Real Estate Records are Sweeping the Industry

Real EstateReal Estate Records are Sweeping the IndustryIn a tight market flush with cash, skyrocketing prices continue to reach new heightsFebruary 5, 2022

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Marc Angeles; Unlimited Style Real Estate Photography

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Record breakers in real estate used to be an occasional event—one that had industry insiders and the public talking for weeks on end. Today, however, these records have become such a common occurrence that eyebrows hardly raise when they happen. 

“The wealthy have gotten wealthier following the start of the pandemic, and they’re willing to pay up big for real estate, which is leading to record sales across the globe,” says Kelly Mangold, a principal at the global real estate consulting company RCLCO. “This demand, along with industry shortages, has also impacted listing prices and made them hit record levels.” In short, says Mangold, the word “record” is tossed around freely in the current landscape of residential real estate, which wasn’t the case five years ago. “Some of the trends leading to these big records were happening prepandemic, but the pandemic has only accelerated them,” she says.

The first few weeks of the new year are proof of this trend. 

A Los Angeles property named The One, for example, hit the auction market on January 7 for $295 million. As AD online reported, if the property goes for the asking price, it will be the most expensive home sold in the country and the biggest online purchase ever.

The $90 million listing in Miami’s Star Island is the highest listing for Miami-Dade County. 

Alyssa Malone/ONE Sotheby's International Realty 

Then, in Miami’s Star Island, an estate was recently listed for $90 million—the highest listing ever for Miami-Dade County.  If the property sells at or near the asking price, it will be a record sale for the county; the current record is $75 million. Spanning 25,000 square feet and on a 40,000-square-foot waterfront lot, the property includes two homes. One was originally built in 1924 by the celebrated architect Walter De Garmo. It has 11 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, and amenities galore, including a waterfront gym, a 1,400-bottle wine room, a spa with a massage room and hair salon, and a large wraparound pool.

Also in Florida, a riverfront home in Fort Myers is on the market for $15.5 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. If it sells, it will be the most expensive home sale for the city. Right now, the record is $10 million, the Journal reported, for a property that sold in 2007.

Listed for $24.5 million, this San Francisco penthouse is the most expensive condo listing in the city. 

 Jacob Elliot for Sotheby's International Realty

In San Francisco, a new listing for a Pacific Heights penthouse for $24.5 million is the most expensive condo currently on the market in the city. In Wisconsin, a mansion just sold on Lake Geneva for $36 million, making it the most expensive home sale in the entire state. And even North Dakota is seeing record listings, such as a sprawling mansion in Fargo just listed for $2.85 million.

The $40.8 million plot of land on Dubai’s Jumeirah Bay Island.

Luxhabitat Sotheby’s International Realty

Looking internationally, Mansion Global reported that Dubai saw a $40.8 million deal for a home site on Jumeirah Bay Island—the highest price ever for a plot of land on the island. 

And we haven’t even touched on the records in 2021. “There were so many unprecedented numbers with respect to sales last year,” says Donna Olshan, the president of Olshan Realty who publishes a weekly report of sales in Manhattan that are $4 million and higher. “They’re a reflection of the accumulation of wealth that has happened in the country over the last few years.”

Examples abound. 

Last February, as Mansion Global reported, the most expensive house in Palm Beach sold for $122.7 million. It’s a spec residence that used to be part of a property formerly owned by president Donald Trump. The home spans around 21,000 square feet and overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. It was built in 2020 and was initially listed in January for $140 million. 

The biggest sale of 2021 goes to the $200 million Rupert Murdoch plunked down for a 340,000-acre ranch in Montana. 

Then, there are the records set for the year overall: As Bloomberg reported, at least 40 homes sold for more than $50 million in the United States in 2021—a record and a 35% increase from 2020. It’s a jump that has never been seen before. The eight most expensive sales, according to real estate appraiser Miller Samuels, were each $100 million or more. 

One Manhattan Square saw record-breaking sales in 2021.

Evan Joseph

In another example, Extell Development Company reported that two of its largest residential developments, One Manhattan Square and Brooklyn Point, each sold over 100 units in 2021 for a total of more than $400 million in sales. Extell claims that it is the only developer in New York to sell more than 100 units at two separate buildings in a calendar year. 

Given the records that have already been set in less than a month in 2022, Mangold says that the rest of the year is almost certainly sure to be full of more action. “It’s likely going to continue to be a brisk time for residential real estate,” she says. “Calling something a record is almost meaningless in a way because another is going to happen soon after that one is set.”

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