Homebuyers earning over $500,000 a year represent a very small elite segment in Mississippis housing market.
An annual income of roughly $383,000 puts a household in Mississippis top 1% of earners.
Trends among Mississippis top earners generally mirror national luxury-market trends, with some local twists.
Home Stratosphere and Zillow Home Value Index
ft home to a 4,000+ sq.
ft home on a larger lot.
The decision to downsize is often motivated by life stage rather than finances for this group.
For instance, an empty-nester couple in the Gulf Coast area might sell a 5,000 sq.
ft house and purchase a 3,000 sq.
ft upscale home with modern conveniences, or relocate from a multi-story home to a one-level home for convenience.
Importantly, even those who downsized often reinvested insecond homesor other real estate, rather than exiting the market.
With remote work and travel flexibility, many high earners sought vacation properties for recreation or as an investment.
While Mississippi doesnt boast mountain resorts, it has affordable waterfront and small-town destinations.
By 2022 and 2023, the vacation-home craze cooled off considerably rising interest rates and return-to-office plans dampened demand.
High-income buyers in Mississippi often have the means to commission custom construction or buy into upscale new developments.
These buyers favored features like open floor plans, smart home technology, energy-efficient construction, and luxury finishes.
Luxury homes are often defined as the top 5% by value in a given area.
In Mississippi, those can include homes in the high hundreds of thousands to multi-million dollar range.
These properties range from sprawling estates in the countryside to elegant mansions in exclusive suburbs.
Even when not paying 100% cash, almost all high-income buyers made large down payments.
These towns offer beachfront properties, marinas, and a laid-back lifestyle that appeals to wealthy buyers.
The Gulf Coast market for luxury homes actually strengthened through 20192021, boosted by the vacation-home boom.
Some coastal counties were effectively behaving like resort markets.
The trend of affluent individuals buying second homes or retirement homes in Oxford accelerated from 2018 to 2023.
Buyers include not just Mississippians, but people from Memphis, Nashville, and beyond.
They often maintain another residence elsewhere, making Oxford either a part-time abode or future retirement plan.
Thus, the northwest corner of Mississippi has become a notable affluent enclave in its own right.
This mirrors national trends where the typical repeat homebuyers age has risen into the 50s.
First-time buyers are rare in this bracket (most first-time buyers are much younger and lower-income).
Instead, these are move-up buyers or secondary home buyers.
Medical professionals are a significant group top surgeons, specialists, and successful physicians often earn in the mid-six-figures.
One clear difference is the sheer scale of the luxury markets growth post-2018.
This was not a factor in 20082017 (if anything, 2008s crisis did the opposite).
Another shift was in design and taste: The 20182023 buyer wanted turnkey, modern amenities.
Around 2010, luxury buyers often had to undertake renovations (because new construction had stalled after 2008).
By the later period, more new inventory was available, and buyers expected perfection.
This encouraged even the rich to leverage cheap debt for bigger purchases.
In contrast, after 2022, rates spiked something not seen in the prior decade.
