Lots of homes are selling for millions of dollars in WNY. Who's buying them and why?

And while million-dollar home sales are still very much more the exception than the norm, they are happening more and more often – so much so that now it’s the purchases for $2 million or more that are getting attention.

According to local real estate agents, the reasons are varied. But it comes down this: People buy ultra-expensive homes because they can.

“Why do people buy Lexuses instead of Chevys?” asked Clayton Ertel, a Howard Hanna agent who has handled such deals. “Success breeds a desire for nicer things and better things, and success is part of the quotient. You usually demand bigger and better things.”

That was certainly the case with the most expensive home ever sold in the city of Buffalo, purchased in March by Kyle Roche and his wife, Kaylin, for $3.5 million.

When Kyle Roche saw the historic six-bedroom stone mansion at 50 Tudor Place in the Elmwood Village – with nearly 9,000 square feet of restored space and elegant detail, on a double lot with an in-ground pool and carriage house – he knew he had to have it.

“This one will never come on the market again,” he said. “This was the ‘one of one’ for me.”

The Roches want to be comfortable and secure. That, too, is a common theme.

“It’s a lifestyle that they live,” said Lori Adams, an agent at the HusVar team at eXp Realty. “They’re used to luxury. Many of the people who are in those price ranges are people who work long hours, so they want something nice when they come home.”

And because, after the pandemic, they want to make sure they have more than enough space and amenities if they ever find themselves locked down again.

“They say life is short, and I’m going to go get it,” said Melissa Liberatore, an agent with Keller Williams Realty Lancaster, who has been in real estate for 11 years. “Post-pandemic, people can afford more. If they’re ever going to be trapped in their house again, they want everything. They want to be in a place that they love.”

Home price inflation

Buffalo has long been known for its affordability and relatively low housing cost, even at the high end of the market.

“When you have people come in from outside the area, they’re surprised by how much house they can get in Buffalo,” Adams said.

But that’s changing, as the roaring housing market and highly competitive bidding for homes drove up prices sky-high for years. Now, an average-sized home that was in the $200,000 range 15 years ago easily tops $400,000 or even $500,000, and it’s become more common to see higher-priced deals in the high six figures.

That inflation is hitting the luxury market as well, where $1 million deals are no longer so unusual, as the benchmark has risen to at least $1.5 million, while purchases that exceed $2 million are popping up more and more.

“You can tell the difference when you go into a $2 million house,” said Kristan Andersen, an agent at Gurney Becker & Bourne, who helped broker the Roches’ deal. “It’s usually something that’s architecturally significant or just done so beautifully or the amenities are something the other houses don’t have.”

One of this most notable recent examples was a $4.45 million purchase in June 2016 on Willardshire Road in the Town of Aurora. That’s a seven-bedroom mansion and estate, with 15,751 square feet of space on 47 acres, accessible via a gate, stone bridges and a quarter-mile driveway.

And in Clarence, a two-story mansion with 14,728 square feet on Goodrich Road sold for $3.9 million in June 2024.

“I’ve been shocked myself with some of the sale prices,” Liberatore said. “Those are the ones that I think are crazy. I was pretty blown away that there’s a market for that.”

Rare, but not as rare

But while those are the most eye-popping home purchases, they are far from alone in the local housing market stratosphere. At least 10 other homes have sold for over $2 million in the last 10 years in Erie County alone.

Those include:

• A four-bedroom house with 7,091 square feet on Lincoln Parkway sold for $2.9 million. The seller was Sephra Tzipporah Rahabi-Vigna, while the buyer was John Collins, through a limited-liability company.
• Lisann Jane Jacobs, daughter of Delaware North Chairman Jeremy M. Jacobs, sold her 7,900-square-foot mansion on Meadow Road for $2.7 million in 2020, to Columbus McKinnon Corp. CEO David J. Wilson and his wife, Amy. Jacobs had designed and built the home in 2007 on vacant land.
• Motivair Corp. CEO Richard Whitmore and his wife, Megan, paid $2.6 million for the four-bedroom, 5,185-square-foot house on William Court in Clarence, buying it from businessman Christopher Di Re.
• Former Buffalo Bills player Mario Williams sold his five-bedroom mansion with 13,189 square feet on Woodcrest Drive in Orchard Park for $2.575 million. It had been built by former personal injury attorney Kenneth P. Bernas, who was disbarred in 2010.

That doesn’t even count all the deals between $1 million and $2 million, or those in adjoining counties. Just this week, former Kaleida Health and ECMC CEO Jody Lomeo and his wife, Mary, paid $1.865 million to buy a six-bedroom, 6,063-square-foot home on Lakestone Court in Clarence, from Kevin M. and Pamela A. Corcoran.

“There’s a lot of people living close to their means, stretching to get it,” Liberatore said.

Who’s buying?

So who’s buying and why?

“There’s some significant wealth in Western New York,” Ertel said. “There always has been, but there’s significantly more because of some investor success from corporations that were born and bred here.”

The buyers are split between out-of-towners and local people who either come from family money or have had successful careers. They’re doctors, lawyers, athletes, executives and entrepreneurs.

“It’s surprising to many Buffalonians and agents that it is local people who are still living here or people with local ties who want to come back and bring their family or start a business and be part of the city,” said Tracy Heneghan of Gurney Becker & Bourne, Andersen’s partner on the Roche deal.

Many are also coming from larger and more costly cities, like New York, Boston, San Francisco or Washington, where the cost of housing is so much higher that Buffalo looks inexpensive.

“Two-point-five million dollars is a lot of money, but if you were to buy a house in Westchester, you’re talking $5 million all day long, especially to get a yard and walkability to something like Elmwood Village,” Andersen said.

There are also family considerations.

“They feel they would like to be able to have several generations in their immediate family be able to live here and experience the life of a higher-end house,” said Barbara Anne Kivi, an agent with Keller Williams Realty WNY.

What do they want?

Given what they’re spending, buyers are very particular about what attracts them. Such homes are usually already well-kept and updated, with newer kitchens and bathrooms. So there’s little if any work to do on them, though new buyers will still put their own stamp on them.

“People like to buy homes that are already done,” Stevens said. “The cost and the stress of doing construction projects are something that a lot of homebuyers don’t want to deal with.”

Geographically, some want the larger lots and acreage that comes with a more secluded suburban or rural setting. Others want the city life, and easy access to urban benefits.

The homes usually have special architectural touches or amenities, or include significant size or acreage, or are in an unusual location. “Most of our buyers are just buying them because they fell in love with the house and the location, and it has what they’re looking for,” Andersen said.

Bigger homes are a must. Besides having enough bedrooms and bathrooms to meet their needs, many people want space for one or more home offices. Chef’s kitchens, top-of-the-line appliances and extra storage are desirable, along with cabinets featuring specialized nooks and crannies. Garages, finished basements and walk-in closets are also important.

Entertainment space and game rooms are also popular. So are in-ground pools and spa bathrooms with heated bathroom floors, especially for homes costing more than $1.5 million to $2 million.

They also want modern mechanicals, including central air conditioning. “I don’t think you’re going to find a million-dollar house without central air,” Adams said.

Sometimes there are special interests. Andersen sold a home on Goodrich in Clarence that had 12 bays for cars because “the people were all about cars.”

And some buyers want to be on a particular street or a certain neighborhood.

“A lot of folks growing up in Buffalo looked at Olmsted parkways as a place to live if you could afford it,” Stevens added. “So when some of those come on the market, it gets interest from expats who think now might be the time to make the move.”