WHERE THE OTHER HALF LIVES

This Lake Country house sold for a record $16 mil.

THE RESIDENTIAL real estate market is cooling, somewhat, for us normal folks. But the ultra-rich, who can shrug off or completely sidestep rising interest rates, are doing just fine.

Exhibit A: The record $16 million paid (in cash!) in October for a seven-bedroom, 10,000-square-foot home on Pine Lake in Chenequa. Its amenities include an infinity pool and a guest wing with a separate entrance, and the sale included $1 million for furnishings, boats, vehicles and a pier.

Aside from a handful of major estates on Lake Geneva, it's the most expensive home ever sold in southeast Wisconsin, by a wide margin, says Bruce Gallagher, who brokered the deal for his Gallagher Lake Country Real Estate and Keller Williams. “It used to be rare that we'd see any deal above $3 million, but I've sold 16 properties above that level in the last two and a half years,” Gallagher says.

He credits that boom, in part, to homeowners re-evaluating the importance of their surroundings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Supply-chain issues and inflation have increased the challenges and costs of building, further boosting demand for existing high-end homes.

Gallagher declined to identify the buyer of the Pine Lake home but noted ultra-luxury properties are often second homes for buyers who already live in the Milwaukee area or have strong local ties. And he expects demand to remain strong. “The best quality homes on the best lakes are still going to be commanding prices around what we've been seeing,” Gallagher says. Although maybe not quite$16mil.–