The selling of a 25,500-square-foot limestone mansion in Los Altos Hills, California, to a Russian venture capitalist for a record $100 million is a staged instance that high-end luxury homes inhabit a market of their own.

According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of million dollar-plus homes priced at or above $1 million were up 3.9 percent in February from a year ago, while sales of homes priced between $100,000 and $250,000 were down 7 percent.
Sales of million dollar-plus homes accounted for just 2 percent of sales, while homes in the $100,000 to $250,000 range accounted for 42 percent of sales.

Although $100 million is an exciting price – besting the previous record of $95 million for the 2008 sale of a Palm Beach, Fla. estate owned by Donald Trump – half of the Los Altos Hills mansion sale was seller financed, the Wall Street Journal revealed.