Luxury home prices across the U.S. remained flat in the final quarter of 2016, rising 0.7% year-over-year, according to a Redfin report released Wednesday.
The average price of luxury homes, which the Seattle-based national brokerage defines as the top 5% most expensive homes sold, reached $1.62 million in the fourth quarter of last year. The pace of growth pales in comparison to the rest of the market, where prices increased 6.1% to $312,000.
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"The Trump rally in the stock market did little to move prices in luxury real estate," Nela Richardson, chief economist at Redfin, said in the report. "Cities with booming luxury markets attracted traditional high-income buyers seeking a place to live, work and grow their families. Prices in cities with more transient luxury buyers, looking for investments or a place to park their wealth, had more tepid growth to close out 2016."
Among the more than 1,000 cities Redfin tracks with at least 40 luxury sales and an average price of $1 million and higher during the timeframe, Santa Clarita, California, saw the largest price increase in the last quarter of 2016. The average luxury home prices rose 113.8% to $2.025 million there.
Santa Clarita, an affluent suburb outside of Los Angeles, has seen lots of new construction over the past few years, which is attracting buyers looking for good public schools and more space.
"Most luxury homebuyers in Santa Clarita commute to Los Angeles, but they get far more bang for their buck living in this suburb," John Underwood, an agent at Redfin, said in the report.
Other cities that recorded a more than 20% price increase in the fourth quarter include West Palm Beach and Tampa in Florida, as well as San Francisco, California.
Meanwhile, four cities saw double-digit price drops, including Reno and Paradise in Nevada, Washington, D.C., and Austin, Texas.
| Cities with biggest changes in luxury home prices | ||
| City | Average Home Price | Y-O-Y change |
| Santa Clarita, CA | $2,025,000 | 113.8% |
| West Palm Beach, FL | $1,173,000 | 29.0% |
| Tampa, FL | $1,144,000 | 27.1% |
| San Francisco, CA | $5,816,000 | 24.4% |
| Portland, OR | $1,246,000 | 19.6% |
| Reno, NV | $991,000 | -33.2% |
| Washington, DC | $2,094,000 | -16.2% |
| Paradise, NV | $1,050,000 | -14.1% |
| Austin, TX | $1,651,000 | -10.9% |
| Chicago, IL | $1,412,000 | -9.6% |
| Source: Redfin |
Write to Fang Block at fang.block@dowjones.com