Here's recent history of the Fed’s policy committee and its Fed Funds rate. Next Fed decision is June 24/25.
$38.5 million mansion attracts three interested parties
May 21st, 2008, 7:00 pm · 11 Comments · posted by Andrew Galvin
A Newport Beach mansion that went on the market last week for $38.5 million has already attracted “three parties who are fairly interested, which is more than I expected especially this quickly,” said Victoria Lee of HOM Group, who has the listing.
“The upper end is alive and well,” said Lee said of the local housing market.
But figuring out how Orange County’s luxury home market is doing isn’t that obvious. It depends on which luxury home you are talking about – and how you define a luxury home. The luxury market starts at about $2 million in places like Anaheim Hills and Irvine, or at about $4 million in Newport Beach and Laguna Beach, brokers say.
Even within the luxury market, there are big gradations. Demand for the most expensive homes remains strong, and has little connection to the economy, interest rates or availability of financing, brokers say.
Besides location, attributes like how much land a home has, its view, waterfront access and size can combine to create a package that some buyers can’t resist.
“If they see something that they really love and they’re able to afford it and they know they can’t get it again if it’s gone, that’s a major part of the decision,” Lee said.
Luxury home broker The McMonigle Group said it had record sales in the first quarter of 2008.
Still, in some parts of the county, high-end homes have seen price drops in the past year approaching the 20 percent decline in the median Orange County home price, said Gary Legrand, president of Surterre Properties in Newport Beach. The drop in prices is contributing to a pick-up in sales activity he said.
“Sales today – and I don’t care what price range they’re in – if they are considered a deal they will sell,” Legrand said. “Today buyers have money. They are sitting there waiting for a deal and they’re jumping on it.”
Legrand said Surterre’s brokers have been targeting certain properties they consider “best buys” – based on criteria such as price per square foot, style, floor plan, and condition of the house – and blasting a list of four to six homes per week to 25,000 clients via email.
The result: 46 percent of the homes that appeared on the list in March or April are sold or in escrow, Legrand said. That compares with 1.09 percent for MLS listed homes as a whole, he said.
May 21st, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Those are some pretty big knives to be catching.
May 21st, 2008 at 10:12 pm
The bigger they are, the harder they fall?
May 21st, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Who cares. Its probably not even their money..it’s ours, by way of addiction to consumer spending, oil, cheap goods and services…I suppose if I bought it and could afford the payments…it wouldn’t be such a bad place to live (although from experience on the water in NPB, it is actually quite loud in the summer with party boats with load music, drunk boaters, people stopping infront of your house to look in all time (don’t you do that on the board walk too?), winter is nice though..oh also, the Army Corps of Engineers is dredging back-bay so there is the huge barge infront of this house day-in-day for I don’t know how long)
In reality, I bet this house will probably be used a couple times year for parties and fund raisers.
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:08 am
If I was a billionaire, I’d probably be looking for ways to just burn money too.
What’s 25 million here, 40 million there…hey there are only so many things that you can buy.
There is definitely a breaking point at which you don’t really care what the price is. If you want it, you get it. You have money to burn and it is literally no object. What they are describing here is basically this.
Unfortunately 99.9% of us are not at that point.
I think this has little bearing with the reality of housing market for the majority of the rest of us. If you are in this point, you wouldn’t be wasting time on this blog because it is irrelevant what happens to housing in your book. You just want the best house you can get.
Maybe if I could just win the lotto!
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:36 am
Honestly Jon…who cares? The 4th person who didn’t bid who doesn’t even live in OC but on the French Riviera somewhere?
I liked your post on the traders and the Fed. Perhaps we can stick to the “real world” stuff and leave this kind of fluff for “People” magazine?
May 22nd, 2008 at 6:55 am
Make that 4 interested parties. I want to take a look at that place.
May 22nd, 2008 at 7:06 am
well, the bubble of easy money is over
May 22nd, 2008 at 7:32 am
More bad news for the housing market. OFHEO just released their home price index.
Home prices in California are down 10.6%
OUCH!!!
Read the report
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:06 am
Bubble……….
Re: the days of easy money over.
Not according to our resident all-around-know-it-all expert.
– “# Thoughtful Says:
May 21st, 2008 at 3:59 pm
pdu, you don’t know jack. No down loans are available today, and people are rushing in to take advantage.
–
I can see it clearly. The rushing of people….. The advantage takers….
I think I’ll rush on down so I can take on a no-down mortgage on a depreciating asset. In fact, I’ll take a half dozen of those. If Thoughful is right about this turnaround and the whole rest of the world is wrong, I’ll just be so smart for having taken advantage.
If I’m wrong, I can join Thoughtful in her futile attempt to convince others that now is the time.
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:17 am
A Newport Beach mansion that went on the market last week for $38.5 million has already attracted - “three parties who are fairly interested….”
Eat it in the OC Says:
- “In reality, I bet this house will probably be used a couple times year for parties and fund raisers.”
# Mick Says:
- “Make that 4 interested parties. I want to take a look at that place.”
I’m ‘fairly interested” in having a party there too!
……other than that, not sure about this story being pertinent, either.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:39 am
Well, when one is at this level of affordability, I suppose the issue is more about what unique properties are available than price. And, this property is a beauty, no doubt about that! Applicable to the general public? No.