Grosse Pointe, Mich.

WHAT is striking about the mansions and tree-lined roads of this exclusive suburb of Detroit is not the elegance and wealth — it’s the real estate signs.

Almost 700 homes are currently on the market in the five Grosse Pointe communities, according to brokers, twice as many as in the same time in 2005. And since June, prices for the most expensive houses have dropped by around $100,000 a month.

Ever since the mid-19th century, when the first grand summer mansions were built along the shores of Lake St. Clair, just north of Detroit, the name Grosse Pointe has conveyed exclusivity and wealth. While nearby Detroit declined over the last five decades, this affluent suburb thrived, with some episodic downturns in the early 1980s and 1990s.

Its untouchable reputation held up so well that in 2001 the former WB Network aired “Grosse Pointe,” a prime-time drama about pampered teenagers. Now, six years later, Grosse Pointe is very much touched by market trends.