Luxury Prices Fall for 30th Straight Month as Big Price Tags Fail to Guarantee Top School Marks, Realtor.com® Finds

Naples, Fla., tops luxury markets in elementary school ratings (9.3/10) and annual price gains, while second-priciest Kahului-Wailuku, Hawaii, ranks last (5.0/10)

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The national entry point to luxury housing edged down to $1,199,321 in September, 3.6% below a year ago and the 30th consecutive month of annual price declines, according to the Realtor.com^® September Luxury Housing Report released today.

Every luxury tier is cheaper than a year ago, with the threshold for the top 5% of listings down 3.5% and the top 1% down 5.3%. Even so, luxury homes are selling faster than they were last September. Listings at the 90th percentile spent a median of 76 days on the market, three days fewer than a year ago, though two days more than in August as the market eases out of summer.

With students back in class, the report also looks at public elementary school ratings across luxury markets and finds that a big price tag doesn't guarantee top marks.

"Luxury prices keep drifting lower, but buyers haven't gone quiet. Homes are selling faster than a year ago in every tier," said Anthony Smith, senior economist at Realtor.com^®. "School ratings are one local factor that can go hand in hand with price strength, as in Naples, Fla., but they don't make a market immune."

National Luxury Overview, September 2026

The luxury entry point is the lowest since January 2023, 14.1% below its May 2023 peak of roughly $1.4 million. It slipped 0.1% from August, following a 4.0% drop that month, and higher tiers softened slightly more. There are no clear signs yet of a reversal.

The million-dollar listing share fell to 12.5%, down 0.2 percentage points from August and 0.5 points from a year ago. Million-dollar listings rose 1.2% from last year while total active listings rose 5.4%. Listings at the 95th percentile spent 86 days on the market and those at the 99th percentile spent 100 days, each three days faster than a year ago. The typical listing spent 61 days on the market, unchanged from a year ago.

Los Angeles Widens Its Lead as the Highest Entry Point to Luxury

Los Angeles held the top spot at $3.95 million in September, widening its lead as Kahului-Wailuku, Hawaii, slipped 3.1%. The gap between the top two is now about 4%, after less than 1% separated the top three in August. Naples-Marco Island, Fla., moved up to third.

Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, Conn., fell 7.3% after a 6.0% drop in August. It is now 15.6% below a year ago, the steepest annual decline in the top 10, and 14.3% below its June peak, when it held the top spot.

Naples, Fla., (up 8.9%) and Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, Fla,. (up 2.4%) were the only top 10 markets with annual gains. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif., posted a third straight monthly gain but remains 10.8% below a year ago. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif., returned to the top 10, pushing out Atlantic City-Hammonton, N.J.

Top 10 Most Expensive Metropolitan Luxury Markets

Back to School: Luxury Markets and Elementary School Ratings

Location drives luxury purchases, and for many buyers that includes schools. The report compares average public elementary school ratings from GreatSchools.org for luxury homes (listings at or above the metro's 90th percentile) across the 43 metropolitan areas it tracks. Naples-Marco Island, Fla., ranks first at 9.3 out of 10, followed by Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, Fla., at 9.1 and Bridgeport. Conn., at 8.5. Naples and Crestview are also the only two top 10 most expensive markets with annual price gains.

Metros With the Highest-Rated Elementary Schools Among Luxury Markets

Strong elementary schools aren't a shield, however. Bridgeport, Conn., ranks third on elementary schools, but its luxury threshold is down 15.6% from a year ago. The price tag isn't a grade either. Luxury begins at $900,388 in Jacksonville, Fla., and $780,487 in San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas, and both average higher elementary school ratings (7.8 and 7.4) than New York (6.7), where luxury starts at $2.62 million.

At the other end, Kahului-Wailuku, Hawaii, averages 5 out of 10, the lowest of any luxury metro and 4.3 points below Naples, Fla., despite having the second-highest luxury threshold. Urban Honolulu follows at 5.7.

Metros With the Lowest-Rated Elementary Schools Among Luxury Markets

The ratings cover public schools only, and many luxury buyers also weigh private options. School quality is one local factor among several and not a reliable predictor of price performance.

Methodology
All data in this report is sourced from Realtor.com^® listing trends as of September 2026, reflecting active inventory of existing homes, including single-family residences, condos, townhomes, row homes and co-ops. Listings reflect only those provided by MLS platforms to Realtor.com^® via a listing feed. New-construction listings are excluded unless actively listed on participating MLSs.

Luxury segmentation is based on market-specific price percentiles, with the 90th percentile representing entry-level luxury, the 95th percentile marking high-end luxury and the 99th percentile indicating ultraluxury. All calculations are based on listing prices, not final sales prices.

Metropolitan and micropolitan areas are defined using the Office of Management and Budget's OMB-2023 delineations, with Claritas 2025 household estimates used for relative comparisons. Where appropriate, analysis was limited to metros or micros with a minimum threshold of active million-dollar listings on average over the past year. Market-level analysis in this report covers the 43 metropolitan areas that averaged at least 500 million-dollar listings over the 12 months through September 2026.

School ratings are sourced from GreatSchools.org and reflect the 1 to 10 rating of the public elementary schools assigned to each listing. Homes without an assigned elementary school rating are excluded. Ratings do not reflect private schools, school choice programs or lottery-based admissions.

Historical listing trend data extends to July 2016, but year-over-year comparisons in this report use September 2025 as the baseline.

Luxury by the Numbers
90th percentile = Entry-level luxury (top 10% of prices)
95th percentile = High-end luxury
99th percentile = Ultraluxury (often rare or custom properties)

About Realtor.com^®
For over 30 years, Realtor.com^® has connected buyers, sellers, and renters with trusted insights, professional guidance and powerful tools to help them find their perfect home. Recognized as the No. 1 real estate site REALTOR^® agents recommend, Realtor.com^® delivers consumer connections and a robust suite of marketing tools to support business growth. Realtor.com^® is operated by News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] subsidiary Move, Inc.

Media contact: Janice McDill, [email protected] 

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SOURCE Realtor.com