Every market requires agents to have a deep depth of knowledge in order to be successful, but the luxury market demands an even deeper bench.

“To be successful in the Boston residential luxury market, to borrow a phrase from Wayne Gretsky, you’ve got to skate where the puck is going to be, not where it’s been,” said George Ballantyne, a 40-year veteran of the Boston luxury market with Gibson Sotheby’s. “Agents and owners use past comparable sales, but that doesn’t necessarily give good insight to where the puck is going.”

He points to the relatively recent trend of buyers less interested in large, expensive, suburban single-family homes and more interested in luxury condominiums in the city as an example.

“Buyers place value on different things at different times, both in terms of location and type of property,” he said. “You have to helicopter up and see how things are shifting. Typically what happens is, it’s not that the market is declining or adjusting. Properties came on the market with the expectation that the market would grow into them and that has not happened.”

While there are reports that the high end of the market is beginning to soften in markets across the country, Gail Roberts, whose name appears on the Coldwell Banker for-sale signs in front of many of the more distinguished homes in Cambridge, said the Boston area is bucking the trend, in part because of our inventory issue.

“There are five single-family homes on the market [in Cambridge] for $2-plus million today,” Roberts said last week. “That’s it. I put a house on the market last week for $1.085 million. We’re accepting offers today and I expect it will sell for over the asking price.”

Pricing these luxury properties can be particularly challenging; the more expensive and unique a property is, the fewer homes there are to compare it to, and agents caution that even the extremely wealthy are very careful not to overpay.

Luxury Living Different From Vacation Living

On Nantucket, where most of the luxury sales are second homes ranging from $5 million to $42 million, pricing sales is more art than science, said Bernadette Meyer of Maury People’s Sotheby’s.

“The properties that get those price tags usually have some distinguishing, unique feature that is impossible to recreate,” she said. “I have a $33 million listing that consists of three separate parcels on a special waterfront not subject to erosion, which is unique; there’s nothing else like this on Nantucket.”

And is often the case in vacation communities, time is different in Nantucket – and the market moves much more slowly. Meyer said last year there were only seven sales over $10 million and many luxury homes can take years to sell, not days.

The luxury market in the Berkshires is similar, said Maureen White, broker/owner of Barnbrook Realty in Great Barrington, an affiliate of Christie’s, where the luxury market starts at about $1 million and consists primarily of second homes.

“In the past several months,” White wrote in an email, “I have sold four homes over $1 million. Each of these began just below or just above $2 million. Two had been on the market for over 600 days. The other two had been on the market for less than a year. They sold between $1.45 million and $1.6 million. When the luxury seller finally becomes emotionally detached from their homes, they tend to have a more realistic idea regarding pricing.”

But in some ways markets are the same regardless of location or price tag: Roberts cautions against overpricing and urges sellers to aim for market value in the hopes of creating a bidding war.

“You want to price a property to get the most number of buyers in to look at it, then see where the market where will take it,” she said. “But no one wants to overpay. Because I see so many of these buyers, I know what they are looking for. That helps me judge a home’s value. It’s difficult.”

It’s a mistake to throw an arbitrarily high price on a house because it’s large or unique, said Ballantyne. For example, if the record highest sale price in a particular market is $20 million, it’s unlikely that a buyer would pay more than that for a property, even if they could afford it.

“Even the most substantial buyers want some assurance that if their plans change, they’ll be able to recoup their investment,” Ballantyne said. “One thing you never do is wing it. When you’re on a listing appointment in front of a seller, there has to be content in your presentation, not just enthusiasm.”

Finding The Right Buyer

Luxury home marketing is unique, said Ballantyne; “it’s less about square footage, acres and condition. You have to look at the buyer profile in the Greater Boston residential luxury market” and determine whether that profile complements the property.

“I do a lot of very selective, direct marketing,” he said. “Honestly, the single most important part of being successful at this is really to listen. Don’t be anticipating what you’re going to say next, but listen. It’s not one huge bold swoop, it’s a series of small, subtle moves.”

In the Berkshires, White’s firm casts a wide net, relying heavily on her affiliation with Christie’s to advertise luxury homes to potential buyers through websites with a global audience. They also collaborate closer to home with a real estate office in New York City, where many second-home buyers in the Berkshires live and work.

“An additional benefit is our collaboration with the extraordinary New York metropolitan area brokerage, Brown, Harris, Stevens,” White wrote. “Each week we send and receive buyer and seller referrals between offices. This gives our local sellers thousands of additional agents who have a vested financial interest in finding a buyer for the homes Barnbrook Realty has for sale. This connection has proven to be an invaluable asset.”

Meyer’s marketing is a combination of utilizing Sotheby’s international reach and using her network to spread the word about properties for sale.

“Nantucket only has about 6,000 residences and 12,000 year-round residents,” she said. “I’m selling more than a home; I’m selling a lifestyle. A lot of these properties are legacy properties, and buyers rely on my experience to show them the value.”