One million dollars is just a number, but like a .300 batting average or a 4.0 grade point average, it’s a significant plateau when it comes to a home sales price.

The luxury home market in Springfield is never going to rival those of Chicago or St. Louis.

For example, 221 homes sold for more than $1 million each in Chicago last year.

But the upper bracket is alive and well in central Illinois too, and there currently are five homes on the market with asking prices of between $950,000 and $1.15 million.

“We do see them come through,” said Todd Musso of Wrightsman-Musso Ltd., president of the Capital Area Association of Realtors. “It’s not uncommon to have a $1 million home or to have several listed at any given time.”

Musso said there are many more homes in the $500,000-to-$700,000 price range than in the range closer to $1 million.

“Things are starting to pick up that price range,” he said.

People buying luxury homes locally for the most part have moved in from elsewhere.

“Their markets starting to move and freeing up money to buy,” he said. “The majority (of buyers) are coming into the medical district. It’s constantly bringing us new people.”

Climbing prices

There’s no question that the Springfield area has more $1 million homes than what are listed for sale.

“The Reserve just southwest of Panther Creek, those homes are in the $1 million range,” Musso said. “Not a lot of them, but a good handful. They’re all custom-built.

“A lot of them are pretty new, but there have been a couple of them sell on the secondary market,” he said. “The Lake Springfield area (also) has taken on a lot of newer homes approaching that.”

In Springfield, the median sale price for homes has continued to climb, with a few blips, over the past 10 years. The median sale price — meaning half the homes sold below that price and half for more than that price — of $113,000 for area homes through the first three months of the year was up 15.3 percent from a year ago and is a record for the period, the Capital Area Association of Realtors said last week.

Rick Hanselman of the The Real Estate Group and Susan Madison of Re/Max Professionals sold a home on Lake Springfield for $1.3 million in January. That is believed to be the highest price ever paid in Springfield for a single-family residence. Hanselman also has sold a $600,000 home and a $700,000 home this year.

“I see activity increasing in the upper bracket ($500,000 and up) here,” Hanselman said. “It may be the time of the year.”

Hanselman agrees that the medical community, for the most part, is spurring the higher-end sales.

“The state, insurance companies still contribute,” he said. “I see a lot of activity… I just don’t see  prices where we want them to be. 

“There are a lot of homes here worth $1 million, there’s just a lot sold,” he said, naming the lake and The Reserve as the spots most likely to have such homes.

Location helps

Hanselman said 22 Springfield-area homes have sold for between $950,000 and $2 million since real estate sales records have been kept. In addition to the $1.3 million sale, a home sold for $1.2 million in 2005 and a $950,000 home in 2004, he said.

Recently, there were five houses on the market — on East Hazel Dell Lane, West Lake Shore Drive, Beachview Lane, and Panther Creek, plus one in Sherman — for which sellers are asking between $950,000 and $1.15 million.

What you get for $1 million is the basic real estate mantra, Hanselman said — “location, location, location.”

“You’re going to get 2 acres on a point at the lake or something in dynamite condition with all the upgrades and electronics,” he said.

But Musso said a million-dollar home has to have more going for it than just location.

“It’s not 100 percent location,” he said. “But it helps if you’re on the beach. There are more pushing that price range on the lake or on one of the golf courses.

“You should be getting good square footage and granite, hardwood and tile throughout,” Musso said. “There will be extra amenities, such as an additional kitchen or bar area, sauna, theater rooms.

“It might have separate quarters, an alarm system, surround sound,” he said.

The smattering of $1 million homes probably is all Springfield can expect — or support.

“I can’t see our market just keep on increasing the number of $1 million homes,” Musso said. “This is not a resort market, and it’s a very conservative market. Our prices don’t fluctuate 10 percent like they do in some of these markets.”

Chris Dettro can be reached at 788-1510.

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Springfield vs. St. Louis — here’s what you get

* 917 West Lake Shore Drive, Springfield

Asking $1 million for a 9,347-square-foot house with 4 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms on 30 acres. Includes  a three-acre stocked pond, eight acres of prairie restoration, timber, lush lawn, formal gardens, brick courtyard, orchard, six tillable acres, greenhouse and two outbuildings. Master suite, custom gourmet cherry kitchen, high-end appliances. Living room/art gallery addition overlooking pond and trees, extensive travertine and walnut flooring, two guest suites, two prep kitchens, library. Attached 3.5-car garage.

* 9 Bellerive Country Club Grounds, St. Louis

Asking $1.15 million for a 3,760-square-foot house with 3 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms on 1.47-acre lot. Adjacent to Bellerive Country Club and has private in-ground pool, covered porches, custom millwork, family room with fireplace and built-in bookcases and entertainment center. Kitchen has solid surface counters, crystal cabinets with glass accents and crown. The lower level is finished with an additional kitchen, two full baths, recreation and family rooms, a sauna and two large bedrooms. It has a three-car garage, a sprinkler system and an alarm system.