California broker ties jumbo miles to jumbo mortgages

CHICAGO (Reuters) - In Southern California, a jumbo mortgage can now land you on a jumbo jet.

In a bid to draw high-end buyers to the region's floundering housing market, Beverly Hills-based real estate brokerage, Incentive Real Estate Inc, said on Wednesday homes buyers can earn 250,000 airline miles on the purchase of a newly constructed house valued at more than $500,000.

That is enough miles for 10 free round-trip coach tickets within the United States to see how other depressed real estate markets are faring. Or two round-trips to Asia to get away from Southern California's bleak real estate news.

"Our program is a win-win for the homebuyer and the builder," Incentive Real Estate's Managing Broker Patrick Gorman said in a press release.

Southern California's market for homes with jumbo mortgages -- a home loan for $417,000 or more -- has seen better days. According to figures from DataQuick Information Systems released on Tuesday, sales of houses and condominiums in the most populous counties in Southern California fell 29.9 percent in September.

Sales of new and existing homes and condos in the region totaled 12,455, the lowest since the company began recording data in 1988.

DataQuick president Marshall Prentice said most of that drop was due to "mortgage market turbulence and difficulties in getting jumbo financing."

California's foreclosure rate rose 48 percent in August from July, making the second worst in the country with one foreclosure for every 224 households -- twice the national average.

Incentive Real Estate said in a press release that the airline miles are available to anyone who buys a home from one of its homebuilder partners in the region.

Home buyers falling below the $500,000 threshold will be eligible for 100,000 airline miles -- still enough for two free coach-class, round-trips to Europe.