July is Inman’s luxury month. Tune in as we investigate the evolving luxury market, explore emerging trends, and speak with top producers and influencers in the ultra-luxury space about how they got to where they are today and the insights they’ve gained along the way. The month will culminate with the live announcement of the expanded Golden I Awards at Luxury Connect in Las Vegas (July 29-30).
Summer has arrived and with it comes all the excitement of planning trips and summer vacations.
With inflation still a concern for many Americans, most are planning to travel less this summer. But the wealthy are planning more budgets for fewer trips this year than in the past — more households with incomes above $100,000 are planning to travel this year than last year, while the number of households with incomes under $50,000 has dropped significantly Deloitte ( Deloitte data shows that travel plans for 2024 have decreased compared with those for 2023.
Some events and cultural influences this summer 2024 may also lead travelers to specific regions around the world. Between sporting events and recent TV shows focusing on certain regions, Americans have a lot of wanderlust to manage.
During this year’s Luxury Month, Inman will explore how travel trends and timely events are impacting the luxury market, from the availability of golden visas to the 2024 Paris Olympics and beyond.
What does this mean for luxury agents and their clients? Focus on what’s happening right now, use the web and connect with your customers on a more personal level.
Agent enters the summer vacation market
The luxury vacation and second-home market this year may not be as crazy as it has been in the past, but many markets are holding steady so far into summer 2024, agents told Inman.
Tim Allen | Coldwell Banker
“The overall market seems to be more balanced between buyers and sellers,” Tim Allen of Coldwell Banker’s Tim Allen Real Estate Group in Carmel, Calif., told Inman. “[It’s] More traditional. Economic market demand for quality properties remains strong.
Allen said his team regularly sees wealthy farmers and developers from California’s Central Valley, tech workers from Silicon Valley, oil executives from Texas, luxury buyers from Arizona and Nevada, and Traffic from the Midwest in recent years has increased interest in second homes. They occasionally attract investors from Europe and South America.
“These are just bits and pieces,” Allen said. “But I think what’s unique about our market is that we have a pretty broad base of buyers.”
On the other side of the country in state 30A and Destin, Fla., Compass Spears Group’s Jonathan Spears told Inman that the beach town’s second-home market did see an “explosion of interest” once the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the region is still benefiting .
Chrissy Brutsch | Pacasso
“The value in our market is very resistant to interest rate changes, which is exciting,” Spears said.
Chrissy Bruchey, senior public relations manager at Pacaso, told Inman that Paris is the top place where buyers of luxury second-hand homes have shown interest this year, based on website traffic at Pacaso, a luxury vacation home sharing marketplace. market.
Brutsch added that there has been significant interest in other second home markets so far this summer, including Park City, Utah; Bluffton, South Carolina; Horseshoe Bend, Texas; Tahoma, California; Colorado Breckenridge; Cabo, Mexico; and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
2024 spending
The number of summer travelers with household incomes below $50,000 is expected to drop from 31% in 2023 to 19% this year, according to a survey conducted by Deloitte.
However, wealthier households with incomes over $100,000 largely made up for the loss, with 44% planning to travel this summer, compared with just 35% in 2023.
Wealthier households also plan to increase spending by about 10% on summer’s longest trips and 7% on overall summer budgets.
Overall, Americans across all income ranges plan to take fewer trips this summer, from an average of 3.1 trips in 2023 to 2.3 trips.
Deloitte data suggests luxury customers will make the most of their travels this year, even if they travel less overall. There’s no doubt that many savvy investors also buy vacation properties, subconsciously or consciously.
Elite sports events
Copa America, European Cup, Olympics, oh my God!
International sporting events will be prevalent in the Americas and Europe this summer, and luxury customers will undoubtedly use these events as an opportunity to travel to host cities.
Domestically, the America’s Cup has been held in cities in Nevada, Texas, North Carolina, Kansas, Missouri, Florida, California, Georgia, New Jersey and Arizona.
Meanwhile, the Euro 2024 tournament continues in a number of German cities, from Munich in the south of the country to Hamburg in the far north.
Likewise, Wimbledon, one of the most elite tennis tournaments in the world, will be held on July 14 in London.
Cycling enthusiasts will also be watching the Tour de France, which starts at the end of June and runs until July 21.
The highlight of the season is likely to be the 2024 Paris Olympics, which will begin on July 26. An unforgettable event that attracts a large number of elite participants eager to get to know the city while following the competition.
Spears told Inman that following these types of large-scale events and being able to connect with luxury clients through them is an important part of building deeper agency-client connections.
Jonathan Spears | Compass
“As a luxury agency, we often compare our clients’ lifestyles to ours,” Spears said. “So when it comes to helping people trade [based] In terms of lifestyle, you not only need to understand their lifestyle, but you also need to live it yourself.
In 2023, Spears participated in the French Open in Paris and witnessed Novak Djokovic break the record and win his 24th Grand Slam singles championship. This year, he will be able to use that experience to connect with luxury clients who may be attending Wimbledon or the Paris Olympics. He said things slow down a bit during the peak summer period when customers are on vacation, which is the perfect time to do this.
“Your opportunity is to solidify the relationship, ask them how they’re doing, see where they’re traveling,” Spears said.
“I have a lot of clients in Paris right now and a lot of them are enjoying [anticipation of] The Olympics, indeed, are a celebration happening. For me, I know being able to comment on it and wish them well, or reach out to them like, “Hey, how was it?” Send them great restaurant recommendations, “Hey, we just ate at Girafe, It has the best view of the Eiffel Tower. You guys have to check it out. These small touches allow you to make deeper connections than just transacting in the United States.
Other noteworthy luxury travel trends
Travelers are increasingly planning trips based on destinations highlighted in one of their favorite TV shows or movies.
The “set spray” trend is expected to attract tourists to places like Thailand this summer (the backdrop for the upcoming third season) white lotus), Romania (settings Wednesday), Paris (Emily in Paris), U.K(bridgeton and crown) and South Korea (squid game), etc., according to data from Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo.
“Performance travel” is also on the rise, especially with the huge popularity of Taylor Swift and “The Eras Tour”, prompting fans to plan their vacations based on destinations where they can attend Swift concerts. The tour will travel across Europe this summer, stopping in Amsterdam, Zurich, Milan, Vienna, London and more.
As temperatures on Earth continue to rise due to global warming, travelers are looking for “cooler places”, destinations that offer relief from the stifling temperatures and humidity during the hottest time of the year. This year’s cooling hotspots include Copenhagen, Latvia, Finland, the Scottish Highlands, Estonia and the Azores, according to The Points Guy.
For Allen, two of these travel trends may come into play as potential buyers enter his market this year – hit HBO series lies big and smallThe show is set in Monterey, California (rumored for a third season soon), just a short drive from his main markets of Carmel and Pebble Beach, and the region’s climate compares favorably with many other U.S. markets. cool.
“We always get [clients from] Central Valley,” Allen said. “Because, as you can imagine, today is 110 [there] “In Monterey, the number is probably 68 or 70. So they come here.”
He told Inman that Carmel’s close relationship with these feeder markets also means Allen is actively working to develop relationships with agents in these markets. Spears said the same is true in 30A’s feeder markets, primarily in Dallas, Nashville, New Orleans, Kansas City and Chicago.
“Entering the second home market requires me to make sure I research all feeder markets,” Spears said. “I got to watch these markets and understand the economic conditions and the growth in different areas.”
“At Spears Group, we are really committed to building relationships with great agents within our feeder markets,” he added. “So we spent a lot of time visiting offices within the Compass network. Being part of Compass has been a huge benefit to us, especially building relationships that are critical to our marketing opportunities and really driving parallel referral traffic.
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