Austin, Texas – October 14, 2026 -- Buying a luxury home now costs 3.6% less than a year ago: the national entry point to luxury housing slipped to $1,199,321 in September, the 30th consecutive month of annual price declines, according to the Realtor.com® September Luxury Housing Report.
Every luxury tier is cheaper, yet homes sell faster
The threshold for the top 5% of listings fell 3.5% from a year ago, and the top 1% fell 5.3%. Even so, listings at the 90th percentile spent a median of 76 days on the market, three days fewer than last September. That is two days more than in August. The luxury entry point is the lowest since January 2023 and 14.1% below its May 2023 peak of roughly $1.4 million.
The million-dollar listing share dropped to 12.5%. Million-dollar listings rose 1.2% from last year, while total active listings rose 5.4%.
Anthony Smith, senior economist at Realtor.com®, said buyers have not gone quiet, noting that homes are selling faster than a year ago in every tier.
Los Angeles widens its lead at $3.95 million
Los Angeles held the top spot at $3.95 million as Kahului-Wailuku, Hawaii, slipped 3.1%. The gap between the top two is now about 4%. Naples-Marco Island, Fla., moved up to third.
Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, Conn., fell 7.3% after a 6.0% drop in August. It is 15.6% below a year ago, the steepest annual decline in the top 10. Only Naples, Fla. (up 8.9%), and Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, Fla. (up 2.4%), posted annual gains among the top 10 markets. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif., returned to the top 10.
Naples scores 9.3 out of 10 for elementary schools
Using GreatSchools.org ratings of public elementary schools across 43 metro areas, the report finds that price does not guarantee top marks. Naples-Marco Island ranks first at 9.3, followed by Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin at 9.1 and Bridgeport, Conn., at 8.5.
Strong schools did not shield Bridgeport, though, as its luxury threshold is down 15.6% year over year. Luxury starts at $900,388 in Jacksonville, Fla., and $780,487 in San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas. Both average higher ratings (7.8 and 7.4) than New York (6.7), where luxury starts at $2.62 million.
Kahului-Wailuku, with the second-highest luxury threshold, averages 5.0, the lowest of any luxury metro and 4.3 points below Naples. Urban Honolulu follows at 5.7. The ratings cover public schools only and do not reflect private options.