Bay Area luxury sales continue as U.S. market remains moored at 30-year low

Same pattern appears in San Diego, Miami, Detroit, Nashville and Tampa

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 6.66% in early September 2026, according to Federal Reserve data, while sales of previously occupied U.S. homes remained moored at a 30-year low, the Associated Press reported.

Those sales were essentially flat last year and slowed again in July, the AP reported. Sales of newly built homes — which make up a far smaller share of the market — are also down this year, extending a yearslong slump in the broader housing market, according to the AP.

Luxury homes in the San Francisco Bay Area continue to attract multimillion-dollar purchases from high-income workers at artificial intelligence companies, the AP reported. The Bay Area represents the clearest manifestation of a broader national pattern in which luxury properties sell while broader inventory sits, according to the AP report.

The same dynamic is playing out in San Diego, Miami, Detroit, Nashville and Tampa, where metro-level data shows luxury homes selling faster than less expensive inventory, the AP reported. The elevated mortgage rates and rising prices have prevented many would-be buyers from affording a home, the AP reported.