Across the world, luxury-home sales get a reality check

WASHINGTON (AP) — The global luxury housing market lost some of its sheen last year as financial markets became unsettled and many wealthy buyers began to look for less expensive homes.

[...] a luxury market that experts say is normalizing still looks otherworldly when compared with conventional real estate.

Yet in an emerging trend, the luxury market last year reached beyond the traditional hubs of global commerce and posh resort towns.

Atlanta, supported by an expanding film industry, reported a 25 percent increase, while an improving auto industry boosted luxury home sales in the Detroit area by 17 percent.

Baby boomers looking to cash out of the Vancouver housing market, which has attracted Chinese expatriates, moved to nearby Victoria, which enjoyed a 45 percent increase in luxury sales.

The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index plummeted until mid-February, only to undergo a jagged recovery such that the net worth of millionaires and billionaires has been in near constant flux.