Luxury Insights

The Russians are coming

What trends are YOU seeing with foreign buyers in your markets?

In London, the Russians are coming.  Facing political uncertainty at home, wealthy Russians have been snapping up luxury homes in London's tony neighborhoods.  According to sources cited in this Bloomberg story, Russians accounted for 16% of all recent transactions in the Chelsea, Kensington, Knightsbridge and Belgravia neighborhoods, and about 38% of all home sales of more than £10 million last year.

 

Warren Buffett Says, 'Buy That Retirement Home Now'

As his secretary Debbie Bosanek says:

“Warren tells me that it will be the best opportunity in my lifetime. Mortgage rates are low and prices have dropped dramatically...."

More on Forbes.com.

Where are foreign buyers looking?

Point2 has just released a report which analyses the views of listings across their syndication network.   Specifically, they look at where international buyers are looking.

Here's a quick peek at some of their findings:

• Overall, the most visitors came from Canada, followed by the U.K. and Mexico
• 33% percent of the international traffic searching for homes was directed to Florida listings, followed by Arizona (15%) and Nevada (8%)
• Canadian traffic really dominated some markets.  For Arizona views, 92% percent of all international traffic was Canadian.  Canadians also dominated the international views in these markets: Hawaii (75.9%), Michigan (74%),  Nevada (71%), and California (65%).

You can find a link to the full report on this Point2 blog post.

Record Miami Condo Sale

At $21,500,000, the recent sale of the top-floor penthouse condo at the Setai Resort and Residences set a new record for the most expensive Miami condo ever sold.  At 5803 square feet, the unit brought $3,704 per square foot, also a record for Miami condos.  

The seller was Netscape founder Jim Clark, who reportedly purchased the unit, ready for finish-out,  in 2004 for $9M.  The unit went on the market in February with an asking price of $27M.  The buyer is a private businessman who's name has not been publicized.  

Would you like a green card with that purchase?

Interesting article in this week's New York Times which highlights a government program that grants "green cards" to foreign nationals who invest $500k or more in U.S. real estate development.  Despite some criticisms, the program is gaining momentum--funding almost a BILLION dollars of new develpments in New York City alone.  

Affluent foreigners are rushing to take advantage of a federal immigration program that offers them the chance to obtain a green card in return for investing in construction projects in the United States. With credit tight, the program has unexpectedly turned into a mainstay for the financing of these projects in New York, California, Texas and other states.

The number of foreign applicants, each of whom must invest at least $500,000 in a project, has nearly quadrupled in the last two years, to more than 3,800 in the 2011 fiscal year, officials said. Demand has grown so fast that the Obama administration, which is championing the program, is seeking to streamline the application process...

It is certainly an interesting option for foreign buyers (and US developers).

WSJ: Developer Courts the Global Elite

Interesting story in today's Wall Street Journal looks at "One57" -- a new condo development that targets the world's ultra-affluent and will be the tallest residential tower in NYC.  

Designed by French architect Christian de Portzamparc, One57's 95 condos for sale have a combined price tag of $2 billion, or an average per unit of more than $21 million, which would match Manhattan's 15 Central Park West as the most expensive building ever sold.

While a hallmark of the economic downturn has been the collapse of the housing market, the extreme top of residential markets in New York, London, Hong Kong and other select cities has been resilient.

Mr. Barnett says the number of billionaire and multimillionaire investors in the world has never been greater. In addition to Russians and Western Europeans, he says, "you're seeing Latin Americans in a big way. You're seeing Chinese in a big way. You're seeing the return of the Middle Eastern buyer."

Thanks to this demand, the ultraluxury market in select cities is looking healthier than practically any other corner of the housing market.

WSJ.com: Developer Courts the Global Elite

A Favorite Book

We need your help.  NAR is polling REALTORS to discover favorite real estate books.  

If you enjoyed Laurie’s book,  “Rich Buyer, Rich Seller! The Real Estate Agents’ Guide to Marketing Luxury Homes,”  will you take two minutes this week to let NAR know?   Thanks so much.

Just copy the info below, add your name and contact information and email it to Erica Christoffer at echristoffer@realtors.org

• Title of the real estate book:  “Rich Buyer, Rich Seller!  The Real Estate Agents’ Guide to Luxury Marketing Luxury Homes”
• Author’s name:  Laurie Moore-Moore
• Your name:
• Your contact information:
• Why it’s your favorite book:

Send your photo, too, and NAR will feature you on their blog!

Wow! What an Event.

The Leaders in Luxury 2011 Advisory Board on stage at the LIL 2011 Awards Dinner: Carole Smith, Gretchen Lambeth, Leslee Farrell, Kathleen Bucher, Maria Babaev

 

A big "thank you" to the more than 140 top agents from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico who gathered at the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel and made Leaders in Luxury 2011 a smashing success.  

Special thanks to our Advisory Board (pictured above), our International Team of Dawna Borg and Toni Viola, and also to Dave Wilkinson and Lori McGuire for letting us tour their listings.  

Thanks too to our speakers and panelists for sharing their unique knowledge and insights.  The information and ideas were fantastic and so was the networking!  

What a fantastic group.  Thank you all.  

Here are some photos of the cocktail and Awards Dinner: 

We're already looking forward to next year!

 

Luxury Diva @ NAR Conference & Expo

We're packing our bags for this year's REALTORS Conference and Expo in Anaheim.  Laurie Moore-Moore (a.k.a the "Luxury Diva") will be hosting two panel discussions:

Luxury Marketing's New Wave -- Fresh Ideas That Work 
11/12/2011   |  1:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Location: Anaheim Convention Center, Ballroom A

Discover why top luxury agents are abandoning the old approaches to marketing and using creative new ideas, combining traditional tools with high tech tools, and generating great results in person branding, prospecting and property marketing. While focused towards those working in luxury markets, conference attendees working at all market pricepoints will be sure to obtain ideas you can implement today!

Speaker(s): Laurie Moore-Moore, Jo Ellen Nash, Aaron Wheeler

Luxury Experts Unscripted 
11/12/2011   |  3:00 PM - 3:45 PM
Location: Anaheim Convention Center, Ballroom A

Bring your questions as this bonus time with the luxury session presenters will be entirely unscripted and focus on the audience’s questions or experiences with follow-up comments and suggestions from the experts as well as the others in the room. The moderated format will include presenters from most of the luxury focused sessions for an informal, interactive sharing of ideas and information.

Speakers: Laurie Moore-Moore, Jack Cotton Jr., David Michonski, Aaron Wheeler , Paul Boomsa, Jo Ellen Nash    

If you'd like to hear more from Laurie at next year's NAR conference, be sure to write "More Laurie Moore-Moore!" on the comment forms in this year's sessions.  

See you there!

In the news...

Here are some current news stories on luxury real estate worth checking out:

• Calgary luxury home sales soaring this year
  Calgary Herald (blog)
  Ever wonder why Calgary average home prices are high?  One factor is the appetite for the luxury product in the city...
• Sluggish luxury home sales plague city
  Shanghai Daily
  "Luxury home sales have been declining for three consecutive months in Shanghai since August and in the top-tier market – involving new houses costing more than 100000 yuan per square meter on average – sales almost grounded to a halt in September and..."
• Non-British Investors Go Shopping in London
  Wall Street Journal
  A shortage of space on London's most prominent shopping streets and an abundance of cash-rich international buyers will continue to drive rents and property prices higher, according to projections by industry experts...
• Luxury London homes best bargain for Chinese buyers
  Reuters
  Chinese luxury home buyers are leading a legion of cash-rich non-UK investors in search of upmarket London homes, with demand driven by currency exchange rates that produce discounts of up to a quarter on purchase...
• UK Tax-Office Team to Target Rich With Property Overseas
  BusinessWeek
  The HM Revenue and Customs “Affluent Team” will mine data to identify people who own properties abroad that they don't appear able to afford on their declared income as well as those who fail to tell tax officials about any income or gains...
• Rich snapping up lux Hamptons homes
  NY Post
  The rich are scooping up luxury homes in the Hamptons again -- in volumes that haven’t been this high since the good ‘ole days pre-Lehman..