Of the six “hottest lifestyle property location trends” favored by wealthy Americans, Colorado has a clear lock on four trends and can reasonably claim a connection to two others.
These are among the findings from the new “Luxury Lifestyle Report: A Study of High Net Worth Consumers,” just issued by Sotheby’s International Realty. With 10 offices in Colorado, Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty is an associate of the international company.
Affluent U.S. consumers listed their most desired home locations as: waterfront, 41 percent; farm/ranch, 26 percent; historic, 24 percent; golf, 22 percent; winery/vineyard access, 18 percent; and ski access, 14 percent.
Unquestionably, Colorado offers plenty of stunning ranch, historic, golf and ski-accessible properties. If one counts the Western Slope’s wine country, then the state is positioned in that trend sector, too. And, while Colorado is land-locked, there are lakefront properties here. In fact, among its many diverse lifestyle properties, FSIR is currently listing a property in a unique Denver lakefront community of just 37 homes.
To help illustrate luxury homes in its report, Sotheby’s used a photo of a Cherry Hills Village home, currently listed for $5.5 million by the FSIR broker team of Wolfe-Bouc. Among its many high-end amenities, the home has a wine cellar/grotto and six-car garages.
FSIR counts a remarkable contingent of affluent lifestyle properties among its listings, particularly in the trend sectors listed above. Due to that fact, it’s no wonder some of the firm’s listings often populate notable luxury home websites.
The new report surveyed affluent consumers in the U.S., Great Britain, Brazil and China, and found them more confident now in the housing market in their country of residence than five years ago.
“Those insights are important because we have seen the luxury sector lead the way for overall market recovery,” said Philip White, president and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC.
The report defined an affluent U.S. consumer as one with at least $2 million in investible assets who owns multiple properties. According to the study, wealthy Americans now own, on average, three homes in this country.
What else is trending in the lives of the rich and probably famous? The study found that home luxuries like water, art and car space and smart amenities were highly sought by wealthy buyers.
Buyers’ interest in smart homes has jumped significantly over the past two years, the Sotheby report found. Fifty-five percent of Chinese buyers put a high value on homes with space to display art, compared to 22 percent of Americans seeking that quality. Wealthy Americans ranked second and third, respectively, among the countries in valuing garage space for multiple car storage and deepwater ports.
China and Brazil ranked highest among affluent international consumers in seeking a home helipad. Only 7 percent of U.S. buyers ranked that feature as important.
