Dr. Sandor J Kovacs and his wife, Dr. Diane F Merritt, bought a three-bedroom, 2.5 bath in Clayton at 215 Crandon Dr. for $550,000 from Jeffrey and Deena Roth on Jan. 8.

The Roths paid $500,000 for the 2,225 square foot home in Aug. 2006.

Dr. Kovacs is a professor of medicine in the cardiovascular diseases division at the Washington University School of Medicine. He also is an adjunct professor of physics and biomedical and biological engineering as well as the director of the cardiovascular biophysics laboratory.

Dr. Kovacs earned his M.D. from the University of Miami and holds both a master's and doctorate in Physics from the California Institute of Technology.

Dr. Merritt is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Washington University School of Medicine, where she serves as the director of pediatric and adolescent gynecology.

She holds a B.A. in Zoology from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and earned her M.D. from the New York University School of Medicine.

Dr. Merritt has been listed in The Best Doctors in America every year since 1999.

Clayton home sales dropped 43 percent through November 2007 vs. the same period in 2006. The median price over that time period, however, rose $37,000 from $511,000 in 2006 to $548,000.

Median sales prices have risen steadily in Clayton since 2002, according to BlockShopper Metrics.

Address: 215 Crandon Drive
Buyer(s): Kovacs Sandor J Et Merritt Diane F Et Con Ux
Seller(s): Deena Roth (Wife), Jeffrey S Roth Atty In Fact and Jeffrey S Roth (Husband)
Sale date: Jan. 8, 2008