I have been following the Sold stats and here are some interesting info for your perusal:

Solds in Saratoga Real Estate Market for 2011:

$1M- $2M= 126 homes sold

$2M-$3M= 30 homes sold with 5 pending transactions

$3M+= 16 homes sold and one pending transaction asking $3,549,000.

Based on last year stats in 2010 the $1-$2M has slowed down some. ( Last year was 200 units).  The $2M-$3M range had 48 units, and over $3M+ had 11 units.


Of course the year is not over but from what these figures show me is that the upper end market has performed already better than 2010 in the $3M+ range, and the $2M+ range is slightly off of last year numbers. 

In the $1M+ range although sales have been less than in 2010, I can not say that this market in terms of appreciation has slowed.  One home in the triangle on 19887  Lanark Lane which was only a 3 bedroom 2 bath home 1904 sf,10,500 lot sold for a whopping $1,630,000 with multiple offers (5).  That puts this home at $856/sf which is a new high for the triangle in 2011. 

What these numbers say to me is that because of the all time low interest rates, potential sellers are not readily putting their homes on the market and are digging in.'  Demand is still very strong so it's a matter of supply vs. demand right now,  and that's why I feel the $1M-$2M market has lagged not because of lack of demand, but low inventory.  If this trend continues, it bodes well for sellers.

With interest rates at all time lows, the market in general is very solid. Just last week there was another home at 20221Argonaut Drive inside the Golden Triangle went over the asking price.  This house sold in only 10 days had 5 offers and the buyer is closing in 14 days. Now is that competition or what?

In the $3M+ market in 2007 there were 32 homes sold during that time followed by 20 in 2008, 13 in 2009, and 11 in 2010.  In 2011 having registered 16 closed sales and one pending looks to me as a recovery not to previous numbers but better than what they have been.  I think this market is just waiting for good inventory.