Even the rich aren’t immune to the pressures of the housing market.

Prices for homes priced at $1 million or more have fallen a 20 percent this year, according to RealtyTrac. The average sale price for top-tier real estate has fallen to just over $2 million, from $2.5 million in 2011.

Those prices cuts stand in stark contrast to the broader housing market, which is seeing early signs of price stability and even price increases for the first time in years.

All that price-chopping at the top, however, has sparked a wave of sales as buyers scoop up deals and sellers accept the new reality of lower prices.

The number of transactions for homes priced at $1 million or more has jumped 18 percent this year, one of the strongest increases since 2008, according to Realtytrac.

Brokers for luxury real estate are already calling 2012 the “The Year of Capitulation” for wealthy sellers.

“I think sellers are now resigned to today’s prices and what’s actually selling,” said Paul Boomsma of the Luxury Portfolio , a marketing group for luxury homes. “ People who are serious about selling are ready to make a deal now, where maybe they weren’t a year ago.”

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