The only sales of million-dollar homes are foreclosures —John Marcell, president of Better Mortgage Brokers of Upland, California, as quoted by Prashant Gopal in "Trading Down Is the New Real Estate Reality"

Don't think you're going to unload that investment-grade Monet you acquired a couple of years ago either—and you might as well burn the Warhols! According to Colin Gleadell, at the latest Sotheby's auction "only 23 out of 70 works by Andy Warhol, the bellwether of the contemporary market, sold."

Still, the dollar is always in demand, even as it loses value—

The lower reserves [reserve prices] allowed fashion designer Valentino Garavani, sitting in the front row at Sotheby's, to buy two [Warhols] - one of which was a large painting of a dollar sign for $2.1 million, comfortably below the $2.5 million estimate.

Tags: news and politics housing market real estate art market auctions lifestyles of the rich and absurd