Critical Article in the LA Times on the Luxury Home Market
Luxury home prices are still heading down
By Lauren Beale, Los Angeles Times
10:27 AM PST, December 13, 2010
While Southland housing values overall have rebounded from recent lows, those in the upper end of the market may not yet have hit bottom. Some experts don’t see a turnaround for at least another year.
On its glittering surface, the Southern California luxury housing market still has plenty of pizzazz.
A 48,000-square-foot Versailles-style estate in Bel-Air that sold for $50 million is believed to be the highest-priced sale in the nation this year. Actor Sacha Baron Cohen spent $18.9 million on a Mediterranean villa in the Hollywood Hills, a record for that area.
These trophy deals, however, are masking a larger malaise in the luxury market. Most mansions put up for sale are lingering for months without nibbles from buyers, real estate agents say. And although Southland home prices overall have rebounded from lows hit last year, the luxury market is still trending downward.
To see the rest of the story: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-luxury-housing-market-20101213,0,1547660.story
