NYC’s Rich Increasingly Using Trusts to Buy Homes for Their Kids

In New York, real estate is increasingly something you inherit — not buy.

The share of Manhattan home sales involving a trust — a preferred tool for passing on wealth — surged to 28% last year in a sharp rise from 17% three years ago, data from real estate analytics firm Attom show.

Behind the trend is a combination of factors — including sky-high prices, shifting tax and transparency laws, and the first waves of a $100 trillion wealth transfer. Of course, not all trust beneficiaries are children, but brokers and wealth advisers all say it’s primarily parents who are using trusts to foot the bill on ...