I'm not surprised to hear the high end real-estate market is not yet effected by the downturn in the overall economy. Why would it? The majority of those that can afford those places are into them for cash as has been mentioned on here and I've heard the same from other sources as well. Even if they do take out a mortgage it's not becuase they have to it's because they think they can unlock some of that money and put it to further use at the expense of the bank. I know this may sound really bad but let's face it, the folks buying the high end properties are much smarter than the poor people suckered into high risk loans and I would bet that most did not enter into a second home purchase not fully planning out if they could afford it or not. They certainly did not get rich by being financially ignorant. Plus since they have cash in hand they could care less what mortgage rates are or if they can get a loan since they don't need it. Therefore they are not in as much risk of loosing on thier property unless over the long haul they have to part with it due to the re-occuring costs of hanging on to it. The current and near term political climate is hostile to anyone who is sitting on any kind of substantial wealth and no doubt there will be concerted efforts to tax the living bleep out of what you got.
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