How Luxury Properties in Wisconsin Have Changed in the Past 20 Years

The advancements of technology, the influx of millennials, and the boom of wealth after the 2008 recession has changed a lot about luxury properties. Here’s a deeper dive into how luxury properties in Wisconsin have changed in the past 20 years.

A lot has changed about luxury in general, and part of that has to do with real estate’s recent history. During the recession of 2007 and 2008, prices for property fell by 17 percent globally. That combined with other economic factors like job losses, high energy costs, increasing foreclosures, and the dire state of the credit markets slowed the search for luxury real estate.

However, luxury real estate has bounced back. Across the globe there has been an increase in wealth creation, and wealth itself, which has attracted more buyers to the luxury real estate scene. As a result, luxury properties began to sell, and prices rose in many locations, including houses in Cedarburg, as a result. Now, luxury properties are difficult to find and harder to buy, as their demand outpaces their supply.

The term “luxury” itself has undergone a transformation in the past twenty years, which has shaped the real estate it describes. Ten or twenty years ago, real estate agents could state what luxury means with a clear definition based on location or size. Now luxury is an individual term; it’s much more subjective and based on personal perspective. That’s not to say that typical factors of luxury are off the table, such as beautiful design and quality material, but luxury has become an experience beyond those factors alone.

While several different requirements have come to be important in a luxury real estate purchase, one that actually isn’t so different is that buyers want a luxury property to be a sound investment. Second and third homes used to be bought for private use, but are now purchased as investment properties, or a combination of vacation and investment use. The feeling of safety in a property is one of the most important requirements—personal safety while at the property and in the investment.

Another change in the past twenty years that has changed luxury real estate is how working and jobs function. Due to technology connecting markets across the globe, many people don’t have to prioritize local properties like Grafton real estate for sale, and instead search for the property type they want across the United States. This means the types of people looking at Wisconsin luxury properties are more varied than they have been in the past.

People searching for luxury real estate also prioritize unique properties that can be used in a variety of ways. The types of consumers looking for these properties are willing to take the time to find something that nobody else has, and that reaches outside of the norm. Also, since the global pandemic, homeowners and buyers think of properties differently. A home isn’t just a home anymore—it’s an office, a weekend residence, a classroom, and more. Having enough space to accommodate all those functions shape luxury properties in Wisconsin.

The emerging population looking for luxury real estate like houses in Cedarburg are millennials. Many millennials waited to buy their first home, and are choosing to buy in the luxury niche. This is because many millennials are inheriting intergenerational wealth, or are entrepreneurs who have been successful in growing sectors. Also, millennials don’t have lingering worries about the 70s and 80s rising interest rates. As millennials become a larger percentage of buyers, they’ll impact what luxury real estate means and looks like, as well as where luxury is on the globe.

Other consumers of luxury real estate are international buyers and multigenerational families. Affluent foreign buyers tend to be more open-minded than U.S. buyers about looking for properties outside of their own country, especially if they have already traveled a lot for work or business. And multigenerational families who want to live together are seeking out luxury properties to do so, which is a shift away from single nuclear families or couples who buy.

Properties like Grafton real estate for sale have become much more visible due to growth of technology over the past 20 years. Rather than pre-technology boom tools like a DOS-run MLS system with a single low-res picture of a property, faxing offers to buyers, and traveling to get signatures for paperwork, technology has made it so all those tasks can be done nearly instantly.

Buyers are able to do their own research online before searching for a home, which has made for more knowledgeable clients. Detailed online listings with several photos of the whole house makes it much easier for buyers to understand what to expect from a property, no matter where that property or the buyer is located. Real estate agents can negotiate and communicate with other agents and clients over email, phone calls, or text, creating a more globalized luxury real estate market.

The role of the real estate agent has slightly changed as well. Although agents are great sources of information, they have become trusted advisors for those looking to buy. Many buyers have done their research on a location, and are looking for sound advice and guidance. Even though technology has rooted its way into the real estate process, people and relationships are still integral to keeping it going.

Luxury real estate in Wisconsin, and luxury real estate in general, has changed a lot over the past twenty years simply because the world itself has changed a lot. When you’re ready to search for a new place to call home, contact Jaime Lubner to guide you through the process.