New real estate figures show affordable homes are becoming scarce in Fairfield County as the area grows increasingly popular among wealthy home buyers.

"This is the Beverly Hills of the East Coast," says realtor Mary Ann Clark, of Coldwell Banker Realty.

Multiple Listing Service figures show a 27 percent drop in homes in the area priced under $1 million. When such homes are listed, Clark says they typically attract multiple bids.

Meanwhile, there's a glut in the market of luxury properties. Homes in some Greenwich neighborhoods are listed at $10 million or more.

Listings of more than $3 million are up by a third, the figures show. Clark says that the price appreciation may actually begin to help bargain hunters, as higher prices prompt more homeowners to place houses on the market.