Friday, April 11, 2008

Luxury Niche Not Hit So Bad by Downturn

Daily Real Estate News April 11, 2008

Luxury Niche Not Hit So Bad by Downturn

The housing economy may be on the skids in many markets, but don’t shed any tears for wealthy home owners. They aren’t feeling the pain nearly as much as sellers of mid-price homes. Some recent examples illustrate that point:
This week, an agreement of sale was signed on the oceanfront Palm Beach, Fla., estate of billionaire founder and chairman of Jones Apparel Group (JNY), Sidney Kimmel. If the deal closes, the $81.5 million sale – 24 days after the home was put on the market – will be the highest price ever paid in Palm Beach.
In March, the 29-room, Upper Eastside of Manhattan townhouse, which used to belong to the late publisher of Penthouse, Bob Guccione, sold to the founder of Harbinger Capital Partners, Philip Falcone, for $49 million, up from $29.99 million, its last selling price in 2003. That’s 67 percent appreciation. Not bad for a declining market.In luxury markets, "Demand is remaining strong, and even if [prices] are going down they're not going down as much as the overall market," says Laurie Moore-Moore, founder of the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing in Dallas, which trains real estate professionals to sell in the international property market.Source: BusinessWeek.com, Prashant Gopal (04/11/2008)


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Mortgage Rates Hold Steady

Daily Real Estate News April 11, 2008

Mortgage Rates Hold Steady

The average interest on the benchmark mortgage rate held below the 6-percent threshold for the fourth consecutive week as 30-year loans remained at 5.88 percent this week, according to Freddie Mac. ''Once again, mortgage rates held relatively steady this week amid release of subdued economic data,'' says Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft, who cited a government report on the number of jobs that were eliminated by businesses last month. There was little movement involving the other mortgage rates as 15-year, fixed loans held steady at 5.42 percent, five-year adjustable-rate mortgages fell 0.03 percent to 5.56 percent, and one-year ARMs declined 0.01 percent to 5.18 percent.Source: Chicago Sun-Times (04/11/08) © Copyright 2008 Information Inc.


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Fed Chief's Message: Think About Future Federal Reserve Chairman

Daily Real Estate News April 11, 2008

Fed Chief's Message: Think About Future Federal Reserve Chairman

Ben Bernanke on Thursday urged policymakers to strengthen oversight of mortgage lenders in order to prevent future financial crises."We do not have the luxury of waiting for markets to stabilize before we think about the future," Bernanke said in a speech in Richmond, Va.Bernanke urged increased transparency, improved risk management and better coordination among regulators. Better consumer protections and disclosures also would help prevent a repeat of current mortgage and credit problems, Bernanke said.Many economists believe the Fed will again lower rates when it meets later this month.Source: The Associated Press, Jeannine Aversa (04/10/08)

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