Luxury homes are more expensive than ever as the wealthy buck high mortgage rates

• Luxury home prices are at the highest they've ever been, with prices rising twice as much as non-luxury homes, Redfin said.
• The typical US luxury home sold for about $1.17 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, up 8.8% year-over-year.
• "So many affluent buyers are able to buy homes in cash, rendering today's elevated mortgage rates irrelevant."

Luxury home prices have hit an all-time high, rising at twice the pace of non-luxury homes, Redfin wrote in a report on Wednesday. While high mortgage rates have crushed the rest of the housing market, wealthy buyers have enough cash to pay for a home upfront, free from the rate "lock-in effect."