Despite concerns about the housing and mortgage markets, the million-dollar mansion set is still buying.

Jill Clark, an agent with ReMax Professionals Select in Naperville, said she's sold 29 million-dollar-plus properties this year.

"It's interesting," she said. "What's really selling are the over-$1-million market, and then the under-$300,000 market."

Clark, a certified luxury home marketing specialist - a designation offered by the Institute of Luxury Home Marketing - has her own theories as to why this is so.

"The people who have money, they're diversified enough," she said. "If the stock market's not great, or their company's not so great, they can withstand some of these up-and-down issues."

In Naperville, the homes Clark handles are still fetching high prices, without the price cuts seen in other segments of the housing market, intended to entice buyers.

"Even last month, houses were still selling at 95 to 98 percent of the list price," she said. "From the realtor's point of view, you can still capture that fair market value that the clients see, and from a negotiation point of view, clients are still able to understand that this is worth about 95 to 98 percent of the list price."

Nationwide, sales of homes priced at $1 million or more rose over the past decade, according to the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing.

Nationwide, there were 10,000 homes sold for $1 million or more in 1999, based on statistics compiled by DataQuick, a company that tracks high-priced home sales.

In 2004, there were 51,000 homes sold for $1 million or more, and by 2005, there were 109,113 such transactions.

Sales of homes priced at $5 million and above jumped in 2006 and rose 31 in the first quarter of 2007, according to new research by DataQuick.

Contact Meg Dedolph at mdedolph@scn1.com or 630-416-5297.