An analysis of nationwide home sales published Wednesday showed that even with the subprime U.S. real estate market in the dirt; high-end U.S. homes are doing well.
The New York Times reported this week that higher end, luxury homes fairing well in the U.S. market has gone unnoticed mainly based on the fact that the Washington and the National Association of Realtors do not report statistics based on tiered pricing or different price segments.
Sales of homes in the top 5 percent of the market have been increasing in numerous cities based on information gathered by DataQuick Information Systems, a company that monitors real estate activity nationwide These homes were often found to sell at above ‘asking prices’ while sales in the market's middle and bottom sectors have fallen.
What causes this trend?
One analyst from DataQuick told the Times that ‘well-off’ families are getting richer and are spending more money, an that wealthy foreign investors are taking advantage of a failing U.S. Dollar and are buying more and more U.S. homes.
The newspaper also stated that more affluent buyers are not as affected by the rising interest rates and mortgage-market problems, as with low-income or middle-class buyers.
Chief Economist Mark Zandi summed it up by stating to The Times, "The low end is getting creamed. The middle is struggling. The high end is running on its own dynamic.”
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