The booming real estate market is beginning to have a curious affect on those glossy, luxury home magazines. They are having a hard time getting to the newsstands before the homes they feature are sold.

Rick Goodwin of Unique Homes magazine described it as an unusual problem but not a severe one -- at least not yet.

"The market is so hot right now homes are selling faster than agents can advertise them," he said. "It used to be that homes with these kinds of prices (typically in the multi-millions) were on the market from anywhere between six months and two year years.

"Now we’re seeing these houses sold in two weeks. We don’t have time to get to press."

Goodwin routinely is in contact with upper end real estate brokers across the country and he says he is consistently hearing the same thing: Stock market millionaires are converting their paper profits to hard assets -- putting money into a huge homes that reflect a glamorous lifestyle.

"There are a lot of people with a lot of money out there," he says. "Up in Seattle. In Silicon Valley. People are taking paper profits out of the market and buying real estates.

"But I think that says something. These people with their stock options and high salaries, what is it they want to own? They want to buy a house.

"Even to these people, owning a nice, big home is a badge. Just like its always been, a house is a sign that you’ve achieve some success. That you’ve made it.

"You can have a great stock portolio, but the only ones who are going to know it are you and your stock broker. But a house is that outward sign that says who you are."

Ironically, those making millions have triggered a kind of isolated inflation in regions such as Silicon Valley. "Houses that you see that would go for maybe $75,000 in one place or maybe as much as $150,000 in some really good markets are selling for $700,000 and $800,000 in Silicon Valley. There’s a real shortage there."

Goodwin also said he felt technology is having another curious and more direct impact on housing: Location doesn’t have to be urban or suburban anymore.

"A lot of the homes we feature would be considered second homes, or vacation homes," he said. "But with technology the way it is, and the ability to telecommute, many of the properties are primary residences.

"People are buying the big house on the golf course, or the big house in the skiiing area, as their main home. They find they can spend most of their time at home, and commute to an apartment in the city one or two days a week if they have to go into the office."

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Published: August 30, 1999

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