Running counter to the national real estate trends of late is the continuing growth in the luxury real estate market. This part of the market seems to be largely unaffected by the economic slowdown in many areas that has been marked by steeply rising inventories of unsold homes in many markets. Some of the formerly hot second home markets have suffered steep declines in sales and home prices.

As it is said, to every rule there is an exception. The exceptional growth of the luxury home market in many parts of the country has been tracking with a new trend within that market segment: bigger is better. In Sagaponack, New York (next door to the fabled Hamptons), a 57,000 square foot home is rising in former potato fields. It has 25 bedrooms and 39 bathrooms. The gargantuan size of this home has stirred passions among local residents and other area second homeowners. How big is too big? At what point will communities decide that this trend needs to be reined in?

A recent article in the New York Times discusses this issue, and how communities are coping with this disturbing and disruptive trend.

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