NEED TO KNOW
FOR SALE $28m
Hamptons This four-bedroom water-front house comes with tennis courts and ocean access. The late-19th-century Mediterranean-style house was
renovated in 2005 by architect Richard Gluckman. Other features include a lift, staff accommodation and a heated pool Brown Harris Stevens East Hampton (00 1 631 903 6115;
www.brownharrisstevens.com)
wide gap between asking and selling prices, believes Jack Pearson from the Corcoran Group in Bridgehampton. ` Buyers are savvy about how much houses go for, but a number of sellers aren' t desperate to sell, which means about half the homes are over- valued.' Rick Hoffman, a Corcoran senior vice-president, recently marketed a four- bedroom house next door to Martha Stewart and up the road from Steven Spielberg in East Hampton village for $7.5 million. The property sold for $4.5 million, but, he says, two years ago, ` it would have gone in two seconds at the full asking price' . Buyers are smarter, have their own
research in-hand and are asking the right questions to get deals doneÐ and done quickly, argues Harald Grant from Sotheby' s International Realty in Southampton. ` The mid-range market, between $5 million and $10 million, has shown a real return to strength, especially for those properties
www.countrylife.co.uk/international
with the best features.' Sellers' behaviour has also changed, lowering listing prices
` so that they can achieve successful sales of their homes' . However, Dottie Herman of Prudential
Douglas Elliman, which enjoys an exclu- sive referrals arrangement with Knight Frank, believes pricing isn' t the only con- sideration. That old ` location, location, location' adage means a great deal in the Hamptons, where you should try to be as close to the ocean as possible ` although it costs about three times more. You can always build a new home, but there' s only so much waterfront' .
Contacts
Sotheby' s International Realty, South- ampton 00 1 631 283 0600; www.
sothebyshomes.com Prudential Douglas Elliman (with Knight Frank),
www.elliman.com
A slice of the Big Apple With prices of Manhattan apartments fall- ing for the third consecutive quarter as Wall Street job losses slow demand, canny purchasers are waking up to the idea of buying a smart home in New York. The luxury end of the market has slowed sig- nificantly, observes Caukus Consulting' s Tim Simmons, a British New York-based real-estate broker and consultant advising international purchasers (00 1 212 300 2168;
www.caukusconsulting.com). ` Park- facing units were flipping at ludicrous figures as high as $7,000 per square foot, but confidence fell and a $15 million apart- ment bought in 2007 is now valued at $10 million± $12 million.' Mr Simmons now recommends going east of Lexington or Park Avenues or into a converted old build- ing with a concierge, members' lounge and gym in the Financial District. He also sug- gests the I. M. Pei-designed The Centurion; 350, West Broadway, just off the main footpaths of Soho; 15, Central Park West, one of the few new constructions on Cen- tral Park; 120, Eleventh Avenue, with only nine units; and French architect Jean Nouvel' s 100, Eleventh Avenue in West Chelsea overlooking the Hudson River. For international buyers living part-time in the Big Apple, Dottie Herman, of Pru- dential Douglas Elliman, recommends Central Park SouthÐ ` all the stores are there' Ð and those keen to rent their home should consider buying a condominium, rather than in a co-op building.
Country Life International, Spring 2011 71
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88