The record sale, the priciest listing in the country, lighthouses sold at government auction, towns and islands with a price tag, and the state rules and tax a foreign buyer meets.
American real estate produces extremes on every scale: a penthouse with a nine-figure price, a mansion listed at 400 million dollars, a lighthouse bought at a government auction, a whole town with a price tag. Reading about them is fun, but it also shows where the market's limits are and which rules start to matter there. Everything below is a report of what was published, with the source; none of these properties is offered through us, and prices change fast.
The record: a penthouse for 238 million dollars
According to National Mortgage Professional, the highest price ever paid for a US home is 238 million dollars, for a penthouse overlooking Central Park in New York, bought in 2019 by the founder of the hedge fund Citadel. We found no report of a 2026 sale that beat it, but our searches did not cover every closing after mid-2026, so read that as "we found none", not "none exists".
The priciest listing: 400 million dollars
The most expensive home currently for sale in the country, according to KTLA and Spear's in 2026, is a compound at 11201 Chalon Road in Bel Air, Los Angeles, listed at 400 million dollars. Coverage of the same period also mentioned a mansion in Aspen at 300 million and a waterfront home in Key Biscayne, Florida, at 237 million. These are asking prices. A listing is not a sale, and the distance between the two can be large: a Naples, Florida waterfront estate reported as the top sale of 2025 went for 225 million dollars against an initial ask of 295 million.
What actually sold in 2026
Redfin data published through a Business Wire release of 23 March 2026 shows the highest February sales: an oceanfront estate in Manalapan, Florida at 68.3 million dollars, a penthouse on Vestry Street in New York at 57 million and a house on East 62nd Street in New York at 55 million. A Naples property at 55 million closed in January. These figures run only to February.
In Manhattan, the Wall Street Journal reported in February 2026 that an Upper East Side penthouse at 1122 Madison Avenue was set to sell for 89.5 million dollars, and Commercial Observer called it the year's largest deal in June. We did not find a confirmed closing, so we call it reported. The same outlet reported in June that a duplex penthouse at 80 Clarkson Street in the West Village was in contract at 80 million, which is not a closed sale.
Lighthouses at government auction
The US government has been handing lighthouses to new owners for years: some go to public bodies at no cost, others are auctioned through the General Services Administration. According to NPR in 2023, auction prices have ranged from 10,000 to 933,888 dollars. In older coverage, the Superior Harbor Entry Light in Wisconsin sold for 159,000 dollars to a bidder from California after nine bidders competed, and the Fairport Harbor West Breakwall Lighthouse on Lake Erie went for 71,010 dollars in 2011. The buyer must maintain the tower to historic-preservation standards, and the Coast Guard may keep an easement to service the navigation light. We found no 2026 results; the official GSA auctions site is the place to look. A lighthouse is a monument with a bill attached, not a cheap house.
A whole town for sale
Entire towns appear on the market from time to time. Coverage we found, none of it dated, reported Water Valley in Tennessee (about 7 acres with several commercial buildings) at 725,000 dollars and Toomsboro in Georgia (40 acres including an opera house, an inn and a depot) at 1.7 million. They may have sold or changed price. What you buy is land and buildings, often in poor repair, not a municipality: the town's government, roads and utilities are a separate matter.
Islands with a price tag
Private islands for sale in the US are rare and expensive. Scripps News reported Pumpkin Key, a 26-acre island in the Florida Keys with a main house, caretaker apartments and a 23-slip marina, at 75 million dollars after it failed to sell at 95 million in 2020. A guide also names Hope Island, 86 acres near Portland, Maine, with a mansion, guest houses and a chapel, but we could not confirm a price or status. Island rules are a topic of their own, see islands and island homes abroad and island real estate.
What a foreign buyer needs to know
There is no general federal ban on foreigners buying homes in the US. The restrictions are mainly at state level and target land. According to Mintz in January 2026, about 36 states had enacted laws restricting or prohibiting foreign ownership of real property by the end of 2025, focused on agricultural land, natural resources, critical infrastructure and closeness to military sites. Texas's 2025 law bars buyers linked to designated countries from any real-property interest, and Florida's law covering a 10-mile zone around military installations and critical infrastructure was upheld by the Eleventh Circuit in November 2025. Several challenges are pending. The rules vary by state and by buyer, so check them before you bid on farmland, large plots or anything near a base.
What the records mean for a normal buyer
- A record is not a price benchmark. Nine-figure deals are a handful a year and tell you almost nothing about a normal house or flat.
- If you later sell, a foreign seller is generally subject to FIRPTA withholding. According to title-company sources, it is 15 percent of the amount realised, 10 percent where the buyer will live in the property and the price is between 300,001 and 1,000,000 dollars, and none at 300,000 or less for a residence. Reduced withholding can be requested with Form 8288-B. Check the IRS pages, because rates and conditions change.
- Closing costs, property tax and insurance vary a great deal by state and county, so budget them place by place, see total cost of ownership abroad.
- Mortgages for non-residents have their own conditions, see mortgages for non-residents.
- Run the usual checks on title, the seller and the contract before you pay, see pre-purchase checklist abroad.
If you are weighing an unusual object, an independent buyer-side adviser can help you compare options and bring in a local lawyer; D.H. Realting works from Warsaw as an independent consultant, so ask us how we are paid, as you would ask anyone.