Sales of $1M+ U.S. homes are on the rise

With the stock market picking up steam and the worst of the recession apparently in the rear-view mirror, high-end home purchases are on the rise. According to CNBC, sales of homes worth more than $1 million nationwide have risen in most states and real estate professionals say people are bidding up the price for expensive homes for the first time since the market crash. Pamela Liebman, CEO of the Corcoran Group, told CNBC that the firm saw sales of luxury co-ops double in the first quarter of 2011. Similarly, homes at the bottom of the market have been on the move nationwide, as investors pay cash to rent them out. But in the middle of the market — where homes are valued between $100,000 and $500,000 — sales were down in March in every region from the same month in 2010. Brokers attribute that drop to the credit drought, which makes it too difficult for home buyers to secure loans for their homes. As a result, the traditionally active spring buying season has been abnormally quiet. [CNBC]