Home Sellers Can Get Carried Away When It Comes to Greenery

Q: Has a houseplant ever upstaged a showing?

Mercedes Menocal Gregoire

Senior global real-estate adviser and associate broker

Sotheby’s International Realty, NYC

It was an estate sale, a duplex apartment in a prewar building on the Upper East Side. There was a humongous cactus in the living room, the kind you see in the desert in California. It was like a gigantic Christmas tree, at least 10 feet tall, with tentacles coming out and big, big spines all over the place. When you walked in, the only thing you saw was that monstrosity. There isn’t a word to describe this thing. It was like “Little Shop of Horrors.”

I got pricked the first day I went to see the apartment. It was the summer and I was wearing linen pants and a Tory Burch tunic shirt. I went too close to the thing while I was talking to someone and got caught in one of the branches. It ruined my blouse.

The owners had died, and their children didn’t want to stage the apartment. The first week I said, “We at least have to move the cactus,” and they were like, “Oh no, we don’t want to pay for it.”

So I volunteered to move the cactus. I really wanted to sell this apartment.

It took three guys in protective gear with a chain saw. They started cutting the branches, cutting the branches. It took three hours. They filled 30 or 40 bags—big industrial ones. It cost like $600. I gave the super $100 in cash and he called someone to remove the bags.

We sold the duplex for US$3.5 million. Of course, the children weren’t happy with the price.

David Mazujian

Real-estate agent

The Corcoran Group, East Hampton, N.Y.

The listing in the Hamptons was very pastoral, very private, priced $1 million to $2 million. I would say the owner was a bit of a horticulturalist. There were huge plants that in the summertime would go outside but which came inside in October. I was showing the house in the fall. When I came into the house, I was overwhelmed. There were huge pots on the floor. They were beautiful plants, but it just blocked the view.

ILLUSTRATION: DAVID BAMUNDO/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

It was a huge challenge navigating the living space during showings. I was concerned with liability. You don’t want anybody tripping over the plants.

One potential buyer couldn’t get through the door, literally. It was a back door, and there was a very large terra-cotta pot with these large banana leaves coming out.

Apparently, one time a buyer did move the pot and one of the big leaves was damaged. That became an issue with the owner.

So I learned early on that we have to do our best to walk around the plants and not move them and not touch them. I would say, “Oh, I’m really sorry, the owner is a horticulturalist and let’s just be careful as we walk around this plant and slightly move the leaves.”

I love plants, but if I were trying to sell a house, those things would be gone yesterday.

Alexandria Ludlow

Sales associate

Summit Sotheby’s International Realty, Southern Utah

The house was 11,000 square feet and very old-fashioned. It would be a great place to host a murder mystery situation—marble floors, candelabras everywhere, a knight in shining armor. And on every surface and in every corner, there was a fake plant of some kind. There was fake ivy everywhere—over the tops of the windows, on top of the cabinets in the kitchen. In the master bathroom, they had a 4-foot vase with another 4 feet of fake pink lilies. In the kitchen, there were lots of gerbera daisy-type silk flowers and a wreath that was 4 or 5 feet in diameter. It took two of us to move it for the photos. They could have filmed “Jumanji” in that house.

I gave the owners my feedback for how to spruce up the place for staging. They did everything I asked them to. They had to hire a junk-removal service. They said they filled two dumpsters full of the fake plants—the ones they were willing to get rid of. They filled all the walk-in closets with all the other ones. They were so attached to some of these floral arrangements.

The weirder part is that the house was being sold fully furnished, except for the fake plants. When we were in negotiations, I’d say, “Everything except the family heirloom piano and the fake greenery are included.” The buyer was like, “Are you joking?”

Australia’s luxury property market is being quietly reshaped by one of the most significant wealth expansions in the world.

According to Knight Frank’s latest Wealth Report, the country’s billionaire population is set to grow by 77 per cent over the next five years, rising from 48 to 85 individuals.

That surge sits within a broader wave of wealth creation. Ultra-high-net-worth individuals, those with more than US$30 million, are forecast to increase by nearly 60 per cent to over 26,000 Australians by 2031.

Globally, the pace is accelerating. The report reveals that 89 new ultra-wealthy individuals are created every day, a figure that underscores a structural shift in capital formation rather than a cyclical upswing.

For luxury property markets, this is not just a headline number. It is a demand driver.

Australia’s wealth story is increasingly underpinned by diversification across resources, finance, technology and services, creating a depth of private capital that is both mobile and strategic.

And mobility is key. The ultra-wealthy are no longer tied to a single market. Instead, they are operating across multiple global hubs, maintaining footholds in cities like London, New York and Singapore, while using Australia as a stable base.

In this environment, real estate becomes less about shelter and more about positioning. Trophy assets remain desirable, but capital is increasingly being deployed across the full risk spectrum, from long-term holds to value-add opportunities. For Australia, the implications are clear. As wealth expands, so too does the expectation of product, and the locations that can attract it.

The billionaire effect

While property remains central to wealth preservation, the latest data shows that capital is increasingly spreading across luxury asset classes, albeit with a more disciplined approach.

Knight Frank’s Luxury Investment Index recorded a modest 0.4 per cent decline in 2025, signalling a stabilisation phase after several years of correction.

But beneath that headline number is a more telling shift. Collectors are moving away from speculative buying and toward assets defined by rarity, provenance and cultural significance.

Impressionist art led the market, rising 13.6 per cent, buoyed by landmark sales including a US$236 million Klimt painting. Watches also performed strongly, up 5.1 per cent, driven by continued demand for brands like Patek Philippe and Rolex.

At the same time, more volatile categories have corrected. Whisky values fell 10.9 per cent, while parts of the fine wine market have softened following pandemic-era highs.

Perhaps the most notable trend is behavioural. Younger investors are entering the market through fractional ownership platforms, gaining exposure to high-value assets that were once out of reach.

For property, the parallels are clear. The same focus on scarcity, narrative and long-term value is increasingly shaping buying decisions at the top end of the residential market.

Global wealth

The growth in billionaires is not just increasing demand, it is changing where that demand is directed.

In Australia, Brisbane has emerged as one of a handful of global cities experiencing rapid change in its luxury positioning. The city’s transformation is being driven by infrastructure investment and the 2032 Olympics, with top-end apartment prices rising from around US$6 million to more than US$10 million in just 12 months.

Luxury price growth has remained steady, with Brisbane rising 2.1 per cent in 2025, while the Gold Coast recorded 2.8 per cent.

At the same time, buying power is tightening. US$1 million now buys 5 per cent less in Brisbane than it did five years ago, reflecting the upward pressure on prime markets.

The trend is not confined to capital cities. Regional lifestyle markets are also capturing attention. Geelong’s waterfront has been identified as one of the world’s hottest luxury residential markets, driven by a combination of coastal amenity, infrastructure and relative value.

In these markets, pricing is no longer the sole driver. Lifestyle, accessibility and long-term growth are increasingly shaping buyer decisions, particularly among globally mobile wealth.

Alternative luxury assets

Beyond residential property, high-net-worth individuals are continuing to diversify into alternative assets that combine lifestyle and investment potential.

One of the most compelling examples is vineyard investment. Knight Frank’s Global Vineyard Index highlights the Barossa Valley as one of the best-value wine regions globally, where US$1 million can secure more than 18 hectares of land.

Despite a 10 per cent decline in land values over the past year, the broader outlook remains positive, particularly as the global wine industry shifts toward premiumisation.

This “trading up” trend is seeing consumers favour higher-quality, provenance-driven wines over mass-market products, reinforcing the long-term appeal of established regions like the Barossa and Eden Valleys.

For investors, the appeal lies in the intersection of lifestyle and capital preservation. Vineyard assets offer not only production potential, but also a narrative — something increasingly valued in a market where experience and authenticity carry weight.

Home Sellers Can Get Carried Away When It Comes to Greenery

For some real-estate agents, showings are ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ Meets ‘Jumanji’.

Q: Has a houseplant ever upstaged a showing?

Australia’s wealthy class is expanding fast, and Knight Frank says that a surge in billionaires is reshaping the nation’s luxury property market.