How do Denver luxury prices compare to Scottsdale, Austin, Nashville, Park City?

Denver's luxury tier lands in the middle of these five markets, and the honest answer depends heavily on which yardstick you use. On the one truly apples-to-apples measure, Redfin's top-5% definition, Denver's median luxury sale price hit $1,941,151 in March 2026 (a Redfin figure cited by Ryan Haarer in May 2026). That puts Denver above Scottsdale's and Austin's local $1M+ segment medians but far below Park City, which is a resort market that does not play by metro rules at all. Nashville sits a notch below on entry threshold. The catch is that each market gets counted differently. Scottsdale, Austin, and Nashville reports use fixed dollar cutoffs, while Park City reports single-family medians for a second-home market. Below, I break down what "luxury" means in each place, where Denver's Cherry Hills Village and Cherry Creek buyers actually stand, and how to compare markets without mixing incompatible definitions.

Why does the definition of "luxury" decide the whole comparison?

A luxury home under Redfin's definition is one priced in the top 5% of its metro area's range, while a non-luxury home sits in the 35th to 65th percentile . This is the only definition applied identically across the country's most populous metros, which makes it the one reliable tool for ranking Denver against Scottsdale, Austin, and Nashville on equal footing.

Local reports use something different. Denver's DMAR, Austin's Eleven Oaks Realty, and many Scottsdale brokerages treat "luxury" as any home priced at or above $1 million. That is a fixed-dollar cutoff, not a percentile, so it measures a different population in every city. In a cheaper metro, a $1M cutoff captures a wide slice of the market; in a pricier one, it captures only the very top. Nashville practitioners commonly draw the line higher, around $1.5 million, per the Morrell Property Collective.

The practical consequence: comparing Denver's $1.64 million average for $1M+ homes directly against Park City's $5 million single-family median would compare two entirely different things. One is a broad segment average; the other is the midpoint of a resort market where luxury properties are the main event. When someone quotes you a single "luxury median," the first question worth asking is which definition produced it.

Which market differences matter most to buyers?

At the $1 million-and-up level, Denver, Scottsdale, and Austin cluster closely, which is why buyers moving between these Sun Belt and Mountain West markets often find their budget stretches similarly in each.

Denver's average sale price for homes above $1 million reached $1.64 million in 2025, the highest level recorded in at least five years, per DMAR figures reported through ColoradoBiz in January 2026. That same report noted the segment slowed, with days on market for $1M+ homes rising almost 9% year over year, a sign the top end cooled even as prices set records. Denver's headline sales that year were striking: a $17 million single-family close in November and a $10.13 million attached sale in October.

Scottsdale's luxury single-family homes carried a median of $1,707,500 as of December 2025 (Cindy Schulte's ILHM report, with those homes fetching about 97% of their original list price). Austin ran close behind, posting a $1,350,000 median for its $1M+ single-family segment in December 2025, a solid 3.8% year-over-year gain, per Eleven Oaks Realty.

The takeaway for a Denver seller in Hilltop or Crestmoor: your home's price band looks a lot like Scottsdale's on single-family, and slightly above Austin's on the same measure. But Denver's Redfin top-5% figure of $1.94 million reflects how broad the luxury bracket runs once you slice off the top 5%, which is a different and higher number than the $1M+ average.

Property type matters within each market, too. Scottsdale's attached (condo and townhome) luxury properties carried a median of $861,250 in December 2025, roughly half its single-family median. Blending those two into one number would badly distort the picture, which is why a Cherry Creek condo and a Cherry Hills Village estate should never be measured on the same median.

Where do Nashville and Park City fall on the same scale?

Nashville sits a step below Denver's $1M+ level on entry threshold, while Park City sits far above every other market here because it is a resort economy, not a metro.

Nashville luxury generally begins around $1.5 million, though the exact line shifts by neighborhood and property type, per the Morrell Property Collective. Davidson County luxury runs from that $1 million entry point up to a $33.5 million Four Seasons penthouse currently listed (nashvillehome.guru in May 2026). Submarket data shows how wide the range gets: Green Hills recorded 82 closed sales over a trailing 12 months at a $2.18 million median, while the smaller Forest Hills area posted a $3.76 million median across 12 sales, most on one to three acres. Nashville also carried strong momentum, with luxury pending sales up 24.5% in the three months ending May 2026, second only to San Francisco in Redfin's national report.

Park City is the outlier by design. Single-family homes within Park City limits reached a $5 million median in early 2025, a 7.3% year-over-year rise, per Best Utah Real Estate. First-half 2026 figures put the single-family median at $3,160,000 at roughly $788 per square foot (realestateinparkcity). Condos and townhomes there posted a $1,300,000 median in the same period. The reason Park City runs so much higher is structural: it is a second-home and ski market where luxury properties are the primary driver of sales, not a slice off the top. That is exactly why you cannot rank it against Denver's metro median without flagging the mismatch.

How do I use cross-market price positioning with Denver clients?

I use cross-market comparison to set expectations before a buyer or seller anchors on the wrong number, and the discipline is always matching definition to purpose rather than grabbing the highest or lowest figure available.

When a buyer relocating from Austin or Scottsdale tells me their budget, I translate it into Denver's actual price bands in the neighborhoods they care about, whether that is Washington Park, Bonnie Brae, or the newer construction around Sloans Lake. Because Denver's $1M+ single-family segment tracks close to Scottsdale's and slightly above Austin's, a buyer's dollar usually behaves predictably across those three. Park City is where I stop the direct comparison cold, because a $2 million budget that buys an established home in Cherry Hills Village or Greenwood Village buys a condo in Park City, not a single-family home.

For sellers, the useful move is choosing the right comparable market for pricing psychology. A Lone Tree or Greenwood Village seller competing for a relocating executive benefits from knowing that buyer's frame of reference. Someone coming from Nashville is used to a higher $1.5 million entry point, while a Scottsdale transplant is used to homes closing near 97% of list. Those frames shape how an offer arrives.

The direction of price movement matters as much as the level. Denver was the notable downside story recently: in a March 2026 Redfin report, Denver stood out as the only major metro where luxury prices declined, down 1.5%, while the national luxury median rose 3.6% to $1.395 million (the Tina Christensen Collective's read of that data). Scottsdale looked stable to cooling, Austin held with modest gains, and Nashville and Park City carried upward momentum. So a Denver seller in Platt Park or Cory Merrill today is pricing into a top end that softened while peers firmed, a real consideration that a single national headline would hide.

If you want to go deeper on how the high end works here, I cover the mechanics in more detail in this look at unique insights on the luxury real estate market and this breakdown of what $2 million buys across Denver. For buyers weighing the Front Range more broadly, how Denver and Boulder living compare is a useful companion.

Frequently Asked Questions

What counts as a luxury home in Denver compared to Scottsdale, Austin, and Nashville?

Denver, Scottsdale, and Austin local reports typically define luxury as any home priced at $1 million or more, a fixed-dollar cutoff. Nashville practitioners draw the line higher, around $1.5 million, per the Morrell Property Collective. Because these are dollar thresholds rather than percentiles, the same $1M cutoff captures a different share of each market.

Is Denver luxury real estate more expensive than Austin?

At the $1M+ single-family level, Denver runs slightly above Austin. Denver's $1M+ segment averaged $1.64 million for full-year 2025 per DMAR, while Austin's $1M+ single-family median was $1,350,000 in December 2025 per Eleven Oaks Realty. On Redfin's top-5% measure, Denver's luxury median reached $1.94 million in March 2026.

Why is Park City so much more expensive than Denver at the luxury tier?

Park City is a resort and second-home market where luxury properties drive the majority of sales, not a metro where luxury is a slice off the top. Single-family homes within city limits hit a $5 million median in early 2025 per Best Utah Real Estate, so its headline number reflects a structurally different population than Denver's metro market.

Did Denver luxury prices go up or down recently compared to other metros?

Denver's luxury prices declined in a notable recent reading. In a March 2026 Redfin report, Denver stood out as the only major metro where luxury prices fell, down 1.5%, while the national luxury median rose 3.6% to $1.395 million (the Tina Christensen Collective). Nashville and Park City, by contrast, carried upward momentum.

Should I compare luxury markets using median price or a top-5% definition?

Use Redfin's top-5% definition when you need a true apples-to-apples ranking across Denver, Scottsdale, Austin, and Nashville, because it applies the same percentile everywhere (Redfin Luxury Home Market data center). Use local $1M+ figures for within-market behavior like days on market and negotiation. Park City has no comparable metro figure and should be treated separately.