More than 18,000 homes statewide sold for $1 million or more last year, which sounds like a lot but was actually down from 24,000 sold in 2008 and 42,000 in 2007. L.A. County homes in that price range fell 13.3 percent in 2009. From Dataquick press release:

"Prestige home sales are a unique sub-category of the real estate market. The buyers and sellers respond to a different set of motivations. In the multi-million-dollar price ranges, decisions are largely discretionary and aren't as dependent upon jobs, prices and interest rates the way they are for most buyers and sellers," said John Walsh, DataQuick president. "Traditional million-dollar markets are holding up relatively well, while expensive markets that emerged four or five years ago are not," he said.

The most expensive confirmed purchase last year was a 22,721-square-foot, 9-bedroom, 10-bathroom Bel Air house that went for $26.5 million. The median-sized million-dollar home was 2,646 square feet, with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.

MILLION-DOLLAR HOMES (# sold, most expensive sale)

94010 Hillsborough 261 $8.00 mill.
90266 Manhattan Beach 260 $11.65 mill.
92037 La Jolla 259 $18.15 mill.
90049 Brentwood 254 $14.85 mill.
94025 Menlo Park 252 $4.25 mill.
95014 Cupertino 215 $3.13 mill.
94024 Los Altos 211 $4.30 mill.
95070 Saratoga 206 $4.59 mill.
92651 Laguna Beach 203 $13.73 mill.
90272 Pacific Palisades 193 $17.55 mill.
90210 Beverly Hills 190 $19.90 mill.
90274 Rolling Hills Estates 187 $6.40 mill.

Source: MDA DataQuick, www.dqnews.com

Photo: Manhattan Beach - close to the water and pricey.