The Trophy Address Is Losing Its Grip, and the Carolinas Keep Coming Up

Christie's International Real Estate opened its 2026 Global Luxury Perspectives report with a figure cooler than the headlines around it. Its Prime Sentiment Index, a forward-looking read on high-end demand, price expectations and inventory, came in at 14.4 for 2026, down from 15.6 a year earlier. Anything above zero still signals momentum. The reading just came off the boil.

The more useful part sits under the index. The firm's president, Gavin Swartzman, framed the year around four ideas: havens, identity, opportunity and continuity. The one that travels is identity. "I think people are using real estate as a further expression of their individuality and their lifestyle," he told Inman. In plain terms, the buyer is choosing the place that fits, not the place that impresses the room.

That loosens the old short list. When the trophy ZIP code stops being the point, markets that spent years out of fashion get a second look. Christie's affiliates named Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco and Portland as places drawing high-end interest again, for value, space and long-term potential rather than status.

The Carolinas are in that conversation by name. In HousingWire's coverage of the report, Swartzman said brand affiliates in the Carolinas had reported strong luxury market growth, and that the region was one he and his team were watching closely. That is a firm with a global vantage point saying the quiet part out loud.

Hold the caveat, because it is the honest half. A sentiment index is a mood, not a sale, and "watching closely" is interest, not a forecast. One softer reading and a handful of executive observations do not make a boom, and nobody should buy a house on a mood ring.

Still, the direction is the real story. The Carolinas have never traded on the recognition of a name. They trade on a river running through downtown, a mountain at the edge of town, land you can actually use on a Tuesday. For a buyer who has stopped shopping for a label, that is not a consolation prize. It is the entire point.

If you are weighing the Carolinas against the familiar luxury names, the advisory conversation is complimentary, and we will talk about fit before we talk about ZIP codes.