Well, here's the big difference between Shady Canyon and Coto as I see it:
First, there ARE still people buying these expensive homes ins Shady. Not many, but a couple per month. For homes in the $4 - $7 million dollar range, that's not bad. The problem isn't that there aren't enough buyers, it's that there are too many sellers. Everyone jumped on the spec bandwagon in 2004-05 hoping to make a couple of million bucks on their spec home. The ones early to the party made a killing, but by the time rest of the spec builders figured out there was a huge profit to be made, bought their land and got through the long approval process AND got their homes built, the party was pretty much over. With so many homes now on the market, the profits are gone and now it's damage control and the game is "try to get out with some of your equity". Now you've got the marginal owners trying to sell who really couldn't afford their homes in the first place, competing with the new market.
Coto, on the other hand, has NO new spec homes. Actually, there are 2 and one is on a lousy hillside lot in an area of tract homes and is listed for over $9 million, the other is right on the corner of Coto Drive. ZOOOMMMM!!! What did you say? I said the other is RIGHT ON THE CORNER OF A 60MPH 2-LANE ROAD WITH TONS OF TRAFFIC!! HELLO! CAN YOU HEAR ME?? You get the idea. Neither of these homes represent Coto.
The most expensive homes are in the Los Ranchos Estates. They are old and overpriced, which is why they aren't selling. That is why there was only 1 sale in 2008 for over $4 million. In fact, the home that sold was the expensive one on top the hill (can't remember the address) that was listed for over $20 million. It was lived in, but barely. If there were new homes in the $5-7 million range they would probably sell because buyers only almost no other choices for homes with land.
There is one lot on Pradera Road for sale which has the grading done and has all approvals in place to build a Tuscan style home. I hear the owner is looking for a partner to build out the lot, but other than that there is nothing on the drawing board for Coto for the foreseeable future.