U.S. luxury home sales increased 41.5 percent year-over-year in the third quarter, according to a new report from Redfin. This is the largest jump since at least 2013, when Redfin began recording this data. Meanwhile, sales of medium-priced homes climbed only 3 percent, and sales of affordable homes declined 4.2 percent, underscoring the coronavirus pandemic’s disparate impact on Americans with lower levels of wealth.
“The luxury housing market normally takes a hit during recessions as wealthy Americans tighten their purse strings, but this isn’t a normal recession,” said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. “Remote work, record-low mortgage rates and strong stock prices during the pandemic are allowing America’s wealthy families to gobble up expensive houses with home offices and big backyard
