There is no mortgage crisis...

[cynatnite]

if you have more than $1.35 million a year in discretionary income.

*************
snip:
While sellers nationwide are suffering, the highest segment of the luxury market, in trophy property corners like Palm Beach, Fla., Beverly Hills, Calif., or the east end of New York's Long Island, has performed well. Setting the tone for this year: a $60 Southampton, N.Y., buy to an unknown buyer. And there's John Thornton, a former Goldman Sachs partner and chairman of the Brookings Institution, who last month bought a $81.5 million Palm Beach spread.

"Inventory is relatively tight for trophy-type properties," says Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel, a Manhattan real estate appraisal firm. "It's a contrarian element to some of the slip-off in sales, because the bulk of the market is down largely due to a weaker economy."

A recent survey of wealthy Americans, or those with more than $1.35 million a year in discretionary income, done by American Express Publishing and Harrison Group, found that high-end home buyers feel this year is a great one to buy property.

http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/105135/America's-Most-Expensive-Homes

[SpiralHawk]

1. "Smirk." - Republicon Have Mores

[rustydog]

2. Actually, the rich are losing their Hampton homes...

I don't recall where I read the piece and saw the photos, but there were 8multi million dollar homes in teh Hamptons that had seen the first move in forclosure.

The rich are feeling the pinch now.