For many U.S. wealthy, housing crisis still a squeeze

The national luxury market is weak on both the buyer and seller sides, coast to coast. Wealthy homeowners have seen cash reserves erode from the stock market collapse, which also hit retirement savings. The big drops in home prices have squeezed home equity loans. And many high-earners have also lost jobs. "High-end owners have been hit from all sides," said Cora Berkery, a realtor at Surterre Properties in Orange County, California, site of Disneyland and hundreds of million-dollar homes.