Average luxury home price growth decelerated in the fourth quarter, growing only by 3% year over year, according to a report released Monday by Redfin, an online real estate brokerage.
Last quarter’s growth level for homes priced within the top 5% in Redfin’s markets was the lowest since 2012 — a big comedown from 16% growth in the first three months of 2014.
Redfin reported that slowing price growth was a trend it had seen in the luxury market and across the overall market throughout 2014, and one it expected would continue this year.
However, the overall slowdown in luxury home price growth did not hold in many cities, where prices outpaced the rest of the market by double digits.
For example, luxury home prices in Miami Beach rose by 32% for the quarter and 66% from the previous year — a 41 percentage-point difference in growth compared with the rest of the Miami Beach market.
The price boom was driven by an influx of buyers from Europe and South America, according to Redfin.
“Locals haven’t been part of the party,” Aaron Drucker, a Redfin agent in Miami, said in a statement.