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The luxury real estate sector faced its ups and downs during 2022 as the market as a whole entered into a period of significant transition.
The global economy was shaken by the war in Ukraine, inflation soared, the Fed continued to hike up interest rates, and although luxury buyers are often unaffected by market factors, they’re not completely indifferent to them either. In August, Manhattan, a bastion of high-end real estate, saw its worst week in luxury since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic back in August 2020. Signed luxury contracts hit a new low, and agents told Inman that luxury buyers were taking a breath.
But the market slowdown didn’t prevent luxury clients from selling and buying some breathtaking properties. In fact, the number of properties sold for $100 million or more was just two fewer than the number seen in 2021, with at least six luxury properties selling at or above that figure.
Palm Beach took the lead this year with a mind-boggling $173 million sale of a 15-acre estate with a whopping 1,200 feet of ocean frontage.
One deal not in this list, which was included in an earlier preview of the biggest deals of the year so far, was the $188 million sale of billionaire investor Daniel Och’s penthouse at 220 Central Park South. The deal technically closed on Dec. 28, 2021, but didn’t go public until 2022, so Inman decided not to include it in this final roundup.
Unlike recent years, Palm Beach only made this list of top deals twice — in 2021, nine out of 30 top deals for the year were sourced in Palm Beach. At the other end of the spectrum, New York City and areas in and around Los Angeles were neck and neck this year for the greatest number of pricey deals closed with both cities landing eight of…