Luxury Home Foreclosures Soar – Up 61% Versus Last Year

During much of the real estate crash, it was said that the high end market was not affected, and even increasing when other demographics were struggling.  Why then now are foreclosures on luxury homes soaring?

As the housing market improves, foreclosure activity has been steadily declining — with one exception: The number of multimillion-dollar homes going into foreclosure has spiked, new research finds.Foreclosure activity on homes worth $5 million surged 61% year over year through October, according to data released Wednesday by RealtyTrac, a real-estate data firm. In sharp contrast, overall foreclosures fell by 23% during the same period. While the number of these high-end foreclosures is relatively small — fewer than 200 homes, compared with 1.2 million properties overall — they may also represent a buying opportunity for high-net-worth home buyers, says Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.