Record $88 Million Sale in New York
This week’s Top of the TweetsBy Camilla McLaughlin
Foreign buyers in your location? NAR recently released a state-by-state report on foreign buyers. Check it out to see how your state fares, but don’t be surprised if the numbers seem low compared to what you’ve read about foreign buyers. Much of the activity is concentrated in several states, including Florida and California. Still, foreign buyers are a bright spot for real estate next year, especially luxury real estate. http://bit.ly/rWm6Mg
Big Apple record sale. “Rethinking that saying about money buying happiness,” tweets @jonathanmiller, who knows quite a bit about New York’s headiest prices. Miller reports on the record for New York. At $13,000 per square, the sale of former Citigroup chairman Sandy Weill’s apartment at 15 Central Park West for $88 million in November sets a record for New York. The buyer: the 22-year-old daughter of Russian Billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, who is studying at an undisclosed U.S. university and plans to stay in the apartment when visiting New York. http://onforb.es/sC5z9h The Rybolovlev name is also connected with another record: the purchase of Donald Trump’s Palm Beach mansion Maison de L’Amitie for $100 million in 2008.
No direction yet! I’ve just finished writing the Outlook for Luxury 2012 that will be featured in Unique Homes’ next issue, so I’ve been taking a hard look at the latest prognostications. Gloomy predictions are easy to find, but the numbers appear to tell a different story. According to Goldman Sachs economists (and others), prices will fall again in 2012 with a cumulative increase of only 12 percent in the following five years. @NickTimiraos has the story. http://on.wsj.com/tE7TrQ This comes on the heels of another Goldman report predicting the strongest U.S. markets over the next two years will be Detroit, Miami and Cleveland. Markets Goldman considers overvalued include Portland, Ore., New York and Atlanta.
Looking good are the sales numbers for Texas! Obviously the Goldman guys didn’t look at the November stats released by the Real Estate Center at Texas A & M University. November existing home sales in the Lone Star state rose 9 percent over November 2010. Even prices are up, by only 1 percent, from November 2010.
And then there is Florida, where @MiamiAssn reports November single family sales, year over year, are up by 11 percent. Condo sales are up 2 percent and prices for condos rose 4 percent. In the Ft. Lauderdale area, median prices in November rose by 19 percent for condos and 18 percent for single family homes over November 2010. Like you, I am wondering how this all jives with the Goldman guys’ research. http://www.miamire.com/news
Good signs for the New Year? Sales nationally rose 4 percent in November and were up 12 percent year over year and 34 percent from the cyclical low point of 2010. Contract failures continue due to declined mortgage applications, appraised values coming in below the negotiated prices, lower conforming mortgage loan limits and employment losses. NAR also released long awaited revisions to data going back to 2007, revising the number of sales downward. For the total period, 2007 through 2010, sales were revised downward by 14.3 percent.
Focus, focus, focus. If you want to limit distractions and increase productivity, begin by restricting email checks to eight times a day. @coldwellbnkr brings the like from @thetickershow
Rating Christmas songs! Which ones do you love and hate? See the NY Post poll @NewYorkPost, nyp.st/vTsAAd http://t.co/hUppe7VN
Wishing all my Tweeps and readers a Happy Holiday!
Thank you so much Camilla for mentioning the show is your post.
We really appreciate it. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and have a fantastic New Year.
Keep on spreading the word, we love it!