Unique Homes Blog

With just four residences remaining at Edgewater, New Jersey’s Vela Townhomes, buyers are scooping up the scenic waterfront views along the Hudson River. Of the original 29 luxury offerings, 3 were sold in four short months.

Known for their panoramic views on the New York City skyline, the remaining townhomes each have 3 bedrooms, 4 baths and a private rooftop deck with a glass-enclosed solarium. Each home is designed with a unique layout, starting out at around 3,600 square feet. Some of the residences have a cellar, and all of the homes have an elevator with access to 3 floors.

Vela was designed by the award-winning architecture, interior design and landscape firm Arquitectonica. The homes feature hardwood floors, high ceilings and large windows, which take advantage of the surrounding vistas. Eat-in kitchens with high-end appliances and luxurious master baths with luxurious finishes make the homes appealing to discriminating buyers.

The townhomes are close to Manhattan, NJ Transit and the highway, making for a convenient commute for those who work in the city, or for those who simply want to take advantage of Bergen County’s shopping and recreational activities.

The remaining Vela Townhomes begin at $1.495 million.

— Kaitlin MacRae

This week’s Top of the Tweets
By Camilla McLaughlin

Half full of half empty? The drop in sales of existing homes as well as new construction continued to be a top story this week. A decline in existing sales following the tax credit was not unexpected although the 27 percent drop was more significant than most analysts anticipated. Data without context fuels those with a penchant for inflammatory diatribe, which means that any number of self described pundits used the most recent data to proclaim the death of the housing market and luxury housing in particular. It seems that many overlook the 6 percent rise in sales of homes priced above $1 million and up. Good commentary comes from Pam O’Conner of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, @LeadingrePam, and our very own, Mark Moffa, managing editor of Unique Homes magazine.

Debating Prices. Although the new numbers caused some economists to revise forecasts, prospects for price increases haven’t changed. The question is still how much will prices decline in 2010? Although the Case Shiller index showed increases, it is not a forward looking indicator and still reflects the tax credit boost. On a national level, expectations are still that we will hit bottom in the third quarter and bump along the bottom with very minimal appreciation for the next year. The Wall Street Journal’s @NickTimiraos gives a good overview of projections.

The incredible, shrinking American home continues to hold sway and the McMansion debate — initially sparked by a report from Trulia — continues to give anyone who needs a blog focus or juicy Tweet a topic du jour. Here too, a little context is needed. The folks at the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing put it into perspective. Last week, the company commented on the debate by saying “we’ve seen a trend toward smaller homes but it is all relative,” which means one person’s downsized home is still another’s McMansion.

The approval of an office tower near the Empire State Building in Manhattan led to a tsunami of Tweets about a wave of possible new skyscrapers with the potential to change the New York skyline. According to The Wall Street Journal and others, at least eight new skyscrapers could be constructed in the next 10 years. When it’s completed in 2013, the tallest building, 1 World Trade Center, will rise to be 1,776 feet and will tower over the Empire State Building’s 1,454 feet. 

Bubbles in Singapore may be on the rise, but the government hopes to keep property markets in check. Last week, the Singapore government introduced measures to curb speculation. To use a favorite expression of some economists, it might only be described as “frothy.” Read the Wall Street Journal’s recap of this market. 

The Katrina anniversary made a lot of news this week. I’ve been to the Big Easy four times since the storm. Although there is a lot of work still to be done and many bear the scars, the city is vibrant with an even more fervent zest for life, which makes me wonder why it was on a recent list of dying cities.

Social Media Musings. A recent study conducted by the Pew Research Center on social networking shows Boomers are still up to learning a few new tricks. The number of Internet users aged 50 and older who use social networking doubled from 22 percent in April 2009 to 42 percent in May.

Canine trivia—I couldn’t resist. Winning the VPI Hambone Award for most bizarre pet insurance claim was a Labrador Retriever who ate an entire beehive. That beats my own lab who put her tongue in a paper shredder.

On August 8th, America was introduced to the largest private superyacht.

Cakewalk, designed by Tim Heywood Designs with architecture by Azure Naval Architects, is a six-deck, 281-foot monster yacht that features an owner’s deck kitchenette, sun deck kitchenette, bridge deck kitchenette and a main deck kitchen and pantry designed by Christopher Peacock Home. The interior was designed by Dalton Designs, Inc. The craftsmanship and attention to detail on the superstructure is said to surpass that of European yacht builders’.

Built by Derecktor, the steel-hull aluminum superyacht will make its debut at the 2010 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in October.

— Kaitlin MacRae

Photo courtesy of Derecktor.

Thinking of renting a luxury home in Italy? It’s about to get a little bit easier (and cheaper), as the Italian government is considering passing a law that will fix tax rates at 20% of rental income, compared to the current 40% of rental income.

This new rate will give homeowners a push to put their homes on the market and entrust them to professional companies like Halldis, Rentxpress and Windows of Italy. Various companies specialize in luxury apartments, city apartments, apartment rentals, villas and even student apartments. The hope is that increased competition will decrease prices and make Italy a more appealing destination for travelers and buyers. The new rate is ultimately expected to “lead to a significant decline in the black market, facilitate the rental of houses that were not previously rented, and reduce the exorbitantly high rents charged in any Italian cities.”

—Kaitlin MacRae

Photo courtesy of 24-7 Press Release/Windows on Italy

The Home Outside Your Home.

We continue our yearlong “Ultimate” series this issue with the Ultimate Landscape, Gardens and Grounds contest. Realtors were invited to submit luxury listings with amazing outdoor designs and spaces. We sorted throughterrific entries from coast to coast, and we narrowed the field to about two-dozen finalists. Our editors were tasked with selecting six winners. Here they are.

Who’s Number 1?

We have not ranked the top six. That’s up to you. CLICK HERE to view our winners and vote for your favorite.

Our Fall 2010 issue is here. It’s our annual tribute to the resort and vacation-home markets. This edition features properties from more than two dozen states, along with insightful editorial content, including the next installment in our year-long Road to Recovery series, which keenly addresses how luxury consumers are adjusting to a new norm. We also continue our Ultimate property contest, this time showcasing properties we’ve voted as having the Ultimate Landscape, Gardens and Grounds. Plus, we shine our editorial spotlight on five top resort retreats, the Hamptons and much more, including our usual “Unique” installments, addressing Places, Properties, Perspectives and Personalities that are driving the luxury market today. You can’t get this kind of content anywhere else, and here’s the best part: it’s free. CLICK HERE to download our digital edition, no strings attached. Really.
Try it. You’ll like it.

 The Setai South Beach penthouse is giving other luxury Miami condos a run for their money. Recently, real estate agent Diana Garchitorena sold the 6,028-square-foot Setai penthouse for $15 million — a record for luxury condo sales in South Beach.

Set on the 40th floor, The Villa B penthouse has 4 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, 4,000 square feet of balcony, an infinity pool, outdoor and indoor Jacuzzi and 360-degree views of both the surrounding waters and cities. The fully furnished apartment was sold at a 20 percent discount, with an original asking price of almost $20 million.

Garchitoren describes the penthouse as “a five-star luxury property with an Asian flair.” Of course, owning the penthouse comes with certain comforts: all the amenities and advantages of a luxury resort.

Although the most expensive, the penthouse is not Garchitoren’s first sale at The Setai. She is responsible for eight other sales that totaled $27 million.

— Kaitlin MacRae

By Mark Moffa

My house is going to spontaneously combust.  Really. I know it’s true because I saw it on the Internet today. I did. I went to log in to my email and on my Internet provider’s site I saw this headline: “15 Signs The U.S. Housing Market Is Headed For Complete And Total Collapse.” And the image to go along with it: a house engulfed in flames. You can’t make this stuff up  (and by the way, if you click to read the full story, you get an image of a different burning house, just in case you didn’t catch it the first time).

I was already bewildered by the litany of doom and gloom reports this week after the poor post-tax-credit housing data that we all knew was coming actually came. But reading this today drove me over the top. So I went to see who would actually write such inflammatory drivel. It turns out the author has his own blog — called “The Economic Collapse.” On it, almost everything is sensationalistic and he seems to revel in our economic struggle. And then I saw the series of pages at the top for selling gold, silver, emergency food, water filters and security devices, with statements such as “As the U.S. economy collapses, crime is going to explode. Now is the time to make sure that you and your family will be protected when the world goes crazy.” Suffice to say, this is not a legitimate journalist.

Yet, this blog is picked up by another blog, which is picked up by my Internet provider, and lo and behold, these fear-mongering stories are everywhere. This nonsense needs to stop. First of all, some of the so-called signs of “complete and total collapse” are actually signs of a healthy market, such as banks tightening lending standards and market forces pushing prices down to where they should be. Secondly, consider this particular article’s big, bad conclusion: “Those waiting for U.S. housing prices to return to the levels of three or four years ago are living in fantasy land.” No kidding! Isn’t it clear by now that those prices were over-inflated and unsustainable?

In the luxury realm, the latest data isn’t bad at all, actually. In the same report that distressed everyone this week was the news that luxury home sales are up 6 percent. At Unique Homes, we talk to Realtors every day, so, unlike many of those who write about the housing market, we actually know what’s going on out there. And, in the high-end, it’s nothing new: Sellers need to realize they are probably not going to get what they want, and buyers need to loosen up on the purse strings a bit.

Overall, we all need to take a deep breath and relax. Yes, the economy is not yet in good shape, and it’s going to take a while to come back. This is not news. We need to create jobs. There are different ideas about how to do that. Let’s have the debates we need to have, and do the things we need to do to get back on the right track. And as for the folks seemingly willing us toward ruin? Let’s ignore them, and perhaps they’ll spontaneously combust.

Worldwide air charter agency Stratos Jet Charters, Inc., recently has expanded its charter service for flights from New York to London. The company has invited Stratos Jets to join its prestigious Stratos Jets’ Approved Vendor program and is now in the position to provide one-way and point-to-point charter flights between the two cities on two Gulfstream long-range aircrafts. (more…)

This week’s Top of the Tweets
By Camilla McLaughlin

Real estate conversations were dominated by responses to the post-tax-credit drop in home sales. While many Tweets showed surprise, those of us who watch the industry expected an adjustment, although the decrease—26 percent from a year earlier and 27 percent from June—was more than most anticipated. Luxury continued its steady upward climb with sales of homes priced at $1 million and up increasing by 6 percent.  Early in the week, a report by home search site Trulia on American’s changing home preferences got a lot of play. Only 9 percent of those surveyed say their ideal home size is more than 3,200 square feet. A majority, 55 percent, say between 1,401 and 2600 is ideal. The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing added a luxury take on these results. There has long been a segment of the market looking for “small luxury,” particularly with modernist homes. We also saw a luxury downsizing trend that started to appear toward the end of the recent boom. http://bit.ly/a5AnfH

Inman News is always full of good tips, including this week’s ways to look at prospective neighborhoods. Thanks to @CorcoranHomes for the Tweet. http://bit.ly/bWqtgk

Landscape architects remake cities. Landscape architecture is no longer just about creating artful exterior room. “By tackling some of the most daunting problems of the city, landscape architects are rising to new prominence,” proclaims ArchitectureBoston in a recent issue developed to landscape architecture. “It’s astonishing to see how the profession has changed in just seven years — not only in terms of the kinds of projects that are gaining wide recognition, but also in terms of a new focus and a new energy,” said  Elizabeth Padjen, editor of ArchitectureBoston in an introduction to a recent issue devoted to landscape architecture.  @BSAAIA

How reliable is information on Twitter, particularly following a disaster? That’s the question researchers at Yahoo answered by analyzing tweets after the Chilean earthquake. What they found was that Twitter acts like a collaborative filter says @WSJ. http://bit.ly/bPxrkl

End of summer blues! What better way to close out summer than a campfire, especially because national Marshmallow Toasting Day is August 30.  Smarter Travel came up with a list of the top campfire destinations in America. Yellowstone leads the top 10, followed by Cape Cod National Seashore and Chickasaw National Recreation Area, located roughly two hours from Dallas and from Oklahoma City. (Marshmallow photo by Nina Hale)

Surfing the net is a professional hazard for journalists, so the following quote resonated with me. “Being a good writer is 3 percent talent, 97 percent not being distracted by the internet.”-Anon via @quotes4writers.