November 2009
- Thread starter Ally
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World`s most Expensive Homes
It`s no secret sellers across the country are resorting to measures such as price cuts of 20% and higher to move their homes. What`s new: That group is increasingly including owners of eight- and nine-figure properties. Last year, investor Marty Zweig pulled the US$70 million Pierre Hotel penthouse off the market after it was listed for four years. Financier Leonard Ross, who had asked US$165 million for the Hearst Mansion in Beverly Hills, Calif., de-listed it in September 2008. A few months later, Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia removed his US$135 million Aspen ski lodge from the ranks of available listings. This year, "Hillendale," in Stamford, Conn., fell victim to the depressed housing market. It was listed for US$95 million. It`s no longer for sale. Others, such as the owners of an US$85 million Wallace Neff-designed mansion, are leasing their properties until the market picks up.
Such moves, says Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel, are to be expected.
"There was a frenzy that caused the prices of these properties to be astronomical," he says. "Dramatic discounts are not as much a reflection of the market crashing, but a reflection of a reality."
While the number of buyers willing to invest in eight- and nine-figure homes has always been slim, a pullback in jumbo loan-financing has shrunk the pool even further. And some with the means to pay cash are waiting to see when the housing market will return to stability.
They may be holding off a while.
"First, the lower end of market started breaking," says Mike Simonsen, chief executive of Altos Research, a real estate statistics provider. "Then, it was only 12 months ago when the luxury market started to break, and just recently when the ultra-luxury market started to break. It may be years--it may be many years--before that market recovers. For this level, it will be even slower than the luxury market at large."
Read the full article here.
It`s no secret sellers across the country are resorting to measures such as price cuts of 20% and higher to move their homes. What`s new: That group is increasingly including owners of eight- and nine-figure properties. Last year, investor Marty Zweig pulled the US$70 million Pierre Hotel penthouse off the market after it was listed for four years. Financier Leonard Ross, who had asked US$165 million for the Hearst Mansion in Beverly Hills, Calif., de-listed it in September 2008. A few months later, Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia removed his US$135 million Aspen ski lodge from the ranks of available listings. This year, "Hillendale," in Stamford, Conn., fell victim to the depressed housing market. It was listed for US$95 million. It`s no longer for sale. Others, such as the owners of an US$85 million Wallace Neff-designed mansion, are leasing their properties until the market picks up.
Such moves, says Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel, are to be expected.
"There was a frenzy that caused the prices of these properties to be astronomical," he says. "Dramatic discounts are not as much a reflection of the market crashing, but a reflection of a reality."
While the number of buyers willing to invest in eight- and nine-figure homes has always been slim, a pullback in jumbo loan-financing has shrunk the pool even further. And some with the means to pay cash are waiting to see when the housing market will return to stability.
They may be holding off a while.
"First, the lower end of market started breaking," says Mike Simonsen, chief executive of Altos Research, a real estate statistics provider. "Then, it was only 12 months ago when the luxury market started to break, and just recently when the ultra-luxury market started to break. It may be years--it may be many years--before that market recovers. For this level, it will be even slower than the luxury market at large."
Read the full article here.