Demand for luxury homes is rising amid an economic boom for rich Americans.

Why it matters: This is the K-shaped economy in action, a thriving upper class and everyone else stagnating or falling.

• The rising stock market and AI boom are driving a lot of this.

By the numbers: The median U.S. luxury home sale price rose 3.6% to $1.39 million in the three-month period ending April 30, per new Redfin data.

• That's double the increase for non-luxury homes, which gained just 1.4% to $377,734.
• Redfin defines "luxury" as homes priced in the top 5% of a given metro area.

The intrigue: Metro Detroit's story is a bit more complicated. Here, we saw a jump in the number of luxury homes sold — nearly 14% — but the price of those homes actually fell 2.4% to a median of $719,937.

• We saw a big jump in the number of active luxury home listings of nearly 23%, which likely contributed to falling prices.

The big picture: When economic times become uncertain, most homebuyers, particularly first-timers, shy away from making what would likely be the biggest purchase of their lifetime.

• "When things are changing really quickly, first-time homebuyers get nervous," says Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin.
• Wealthy people have more economic confidence: "They kind of still go for it."

State of play: Detroit's homes are more affordable than many other metros, but we've got our fair share of high-end interest, as well as luxury magnets like Birmingham and Grosse Pointe.

• The Luxury Playbook magazine recently featured Detroit as an architecturally significant market making a meaningful recovery.
• "For most considered buyers, we view Detroit as a complex market warranting careful submarket and tax structure analysis, with the recovery story creating both opportunities and risks," the publication writes.

Where we stand: High mortgage rates have hammered the housing market for years now, but at the start of 2026 rates started falling.

• The average rate on the 30-year mortgage briefly dipped below 6% in late February. The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran just days later.
• The resulting energy price shock has driven up borrowing costs. The average rate on the 30-year mortgage was 6.66% on Friday, per Mortgage News Daily.

The bottom line: Rich people are driving up demand for fancy houses while others take a backseat amid rising economic uncertainty.

Go deeper: Peak homebuying season in Metro Detroit

Picture this: You find the perfect house with a great yard and a welcoming front porch in an ideal neighborhood. But it's not for sale.

• The website Unlisted gives you a shot at that house.

Why it matters: Unlisted allows homeowners to gauge interest in their home even before they're ready to sell, and buyers can potentially get ahead of their competition by making their interest known.

How it works: The site features every property listed in the public record. Visitors can search for a house by address and place their name on a waitlist to be considered when the home hits the market.

Between the lines: A homeowner can search for their property, update the home's information and photos, and provide a potential timeline for when they may consider moving.

Go deeper

💰 The price tag for remediating all of Detroit's contaminated backfill soil on home demolition sites could near $25-$27 million. (Free Press 🔒)

🤗 Moms giving out free hugs, politicians and others celebrated LGBTQ+ communities by walking in yesterday's Motor City Pride parade. (Detroit News)

🦅 Bald eagles in Michigan are having a particularly tough year, likely due to severe weather and limited available food, with researchers finding damaged nests and malnourished eaglets. (Bridge Michigan)

Twenty-five large, painted sculptures shaped like drums have been installed in Detroit as part of a broader public art effort.

The big picture: As the U.S. marks its 250th anniversary since the Declaration of Independence, national nonprofit The Stories of Us installed work by local and outside artists that reflects the experiences of a wide variety of Americans.

If you go: The outdoor exhibition can be seen through July 22 at the Detroit Public Library's main branch, Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park and the Joe Louis Greenway's Warren Gateway on the city's west side.

• Visitors to the sculptures — inspired by hourglass-shaped West African talking drums — can find QR codes that tell more about the artists and allow you to add your own story.

Zoom in: The nonprofit's goal is to tell the stories of Americans whose perspectives haven't traditionally been taken into account in mainstream retelling of U.S. history.

• For example, one theme is "ripples across generations" — showing the direct impact of enslavement and oppression on subsequent generations.

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👋 Axios Detroit newsletter editor Tyler Buchanan here, with vignettes from a recent weekend game at Fifth Third Field in Toledo — home to the Detroit Tigers' Triple-A affiliate.

🩹 Gleyber Torres, 29, wanted to be there.

• The veteran enjoyed a pressure-free environment to rehab an injured oblique.
• Before long, he was back up with the Tigers and ready to do damage.

🌟 Max Clark, 21, didn't want to be there.

• The flashy prospect has rocketed up the minor league system and is now one step away from the bright lights of Detroit.
• But he'll need a good showing in Toledo to get the chance.

🙁 Jace Jung, 25, didn't want to be there.

• The infielder has spent parts of three seasons with the Tigers with so-so results.
• Now he's back down in the minors … all while his brother Josh is crushing it in the big leagues without him.

👦 My son, 3, wanted to be there.

• His first cotton candy, his first ballpark hotdog, his first postgame run around the bases ending with a leap into the arms of his dad, who didn't want to be anywhere else on earth.