Photo illustration: Connie Zeng. Money photo: KATIV/GETTY IMAGES;Olex Yarosinsky’s house
“I know how many people have become millionaires so far. What we’ve seen over the past three weeks has been pretty shocking. ”
In late December, Jim Bell, executive vice president of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, was explaining the state of the luxury goods market following the election. He has been selling real estate in Washington, DC for decades. He has experienced regime changes with Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden. He knows the city’s ultra-high class, prominent families and power brokers. But he has never witnessed anything quite like this. “It’s never happened on this scale before.”
This means an influx of new political appointees and advisers with an estimated net worth of more than $450 billion, and a rise in the local luxury goods market for President Trump. When assembling what would become the world’s richest cabinet, If we look back at history, there will always be ripple effects. One of the first deals was the all-cash purchase of the Brett Baier property on Foxhall Road in late December for $25 million, making it the area’s largest residential transaction ever.
“I’m currently selling more properties than I’ve ever sold in a short period of time in my career,” said Daniel Heider of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty. washingtonian The sale was reportedly completed just days before his client, Howard Lutnick, whom Trump nominated for secretary of commerce. “This isn’t a Trump crash. It’s a Trump surge.”
Between Election Day and mid-January, more than 56 area homes priced at $4 million or more went under contract or sold. The new government is one reason, but some locals and apolitical settlers are conspiring to make this moment resemble Gilded Age shopping. A drinking party. Or, as Bell calls it, “a changing of the political and social guard.”
Even before the election, the luxury market (which top agents typically define as over $3 million, with ultra-luxury items starting at around $7 million or $10 million, depending on who you ask) was in a state of flux, thanks in part to stock prices. was already thriving. The market hit an all-time high this year. Hyder’s group recorded more than $487 million in deals closed or under contract in 2024, about $231 million more than in 2023, and Washington Fine Properties’ HRL Partners last year. It recorded more than $197 million in closed sales, an increase of approximately $38 million. As with the Bayer acquisition, cash is king. More than 51 percent of transactions over $3 million in the region last year were all-cash, according to Bright MLS.
The election sparked a wave of activity, and many high-income Washington residents decided it was time to make a deal before new MAGA members had a chance to snap up the best properties. The list of candidates for the billionaire’s Cabinet is limited and centered around several key areas, including Georgetown, Kalorama, Wesley Heights, Massachusetts Avenue Heights, Berkeley, and Kent. For this select group of buyers, the provenance of the property (who built it, who owns it) is important, and more importantly, they conduct business there, host dinner parties there, and decide on their cocktail and chocolate torte policies. It is the ability to form.
Bell rattles off some of the questions buyers group members might ask. Where does the coat go? Who will come to this house? How many people can participate? How many people can sit at the dining room table? ”Actually, he recently started Substack’s “The American Table” explores the intersection of food and politics. “Eat with people you trust,” he says. These homes will help new arrivals “succeed in their plans while in Washington, D.C.”
Demand exceeded supply. Michael Rankin, managing partner at TTR Sotheby’s, said he has done targeted outreach to past clients to see if any of them are considering relocating in the near future, but new inventory is slow to catch up. He said he has not done so. “If you had three townhouses in Georgetown that cost between $3 million and $6 million, and they all had parking and yards, you could sell all three within 30 days,” Rankin said. He spoke on a December afternoon, just before showing the house to members of the incoming administration. .
Robert Hryniewicki of HRL Partners recommends that sellers list their properties on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) whenever possible to reach the widest possible pool of buyers. But for many billionaires, discretion and privacy come first. In this luxury shadow market, listings are not added to the MLS, transactions occur through word of mouth and a network of agents, and sales typically close quietly with buyers protected. Behind an LLC or other entity, if a non-disclosure agreement prohibits the agent from sharing information. If there isn’t much public inventory, the question becomes, “What’s available on the shadow market?” says Hryniewiczki.
In the coming weeks and months, a combination of gossip and bold reporting will likely reveal some of the details of these deals. In other words, if you want to pinpoint the extent of Trump’s crash or see if it’s actually a spike, here’s what Elon Musk decides to add to existing housing. It may take some time to find out where you purchased your property. Texas real estate empire. For many oligarchs, Washington remains a relative bargain compared to the price per square foot of luxury properties in Manhattan or San Francisco.
For now, that evidence is partially anecdotal. Hryniewiczki received a phone call at 10 p.m. Monday to schedule an 8 a.m. showing at Georgetown the next morning, and Haider hinted that he had never worked harder in his career. “There will be a lot of market-changing events happening soon,” he promises. “The luxury market is back and booming.”
Recent notable transactions
Brett Baier’s mansion on Foxhall Road was reportedly purchased by Howard Lutnick on December 20th for $25 million in all cash.
Federal Reserve Board member Adolph Miller’s former Kalorama mansion was purchased on Dec. 20 for $9.35 million.
The Robert P. Dodge House in Georgetown, once owned by Republican strategist C. Boyden Gray, was purchased on December 20 for $10.5 million.
A penthouse condominium at The Ritz-Carlton in Georgetown that was purchased on December 20 for $10.25 million.
