200 million 340,000-acre ranch in Montana near Yellowstone National Park (Robb Report), in Philadelphia the benchmark price is generally accepted to be $2,000,000 or more. Current Inventory of luxury homes above $2,000,000 in the Philadelphia Metro area is 167 properties.*