Mansion is a for-sale sign of the times.

• Position: Triangle

Even at $5.6 million and just a fraction of its total acreage, Peter Loftin's estate in north Raleigh was probably a bargain. The home's 17,682 square feet included 10 bedrooms, 12 full bathrooms, five half-baths, 40-foot ceilings and a built-in humidor. Before the recession hit, Loftin, founder of BTI Telecom Inc. (cover story, October 1989), had listed the entire 71-acre estate for $32 million. In March, Santa Fe, N.M.-based TMST Inc. bought the house and 14 acres out of foreclosure.

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Despite the reduced price, it might be awhile before TMST can sell the property for more than it paid. "How many buyers in North Carolina are going to plop down $6 million or $8 million or $10 million for a home? Very few," says John Wood, immediate past president of the Raleigh Regional Association of Realtors. "We haven't had anything sell in that price range in a couple of years."

The real-estate market has changed a lot since Loftin finished building the house in 2000--about the same time he bought the Miami estate of the murdered fashion designer Gianni Versace. Loftin sold BTI three years later for $138 million to Huntsville, Ala.-based ITC^DeltaCom Inc. and moved to Miami. He planned to convert the Raleigh mansion and 57 surrounding acres near Falls Lake Protected Wildlife Preserve into a 24-lot gated community.

Then in 2007, he put the property and mansion on the market for $32...