Editor’s Note: This column was written by Leslie Hart in conjunction with Ellen Cheever, CMKBD, ASID.

As the economic environment improves, many eyes will be focused on luxury consumers. Will they return to pre-recession business as usual? Or is there a new mentality that marketers will need to address?

We believe, based on our research, there is a new reality that kitchen and bath firms will need to understand.

First, there will much more competition for this market, because it’s smaller than it was a year ago, by about 2.5 million households. The number of U.S. households with a net worth of $1 million or more, not including primary residence, fell 27% to 6.7 million in 2008, down from a record 9.2 million the year before, according to a report released in late summer by the Spectrem Group. That’s the lowest number of millionaires since 2003. Some analysts such as Merrill Lynch see a recovery in their numbers by 2013, but that is based on an optimistic projection of 8% return on investments.

Meanwhile, the number of ultra-high net worth households – those with a net worth of $5 million or more – dropped 28% to 840,000 in 2008, down from 1.16 million in ’07.

Affluent households, a broader group defined as those with $500,000 in net worth, declined 28% in 2008 to 11.3 million, down from 15.7 million in 2007.

So what’s happening with this smaller but still affluent group? Even though sales of luxury homes remain slow, there are indicators that the wealthy are spending on luxury goods again. The Dow Jones Luxury Index at the end of July was up 23% for the year-to-date.

‘True Luxury’ Returns

Interestingly, the decline in the number of wealthy is creating an opportunity for the return of true luxury. A survey from Prince and Associates, a wealth management firm, shows that true luxury – which it defines as goods that are rare, expertly made and sold to a select few – may be making a comeback. And the truly rich couldn’t be happier.

The survey, which polled 108 private jet owners with a mean net worth of $116 million, found that 94% now define luxury as “for oneself,” rather than “for the masses” (2.8%).

What’s more, 92% said they feel no guilt over luxury spending, since the money was hard earned. And 73% said a true luxury brand is a reward for being elite.

Russ Alan Prince, the firm’s president, said the fall of the so-called mass affluent or “trading up” crowd could return luxury to its roots – selling super-crafted, little-known status items to a select few.