2007 Survey of Luxury Housing Market Trends Released

Roseburg, OR (PRWEB) June 7, 2007

The Luxury Home Council today released the results of The 2007 Membership Survey of Luxury Housing Market Trends. The survey's findings provide revealing insight into the trends of the luxury home market. Highlights from the report include:

-The largest percentage of luxury home buyers falls into the 40-50 age group (48%) followed closely by the 50-65 age group (44%). These affluent buyers are what marketing experts describe as the "Baby Boomer" market, a 78 million strong segment of the population that has reached its peak earning years and is now benefiting from a rising stock market and historically high home prices.

-The most common occupation of luxury home buyers is that of an entrepreneur (51%), followed by large business executive (46%) or medical doctor (24%).

-The number one service affluent home buyers are interested in receiving from their luxury home specialist is help in finding a home (86%) followed by help in managing the transaction (56%) and expert counsel during a negation (43%).

-The typical luxury home buyer makes a large cash investment in their home purchase amounting to over a third of the overall purchase price. In many metro markets this would exceed a quarter of a million dollars. This compares to the median amount financed by all buyers in 2006 of 91% of the purchase price.

-The average luxury home buyer spends 11 weeks looking for a home and views 12 homes.

-Luxury home buyers on average search for homes consisting of at least 3,500-4,000 square feet, with 4-5 bedrooms and 3-4 bathrooms.

-When selecting a home to purchase luxury home buyers often search for a home that will provide a lifestyle, not just a place to live. The most popular amenities include gourmet kitchens (95%), master bedroom suites (86%), specialty construction items (66%), high end appliance packages (64%), home office suites (58%) and home theater rooms (55%).

-By far the vast majority of luxury home buyers active in the market today are best described as "new money". This means that they are not merely living off the successes of past generations. This data is further supported by a report from research firm TNS which reports that the number of millionaires in the US has reached an all time high of 9.3 million households as of mid-2006.

-The average listing price for luxury homes is nearly $900,000 dollars, or over four times more than the median price of all US Homes as of May 15, 2007 ($212,300).

To view the complete report visit http://www.luxuryhomecouncil.com.

The Luxury Home Council is dedicated to providing high quality information and training to real estate professionals working in the luxury home field. In 2004 the Luxury Home Council launched the Accredited Luxury Home Specialist (ALHS) Course. This intensive two day course explores national luxury housing trends, specialized luxury buyer and seller needs, development and delivery of unique high level services, representation issues, liability and risk management, builder services, personal marketing, and much more. The ALHS course is distributed in partnership with REALTYU the largest network of real estate educators in the nation.

The 2007 Membership Survey of Luxury Housing Market Trends was conducted between April 24, 2007, and May 29, 2007, utilizing software provided by Zoomerang.com. The survey was sent to 1036 members of the Luxury Home Council, an exclusive group of REALTORS® who specialize in selling Luxury Housing, 202 members provided usable answers to the survey questions.

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