Across 12 global markets, Dubai had more residential transactions in excess of US$10 million than any other city.

The number of super-prime home sales may be declining, but some cities are actually seeing an increase in ultra-luxury purchases.

The total number of houses that sold for US$10 million or more dropped 2.4 percent when compared to the same period in 2022, but according to a recent report from real estate company Knight Frank, there were 362 super-prime residential transactions in the third quarter—defined as those that closed above US$10 million—with Hong Kong, Dubai, Geneva, Miami, and Sydney all recording increases from last year.

The brokerage’s super-prime report analysed residential transactions and sales volumes at US$10 million and above across 12 global markets. “Super-prime activity has come off the 2021 peak, but our latest results confirm a market still seeing activity above pre-pandemic levels,” explained Liam Bailey, a researcher at Knight Frank, in the analysis.

Contrary to the overall slowdown, Dubai claimed the No. 1 spot with 89 home sales in excess of US$10 million. For context, The City of Gold only had 58 sales in the same period last year. Similarly, there were 39 ultra-luxury sales in Hong Kong, up from just 19. Another thriving market has been Geneva, which also saw an uptick in the volume of super-prime home sales, up from 14 to 20. Lastly, in Miami, ultra-luxury residential sales increased from 21 to 26, and in Syndey, they rose from 18 to 21.

The number of homes that sold for more than $10 million decreased in cities including London and New York. Photo by Unsplash

London is technically right behind Dubai with the second-highest number of high-end home deals in Q3. The British capital clocked 51 US$10 million-plus home purchases; however, that’s less than the 63 that were sold in the third quarter of 2022. New York also recorded a decline in sales, with mega-sales volume dropping from 43 to 34. “Higher debt costs will continue to weigh on the sector, but a lack of fresh new-build project launches in key markets like London and New York will impact sales in 2024,” said Bailey.

As a whole, the overall value of luxury sales is still impressive. In the last 12 months, homebuyers spent a whopping US$31.7 billion on super-prime residences. To be fair, that’s below the wild US$40.7 billion achieved just two years ago following the pandemic. However, it’s significantly higher than the US$18.6 million splashed out in 2019. “Super-prime sales have been quite resilient compared to other residential markets,” added Bailey. “The recovery in travel and completion of new builds have helped support sales.”

This story was first published on Robb Report USA