High-End Homes Frozen Out of Budding Housing Rebound

Housing is fast dividing into two markets: Sales of low- and moderately priced homes are picking up and values have stopped falling in some parts of the nation. But on the upper end, sales remain mired in a deep slump and price declines are expected to accelerate... Signs of the divide are visible across the country, including in suburban Chicago. In middle-class Schaumburg, Ill., which had a median income of $65,000 in 2007, sales were up 41% in June from the depressed level of a year earlier and bidding wars have broken out on some properties. "I can't even tell you how many I've been in over the last two months," says Joe Stacy, a local real-estate agent.

But 25 miles away in the affluent town of Kenilworth, with a median income of $230,000, home sales have stalled. While there are 65 homes on the market, just 13 have sold this year. "We're extremely oversupplied," says Sherry Molitor, a local real-estate agent. "Sellers are struggling to realize that we're back to 2001-02 prices..."

Yahoo! Finance: High-End Homes Frozen Out of Budding Housing Rebound