Luxury real estate will be healthy in 2025, as will its clientele.

"An unexpected year that breaks all records" for Sotheby's International Realty in France and Monaco, which achieved nearly 2 billion euros in sales, a sharp increase of 40% compared to 2024.

Barnes also had "a great year" which ended with a turnover 22% above that of 2024, according to Thibault de Saint Vincent, president of the luxury real estate group.

A surprising rebound given the "repeated crises" on the geopolitical and political front, especially in France, he continued. He nevertheless welcomed this recovery after two years of decline, something that "had never happened" before.

Charles-Marie Jottras, president of the Daniel Féau network, also did "a little better than in 2024".

"I was expecting good figures, but not this good," said Alexander Kraft, CEO of Sotheby's for France and Monaco. "The market has been solid worldwide," he added to AFP.

"Safe haven"

According to him, "everyone has become accustomed to the political and geopolitical madness. People have told themselves that the world has become strange and fragile and that it's better to secure their wealth." This attitude has paradoxically made the market less volatile than it was in 2024.

And "luxury real estate remains the ultimate safe haven investment," recalls Thibault de Saint Vincent.

Daniel Féau, focused on the Parisian market and surrounding areas, is a little less optimistic: "the market is returning to a balance, but political and geopolitical announcements are still causing some to wait and see."

Sotheby's business was mainly driven by the "very high end" and wealthy households who were "willing to pay extraordinary prices" for "the cream of the crop": "exceptional properties" in prestigious locations, such as New York or the French Riviera.

Barnes also notes in its annual report that the number of ultra-wealthy households, which hold at least $30 million in assets, increased by 20% in one year, rising from 351.010 individuals in 2024 to 510.810.

Since 2004, the number of ultra-rich people has increased seven times faster than the rest of the population. "It's a real explosion," says Thibault de Saint Vincent.

It is this segment of the clientele that concentrates the activity of luxury real estate: the ultra-rich represent only 1% of the 41,3 million millionaire individuals worldwide, but they hold nearly a third of the wealth of this population.

Marbella or Aspen

"With each recent crisis, wealth is becoming increasingly concentrated. These successive crises are reducing the wealth of the middle class to the benefit of the UHNWI," the ultra-rich, notes the president of Barnes.

"There are 500.000 clients who make up the high-end real estate market," continues Thibault de Saint Vincent. And by 2025, their trend was to transform holiday resorts into year-round cities.

"We are on the post-Covid stage," he said. "Before, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision in the face of the pandemic, then, with hindsight, we wonder where to settle in Europe or in the world, since we are already detached from our main place of residence with teleworking," he explains.

Thibault de Saint Vincent cites the examples of Marbella (Spain) or Aspen (United States), where the wealthiest seem to want to spend more than a few weeks, thanks to teleworking.

According to Charles-Marie Jottras, the election of Donald Trump in 2024 has pushed some Americans towards Paris in the French market.

But Daniel Féau's boss notes above all a "very strong movement" in response to discussions on the taxation of the highest fortunes, within the framework of the State budget for 2026.

"After the dissolution and especially since mid-2025 and the discussions of the differential tax project, the reinstatement of the wealth tax, the tax on holdings, more people are asking to have their property valued" and are considering moving abroad, he reports.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.