If you’ve ever driven by an awe-inspiring home with panoramic views or a new and modern, urban penthouse, you’ve entered the realm of luxury real estate. While it’s easy to presume the luxury real estate market consists of million-dollar homes in exclusive areas, it’s much more. It’s a lifestyle of elegance, privacy, and sophistication, where buyers boast one-of-a-kind architecture or historical homes and seek out properties with state-of-the-art technology.
Properties in Northern Nevada highlight stunning forested neighborhoods, in exclusive, chic communities, along striking desert foothills, and in refined and historical neighborhoods near urban centers. With Lake Tahoe less than an hour away, buyers can find spectacular high-end real estate in Northern California and Nevada.
Explore what Northern Nevada luxury real estate features, including lifestyle and amenities, how to approach buying a luxury home, and when to contact a luxury real estate agent.
Luxury real estate lifestyle
While finding your dream home may be the end goal, the community you’ll reside in should also be high on your list of considerations. Northern Nevada and California boast outdoor adventures, concert venues, and ski resorts, exceptional and elegant restaurants, growing sustainable organizations and companies, many farmers, makers, and producers, a burgeoning technology industry and business, state, and corporate tax breaks.
While Lake Tahoe is a top favorite for country and boating clubs, there are 45 sprawling golf courses within 90 minutes of Reno, such as Championship at Incline Village Golf Resort.
Rancharrah is another Reno gem that offers luxury living, a social community, outdoor recreation, and tennis. The Village at Rancharrah is a high-end destination featuring more than 20 specially curated boutique shops, gourmet dining, bars, and wellness options.
There is also year-round access to outdoor hiking, mountain biking, camping, and more than a dozen ski resorts accessible within 45 to 90 minutes. The truly remarkable aspect of living in Northern Nevada is you can choose to golf, boat, attend an orchestra concert after a gourmet dinner, and book a chalet in the mountains all in the same week.
Pulse of the luxury real estate market
While real estate inflation rumblings and spikes in interest rates may have shaken the housing market in 2023, the luxury real estate market experienced an uptick toward the end of the year. According to the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing Luxury Market Report, 2023 saw an increased inventory level and subsequent rise in luxury single-family home sales nationwide, surpassing figures from the same period in 2022.
This trend is continuing into 2024. Buyers are showing confidence in economic stability, architectural developments, energy efficiency, and innovative design. There is also a shift toward sustainable living features and communities.
Dickson Realty Luxury Trends 2023 3rd Quarter Report shows strength in the Northern Nevada luxury real estate market, for homes listed at $2 million or higher, in 2023, with Incline Village’s single-home sales increasing by 28% in the third quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2022.
In general, the Luxury Market Report states 2023 median single-family home prices in Lake Tahoe range from $2.8 million to $4.4 million, Reno sits at $2.8 million, and Placer County comes in at $1.4 million.
Most sought-after features in Luxury real estate homes
Imagine expansive and open layout living spaces with stone tile flooring, archways, a finished garage, and a game room and you’re starting to envision some of the features buyers seek in luxury real estate. In general, luxury homes feature architectural flourishes, high-quality materials, elegant designs, and sustainable and high-tech amenities.
Around the Incline Village-Crystal Bay communities, for example, buyers could anticipate seeing luxury homes that feature top-to-floor windows with spectacular views, elevators, stone pathways, billiard and game rooms, bridges, fireplaces in various rooms, high-end kitchens, wine cellars and in-law quarters or studio cottages. Property locations range from lakefront to hidden in the Tahoe National Forest.
Lakeshore Boulevard in Incline Village is the most prestigious six-mile stretch of luxury real estate in the region, known by many as Billionaire’s Row. Here, residents have direct access to the lake, walking paths, and nearby shops and restaurants, making It the most desirable luxury home neighborhood in the United States.
Additional popular luxury features and building materials include:
- Archways
- Brick and glass tiles
- Exercise rooms
- Curved walls
- Finished garages
- Flagstones
- Game rooms
- Hardwood and bamboo flooring
- High-end kitchens
- Large closets
- Laser-cut sheet metal wall panels
- Libraries
- Pillars
- Plaster walls
- Spa, sauna, and pool
- State-of-the-art technology
- Theaters
- Turrets
- Wine cellar
Investing in the luxury real estate market
While many buyers are seeking a forever home through the luxury real estate market, or at least one at the lake, there is also another branch to consider: investment purchasing. There’s no lack of appeal for buying a beautiful home in a prime location that can be used as a rental property. Before you purchase, learn how to analyze potential profits, demand, and property value appreciation in your ideal home locations.
How to Navigate the Luxury Real Estate Market
Before you start shopping for your dream luxury home, you must do your homework. This can help you thoroughly prepare before you head out to see properties. It’s also a good idea to work with an experienced luxury real estate agent who intimately knows their inventory, property amenities, and history. Not only can they help guide you through the process, but they can ensure you see properties that fulfill your wishes. Use these tips as guidance to get started.
- Research, research, research: When you’re heading into the luxury real estate market, educating yourself is key. You can do this by reading, listening, and watching online resources, joining chat groups, talking with various luxury real estate agents, financial advisors, and your network to compile a solid understanding of the market.
- Know your numbers: While you may be busy only considering listing prices, digging a little deeper into the financial landscape of a property is a good idea. It’s a good idea to know ballpark figures for maintenance, utilities, property taxes, and insurance when you’re finalizing your budget.
Patience pays off: Learning the trends of the luxury real estate market and your purchasing power can be significant when it comes to buying at the “right time.” It can be helpful to watch certain properties you’d be interested in buying, learning about their history and how long they’ve been on the market before determining when to make your move.
Northern Nevada and California’s luxury real estate market offers many opportunities for buyers and investors — luxury lifestyle, a wide variety of cultural and outdoor experiences, and some of the most diverse landscapes in our region.
Navigating the luxury real estate market takes some commitment and the help of an experienced luxury real estate market agent. Dickson Realty agents have the expertise and innovative technology to help make your dreams a reality. Contact a neighborhood real estate expert at Dickson Realty today.
