While the doom and gloom of the residential real estate market seems to have no end in sight, there is some good news for agents specializing in the high end side of the business. Check out these recent sales:

1) A shorefront house in Laguna Beach quietly sold for $30.1 million earlier this year, setting a new county record and illustrating the continued strength of the ultra-high-end housing market in this area of California. The house is among at least three trophy-home sales that closed this year. A property on the Balboa Peninsula sold this year for $15.7 million, agents said. And a south Laguna Beach house – Sugarloaf Point – sold last spring for $25 million, according to county tax records. See whole story

2) Evidence of the strength of the luxury home segment was revealed in late November with the sale of the Trinchera Ranch in Colorado for a record-setting $175 million. This sale breaks the U.S. residential sales record of $103 million set earlier this year in New York’s Hamptons. See whole story

3) Although the Colorado sale set a U.S. sales record, it fell short of the world record residential purchase, also set this year, with Sheikh Hamad of Qatar’s acquisition of a penthouse condominium in London for £100 million - equivalent to about $200 million at the time of the sale. See whole story

To learn more about working the luxury home market, and earning the presitgous Accredited Luxury Home Specialist (ALHS) designation visit: www.luxuryhomcouncil.com