Unique Homes Blog

This New Year finds many of us either hoping for snow or complaining about the snow. No matter which group you fall into, take a look at these magnificent sculptures from Harbin, China’s snow carving extravaganza from @EnviroGraffiti at http://bit.ly/sBiLWa

Luxury rekindles! The November stats are in and once again upscale homes are selling at a faster pace than a year ago. According to @coldwellbkr and @denbizjournal, there were 45 sales over $1 million in metro Denver in November, up from 37 in October and one sale over November 2010. http://t.co/q1aCZqsF The number of homes that sold for more than $1 million in Silicon Valley increased by 39 percent from November 2010. Median prices were also up by 5.3 percent year-over-year.  Sales over $2 million more than doubled, increasing from 17 in November 2010 to 46 in November 2011. Additionally, there were 14 sales of more than $3 million in November. http://bit.ly/sXtBSf Wealthy Mexican nationals and newly minted shale millionaires are driving an increase in luxury home sales in San Antonio. @JessKeeton and others tweet the link rentexas.com/2011/12/27/san The value of Miami’s top 20 most expensive sales is up by 23.8 percent over 2010’s top 20 most expensive. Take a look at the full sales report at @WorldPropertyCH http://bit.ly/tOVWwZ Palm Springs real estate is on fire, tweets Keller Williams @BradSchmett http://bit.ly/sXQbWr Recently, I visited Palm Springs and heard recent stories from other agents.

Data redux? Prices get the most attention but sales and lower inventories eventually lead to increasing prices. Just how many sales have occurred is still in dispute following NAR’s @realtors 14-percent downward revision (last week) in the number of home sales from 2007 through the first 10 months of 2011. Thomas Lawler, an independent housing economist, believes the figures still don’t add up. @alanzibel gives a good overview of this controversy. http://on.wsj.com/tVXWnY Still, one can’t help viewing NAR’s most recent pending sale index, which shows an increase of 7.3 percent in November, as good news. http://bit.ly/rBx8KI

Home price scoreboards! The number of metrics tracking home prices has proliferated and keeping track of all of them is as much of a challenge as determining accuracy. The Wall Street Journal came up with a monthly scorecard to offer a snapshot of prices as tracked by eight different indexes. on.wsj.com/sspvc8 Each tracks prices a little differently. Some include foreclosed properties, others don’t. Some only look at specific metros, others track ZIP codes. Everybody shows prices heading down but the amount ranges from Radar Logic’s 5.4-percent decline to Clear Capital’s 2.2-percent dip. But real estate is a local story, both by location and price bracket. According to Realtor Magazine, a number of locations, including those hardest hit by the downturn, show year-over-year price increases including Miami, Phoenix, Fort Myers, Tampa, Sarasota, Palm Beach, Sarasota and Tucson. http://bit.ly/v9inTQ

Employers to add jobs and boost pay in 2012, says CareerBuilder, reporting on a recent survey of hiring managers. Approximately 23 percent of the companies surveyed expect to add employees compared to 7 percent who plan to reduce their workforce. A number also expect to increase salaries. A tip of the Tweets hat to @HouseWire for the report. googl/fb/u4rMt

Number of millionaires in the world is 17 million, set to rise to 22.1 million by 2015 — Wealth Summit: @WealthBriefing

Already listmania is in full swing! Nothing brings an onslaught of lists than a new year. Schumacher Homes claims to be the country’s largest custom home building and they recently listed the top 10 custom home design trends for 2012. Look for more in law suites, home theaters, dual master suites and hearth rooms.

Luxury sales in London’s West End soared on Boxing Day thanks to a rising number of Chinese, Saudi and Brazilian retail tourists. @Dan_Dhombres tweets the link: independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n

Add this to your social network: