After the recession, the market for large, expensive homes slowed sharply. In July 2008, according to the National Association of Realtors, the number of homes that sold for $750,000 to $1 million dropped by 35.5 percent, compared with the previous July. Those that sold for more than $1 million fell 31.4 percent.
Yet despite the bursting of the housing bubble, the ensuing recession and the slow recovery, buyers have not abandoned luxury homes. It turns out that they just took a break. In July 2013, sales of homes costing more than $1 million were up 46.6 percent from the previous July.