Charlie Chaplin always managed to mix a good measure of
insight in with the silent movie knee-slappers. It was “The Little Clown” who once
said, “The saddest thing I can
imagine is to get used to luxury.” One way or another, we Americans
have come up with a singularly surefire way to overcome that problem: we just constantly
redefine what comprises “luxury”!
Real estate website Trulia proves the point. Each year
they count how frequently certain phrases appear in luxury listings—here in Charleston,
SC as well as across the nation. From year to year, their findings provide an
interesting measure of what’s hot and what’s not in luxury listings.
Buyers
Want A Room With A View (and A Marble
Bath!)
The words that most commonly appear in luxury listings are
marble bath, roof deck and oversize
windows. Luxury listings were 78% more likely to contain marble bath than was true the previous
year. And windows seemed a focal point in the latest luxury listings: three of
the top seven phrases dealt with them in one way or another. Oversized windows were 56% more likely to
appear this year, floor to ceiling
windows were up 39%, and ceiling
windows appeared 37% more frequently.
There seemed a general drift toward defining luxury
characteristics as that which can be seen from outside the home as much as what is found inside. Charleston, SC sellers might note that, along with great
windows, roof decks and terraces were other popular draws in the
luxury listings.
Luxury
Cooking Facilities No Longer As Hot
At the same time, cooking and kitchen amenities seemed to
have faded in importance. BBQ was the
amenity that dropped the most—declining by 16%. Other big losers were stainless appliances, custom cabinets, gourmet kitchen and breakfast
areas.
Yesterday’s
Luxury: Today’s Necessity?
A word of caution about all this: when we are deciding the
important phrasing for our own Charleston luxury listings, it’s worth
considering that what was yesterday’s “luxury” can quickly become today’s
necessity. Just as we wouldn’t think of heated
indoor plumbing or refrigerator
as a high end amenities, at some point they were. Amenities that were once
emphasized may no longer be given prominence because buyers have simply come to
take it for granted that they will be included…if they were headlined, the
listing might look…well, average. As our conception of luxury
redefines itself, we should expect their listing phrases will change, too.
Whether you agree with Charlie Chaplin or not, luxury in
housing is apparently here to stay. If you are interested in exploring—or
adding to—the luxury listings in Charleston, SC, don’t you be silent—give me a
call today!
Interested in selling your
Charleston area home? Visit: www.jeffcookrealestate.com
Interested in buying a Charleston
area home? Visit: www.discovercharlestonareahomes.com
-Jeff Cook
Jeff Cook
Real Estate
Charleston,
SC
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