Toll Brothers, the bell that tolls for luxury market

Toll Brothers, the largest U.S. luxury homebuilder, reported purchase agreements fell 3% nationally in the third quarter from a year earlier, and in California, where some of its priciest developments are located, contracts plummeted 36%. Worries about a recession, stock market gyrations and trade tensions are making wealthy Americans and foreign buyers think twice about purchasing a luxury home. Tolls average home price was $882,648 in the quarter, the company said. Thats more than double the U.S. median home price of $280,800 in July, as measured by the National Association of Realtors.