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Home Luxuries: What’s In, What’s Out

By | Oct 31, 2013 8:00AM

Which amenities can luxury homebuyers expect to find in today’s market? For our latest Real Estate Lab report, we combed through two years’ worth of luxury listings to see which words and phrases are trending up and down. We defined luxury listings as homes for sale that are priced at least four times above the median asking price for a given metro area: that means a million-dollar home in Rochester, NY, is a luxury listing, while a million-dollar home in San Francisco is not. We compared luxury homes listed between July 1, 2012, and June 30, 2013, with those listed in the previous year, between July 1, 2011, and June 30, 2012.

What’s In: Marble, Windows, and Booze

Looking at all of the words and phrases that appear in luxury listings, we identified twenty phrases that trended upward most strongly in the past year compared with the previous year. Luxury listings are now 78% more likely to mention a marble bath than one year ago, and 30% more likely to mention marble floors. Outdoor space is also on the rise: roof deck and terrace were 63% and 42% more common, respectively, than they were a year ago.

Luxury listings were also more likely to mention windows in the past year compared with the previous year. Oversized, floor-to-ceiling, ceiling, and large windows – as well breathtaking and ocean views – all trended upward, which suggests that buyers of luxury homes are increasingly paying for what they see when they look outward.

Home Luxuries: What’s Trending Up
# Phrase Change
1 marble bath 78%
2 roof deck 63%
3 oversized windows 56%
4 storage space 42%
5 terrace 42%
6 floor-to-ceiling windows 39%
7 ceiling windows 37%
8 marble floors 30%
9 wine room 30%
10 gym 28%
11 tennis court 24%
12 private elevator 24%
13 large windows 23%
14 wood burning fireplace 22%
15 outdoor kitchen 22%
16 summer kitchen 20%
17 pond 19%
18 panoramic views 18%
19 ocean views 18%
20 walk-in closets 17%

Finally, more luxury listings mentioned fitness amenities like gyms (up 28%) and tennis courts (up 24%). But residents should remember to use those before they hit another upward-trending luxury amenity: wine rooms (up 30%).

What’s Out: Kitchens and Formality

Many kitchen and cooking amenities trended downward over the past year. Luxury listings were 16% less likely to mention a BBQ, compared with the previous year. Additionally, phrases that were kitchen-related (custom cabinets, center island, granite counters, breakfast area) and appliance-related (double sinks, stainless appliances) were less likely to appear in luxury listings over the past year than in the previous year.

Also decreasing were mentions of formal rooms: formal dining and formal living room were both down 4%.

Home Luxuries: What’s Trending Down
# Phrase Change
1 BBQ -16%
2 hardwoods -13%
3 plantation shutters -13%
4 covered patio -11%
5 lush landscaping -9%
6 custom cabinets -9%
7 fireplaces -9%
8 double sinks -8%
9 stainless appliances -7%
10 pool -7%
11 gated community -6%
12 center island -6%
13 bonus room -6%
14 granite counters -5%
15 formal dining -4%
16 formal living room -4%
17 surround sound -4%
18 large master suite -3%
19 gourmet kitchen -3%
20 breakfast area -3%

What’s behind these trends in luxury listings? One factor is a shift in where luxury homes are for sale. Luxury listings increased in the New York and Washington D.C. metro areas, and where many high-priced homes there are fancy condos or co-ops, which are more likely feature urban luxuries like roof decks than suburban luxuries like BBQs, covered patios, or pools. Still, many of the upwardly trending luxury features like tennis courts, ponds, and outdoor kitchens aren’t found in urban condos, so these trends aren’t ONLY about geographic shifts in luxury listings.

Overall, there seems to be a move toward luxury listings calling out expansive windows, great views, and fitness amenities – and a move away from indoor cooking and eating. The real winner of these recent trends in luxury homes could be fancy restaurants: luxury homes aren’t emphasizing kitchens as much as they used to, but buyers of those homes still need to eat. For some of those luxury-home buyers, the most desirable view out of those floor-to-ceiling windows might be onto a lively neighborhood full of good restaurants.

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