Luxury Listing Threshold Falls 3.6% to $1.2 Million, 30th Straight Annual Decline, Realtor.com Says

The asking price that marks the top 10% of U.S. home listings was $1,199,321 in September, down 3.6% from a year earlier, according to Realtor.com's September 2026 Luxury Housing Report, published Wednesday, Oct. 14. Realtor.com said it was the 30th consecutive month of annual decline at that level.

Why this matters: For lenders, jumbo loan officers and agents who work the top of the market, the thresholds show where high-end asking prices are heading. The report shows asking prices still drifting lower while luxury listings sell a little faster than a year ago.

Chart: Realtor.com luxury listing price thresholds, September 2026, from the Oct. 14 report. Chart by mortgage.news using only the figures cited in this article.

The national numbers

• Top 10% threshold (90th percentile): $1,199,321, down 0.1% from August and 3.6% from a year earlier.
• Top 5% (95th percentile): $1,885,731, down 3.5% from a year earlier.
• Top 1% (99th percentile): $5,128,119, down 5.3% from a year earlier.
• Share of listings at $1 million or more: 12.5%, down 0.5 percentage point from a year earlier.

Realtor.com said the 90th percentile threshold is the lowest since January 2023 and 14.1% below its May 2023 peak of roughly $1.40 million. These are listing prices, not closed sale prices.

More listings, slightly faster sales

The count of million-dollar listings rose 1.2% from a year earlier while total active listings rose 5.4%, so the luxury share fell because overall inventory grew faster. Homes at the 90th percentile spent a median 76 days on the market, three days faster than in September 2025. The typical listing took 61 days, unchanged from a year earlier.

Where prices moved most

Among 43 metro areas with enough million-dollar listings, Los Angeles had the highest top-10% threshold at $3.95 million. Naples-Marco Island, Fla., up 8.9%, and Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, Fla., up 2.4%, were the only top-10 markets with annual gains. Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, Conn., fell 15.6% from a year earlier to $3.60 million, the steepest annual drop in the top 10.

The school angle

This month's report also scored luxury listings by the GreatSchools ratings of their assigned public elementary schools. Naples-Marco Island ranked highest at 9.3 out of 10 and Kahului-Wailuku, Hawaii, lowest at 5.0. Realtor.com noted the ratings cover public schools only and that many luxury buyers consider private schools, so the scores are one factor among many.

What it means

For high-end buyers, lower asking thresholds and more inventory can mean more room to negotiate in some markets, though conditions vary widely by metro. For lenders, the report describes listings, not loan demand. Realtor.com said there are no clear signals yet that the price decline is reversing.

The takeaway: The entry point to luxury keeps slipping on an annual basis, but price direction depends heavily on the local market.