Americans worth tens of millions of dollars has exploded over the past decade, fueled by surging stock portfolios as well as private equity evaluations.
Now this boom in ultra wealth is creating a massive shield for the luxury housing market, even as traditional real estate grapples with interest rate headwinds at the same time, global geopolitics and the crypto boom radically shifted where big money is deploying its capital while joining us.
Now for a crown level view is Aaron Kirman, founder & CEO of Christie's International Real Estate Southern California.
Erin, great to have you here.
Thank you so much for joining me.
Thanks for having me.
Well here on Wall Street, we continue to monitor what's happening in terms of the major stock averages, the Dow, Nasdaq, S&P 500, as well as geopolitics.
But what do you think is driving the luxury real estate market here in the US right now?
Yes, I mean.
Buyers right now are nervous and they are just simply on pause.
Obviously there's a lot of headwinds in the markets, you know, the war, high, high, high interest rates, and so right now there's a lot of capital, but it's just sitting on the sidelines waiting to see how things settle.
And when it comes to making a purchase as big as a home, even in the luxury market, there's so many factors that come into play, especially in 2026, because we all know that with climate change that affects where you actually choose to live, and there's also insurance as well as geopolitical factors.
And if you're talking about international clientele, we know that affects rates also come into play.
So what's happening?
I mean what we're really seeing is because of all the volatility at this moment in time, people are just waiting because there's really no sense of urgency in the marketplaces and buyers are betting that a house that they like today will be on the market next week and the week after.
And so at this very moment in time, everyone is just waiting to see how things settle because there is so much volatility.
People want to buy at the right price and obviously they don't know what that looks like at this moment in time.
And so we see a lot of inventory coming on the market.
We see prices getting reduced, and buyers really want to know that they're going to buy when it is at its low, and that's why we're just simply on pause and you know time will tell how things settle.
And Erin, I do have to tell you, when it comes to real estate, I'm not in that high-end luxury market, but I love to watch these shows, these reality TV shows about the high-end market.
So when it comes to your clientele, what are they looking for?
I mean, they are looking for everything at this moment in time, especially at the high-end buyers.
They want security.
They want privacy, they want the spa, they want the lifestyle.
They want to basically be able to.
Not have to leave their homes and it's interesting because we see at the high end the same thing we see at all price points, which is, you know, people want a stabilized market and so they want everything they are looking for what they are looking for and it's getting very competitive out there and so sellers really have to meet the demand of buyers and so we are seeing some price reductions and we are seeing sellers.
Really have to price their homes correctly to get them sold.
So when I'm looking at real estate, I'm not in the same category as your clientele, but give us your take on what properties are really exciting consumers out there.
I mean, it really depends on the price point and the market.
Obviously I specialize in the uber high end and so we have everything between 30 million.
Up to $150 million.
One thing that we're noticing that's very interesting is because of the war I'm actually seeing a lot of Middle Eastern money come back into the market.
So there's been a lot of buyers from let's say Dubai that were investing there, and those people are now coming back to the US because Dubai was sold as a safe haven and now buyers really want what they feel safe and markets like New York.
Los Angeles, Miami are feeling safe and what they want is that luxury.
They want the space.
They want the privacy.
They want the discretion to know that they can get exactly what they want to know that it's a great investment for the future.
And Erin, I do understand that you built the very first crypto division at a US brokerage and we're here mid April 2026.
We are looking at the price of Bitcoin below 79,000.
That is quite Ways away from the record highs above 126,000 we saw in 2025.
So give us an understanding of some of the transactions that took place last year versus this year.
So last year we did about $350 million in crypto deals.
We saw that there was a real need for investors that wanted to use crypto to buy luxury real estate.
And so we were the first division, first real estate brokerage to actually open a crypto division.
And it's been unbelievable.
We have clients from all over the world today trying to buy homes at all price points in crypto, and it's been a really exciting new marketplace for us and one that we feel is growing and the demand is exponentially huge.
Erin, finally, before I let you go, many of us here in the headlines about crypto real estate transactions taking place, but walk us through how this actually works.
You know it works very similar to a regular house purchase minus the fact that it's obviously with crypto money, so we have to set up slightly different systems and structures to be able to accomplish the goals, but it's super easy.
Buyers call us and say they want to pay with crypto.
We have all the systems in place to make it happen and What's exciting is our division grew from nothing to we're doing incredible amounts of money in sales from people all over the world, and we're expecting that this is going to be a very important way for people to buy luxury real estate in the future.
And that leads me to my very last question for you, Erin.
Now, given what you said about crypto transactions, in reality, how much of crypto transactions make up your total sales, and what is your forecast not just this year but beyond?
At this point it's still relatively small, I sold 1.7 billion last year, but it is growing, and I actually think the forecast for real estate is going to be very, very bright.
I think once the war gets settled and once interest rates go down, I'm really expecting a wonderful Q3 and Q4 and real estate to move swiftly, fast, and obviously do incredible things.
Well, Erin, it was great having you on the show here at the New York Stock Exchange.
Thank you so much for joining me and thank you so much for sharing all of your insights.
Thank you.
