BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Inside the Rio Bravo Country Club a jazz band decked in tuxes performed to a dwindling crowd. Still, there was an air of enchantment even as a stand-up bass thump-whumped to a near-empty room.

Outside, walkways lined with red carpets led to idling limos resting at a curbside. They’d already paraded potential clients back and forth to extravagant hilltop home lots for sale.

In the hills themselves, red carpets covered a walkway to a potential dream home site overlooking a southern valley of glimmering city lights. Yes, they were glimmering; not quite the Arvin country smog of the worst air in the nation.

A woman standing on the hilltop was silhouetted by the dusk. She stood waiting to pour wine into waiting glasses.

Perhaps the housing market isn’t totally what the media portrays: potentially fraudulent practices looming over a cityscape of foreclosed homes, complete with algae-filled pools breeding mosquitoes, perfect vectors for West Nile virus. Bakersfield leads the nation in number of cases, you know.

Earlier in the evening, the room had filled with at least 350 of Bakersfield’s most affluent citizens, all wanting a glimpse of new housing developments in the hills west of the city.

Doctors mingled with builders, who mingled with businessmen and real estate agents from Watson/Touchstone Real Estate. They had all walked into the country club to get a taste of wines, decadent desserts, and a whirlwind tour of homes being pitched to them in this exclusive neighborhood just east of Bakersfield called the Heights at Rio Bravo.

The reality for a gloomy housing market? The affluent still look, still wonder, still buy.

In Bakersfield, with foreclosures even being tied to a summer battle with West Nile virus, it’s hard to think real estate could look like a beautiful investment in the San Joaquin Valley.

“We have 225 lots. As a result of tonight, we’re going to sell six-eight homes,” said Jennifer Jordan of Touchstone Real Estate.

And that’s the reality: buyers exist in the 2007 market. Jordan said thousands were invested in the showing of the lots. That’s no small feat for a country club setting.

According to Jordan, lot prices range from $175,000 to $350,000. Homes will likely start at $650,000.

Expectations for the event? According to Jordan, money was invested in the event because people were expected to be interested and to buy, which she indicated, was happening as a result of the hillside estates promotion and because of there being many people in the market to buy homes.

Jordan boasted of being in a partnership that saw her and her partner reach number seven among Bakersfield’s nearly 3,000 Realtors in 2006.

They may have slumped to number 21 recently in 2007, but is that really so bad when a real estate team is able to hold a swanky country club party promoting exclusive country club villa homes, and, when potential buyers are interested?

Yes, affluent buyers are interested. And the homes are being built, while far below in the city, high foreclosure numbers appear in reports daily.

By the end of the evening a few of the people who mingled in the limousines driving to the hilltops had drunk enough wine. One seemed a little more drunk on the hilltop vibe than others. She was whisked back to the club after a tumble.

As a result of the event, Jordan said, "I have received 12 calls since last Thursday from buyers that had friends attend and now want information. The buzz from the event will definitely last us for quite awhile."