The 11,000-square-foot Timber Bridge Manor in the Highlands at Broken Top stands like a castle, with six bedrooms, a home theater, wine cellar and artisan interior design.

No one has ever lived there.

Priced at $5.9 million, the manor on Belmore Loop has sat unoccupied since construction was finished in 2009.

While it’s seen a few lookers here and there, no one has come close to making a serious offer on it, said Jim Coon, co-owner and principal broker at Alleda Real Estate, the Bend company that’s listing it.

Two-and-a-half years is a lifetime for a home to be on the market.

But Timber Bridge isn’t alone.

While real estate officials around Central Oregon have touted a modest comeback for lower-priced homes, many at the top end of the market, houses worth $1 million or more, gather dust.

“We never used to see listings on the market for two-plus years,” Coon said. But “with very few exceptions, the pool of buyers for that price range is extremely small.”

Central Oregon real estate data show that homes priced below $300,000 are selling at double the rate today than they were in 2009, when overall market sales activity bottomed out.

But the $1 million and up market shows no signs of recovery.

Between May 2006 and May 2007, 122 homes priced at $1 million or more sold in Central Oregon, according to the Central Oregon Multiple Listing Service.

In the last 12 months, 22 such properties have sold.

There isn’t much a homeowner looking to sell one of these top-end properties can do, besides lowering the price, or taking the home off the market until activity starts to pick up, Coon said.

But real estate companies are still trying, and they’re utilizing a full array of technology to generate interest.

Alleda’s listing of Timber Bridge Manor includes nearly 30 photos, and a 5-minute video tour complete with descriptions of the property.

As the market price for a home goes up, so, too, does the need to give potential buyers a sort of sneak preview of the property, said Lynnea Miller, principal broker with Bend Premier Real Estate.

Real estate officials are using the Internet and social media to market their properties, trying to give buyers as much of a feel for a home as possible, without them having to talk to a real estate agent.

“That’s where 85 to 90 percent of homebuyers are starting their search today, online,” Miller said.

The Central Oregon MLS currently lists 119 homes for sale at $1 million and up.

Especially with higher-end properties, many buyers are from out of the area, she said.

“We’ve had calls from people from the Caribbean. There are people all over the place who have funds, who can afford something like this,” Miller said, adding that she writes blog posts and uploads properties to Bend Premier’s Facebook page regularly.

Still, the high-end real estate market “is really a waiting game,” said Lester Friedman, broker with Coldwell Banker Morris Real Estate.

Friedman said he’s seeing homes up to $400,000 get offers within days of coming on the market.

But as prices go above that point, the activity drops.

Like the million-dollar market, sales of homes between $600,000 and $1 million are at their lowest level in seven years.

To make a sale in this price range today, “The house has to really shine,” Friedman said. “It’s got to be impeccable.”

Few buyers

Across Central Oregon, would-be sellers of ranch-style luxury homes with acreage are sitting, as the market shows few signs of recovery on the horizon.

Ponderosa Properties, a real estate company based in Sisters, has struggled to find buyers of its higher-end property, said Rad Dyer, co-owner and principal broker.

Whychus Creek Ranch, a 2,650-square-foot home northeast of Sisters, has mountain views, more than 500 acres and sits alongside the creek for which it’s named.

But with a $4.5 million price tag, buyers aren’t biting.

“There have been some bids on that particular property but nothing has come together,” Dyer said.

The same goes for Hinterland Ranch, near Watson Reservoir, about three miles southeast of Sisters.

In two years, the owners have lowered their price by nearly half, from more than $4 million when it was marketed in mid-2010, to $2.5 million today.

Still, no takers.

“I find a lot of owners of the higher-end properties have the capacity to hold on to the property,” Dyer said. “They haven’t gotten the price they want, so they’ve taken their house off the market.”

Selling a high-end home in today’s market — still reeling from record-value drops — is about finding the right price point where buyers can feel like they’re getting a deal.

In many cases, said Miller with Bend Premier Real Estate, that range is about half of the prerecession value.

“I can tell you, one of our properties listed at $1.499 million, during the boom years it would have been listed at $3 million. And it’s getting a ton of showings, which means it’s well-priced,” Miller said. “It just hasn’t gotten an offer.”

The market isn’t entirely dry. But Coon with Alleda Real Estate said there’s such a large inventory of high-end real estate — about 1.5 years’ worth, by his estimation, versus less than four months in the $300,000 and under range — that anyone with money to spend and an interest in Central Oregon real estate can pick the right home, without much fear of competitive bidding.

Or, they can buy a piece of land, and build a house tailored to their desire.

“If I’m looking at a house that’s $2 million, I could say, ‘Gee, why not buy that land over there, maybe build this exactly the way I want it?” he said. “Sellers just have to realize what price they’ll be able to get.”

In many cases, they find it’s impossible to sell without taking a huge loss. So they wait.

“Certainly there’s a fair number of people who have given up” and taken their properties off the market, Coon said.