Vietnam Luxury property market frozen; Artificial house price inflation in the UK; Angola real estate investors stick to lower cost housing; DMCI builds a luxury resort in Boracay and the luxury market picks up again.
High end apartments sit empty in Hanoi.
The real estate market in Hanoi has warmed up slightly with more successful transactions in recent days. However, the high-end apartment market segment remains frozen.
The real estate brokerage office at 112 Nguyen Phong Sac Road in Cau Giay district is crowded with visitors. Ta Quang Chinh, the owner, reports that most visitors want to purchase land and low or medium-cost apartments. Chinh noted that high-grade apartment garner no interest. “There are many high-grade apartments, while there are no buyers,” he asserted.Vietnam net.
Dismal sales in the UK property market, but average sales prices on the increase.
We all know our government thinks we are stupid – that almost goes without saying, but the recent quietly released and not-talked-about figures from the Land Registry bear closer inspection than the government press release farms (newspapers) have given. Quite honestly – how any one makes an informed decision based on the misinformation and garbage being spouted is beyond me. Property investment.
Angola real estate investors eye lower-cost housing
Angolan real estate — once one of the world’s most expensive — now holds more promising investment prospects away from the top end of the market, according to real estate consultancy Colliers International. Reuters
DMCI Homes builds luxury resort-hotel residences
Just like the pristine island of Boracay – with its long stretches of fine sand, emerald waters, and clear skies – was once the avid beach-hoppers’ best-kept secret, the isle still holds a few things only a few know – some of which you can claim as your own. MB.com
High-end spenders again indulge urge to splurge
Claudia March has a taste for the finer things. She drives a 2010 BMW. For Gucci shoes and Prada handbags, she shops at Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. And the 38-year-old treated herself and her mother to a weekend at the Boston Park Plaza hotel for a spring getaway. Boston Globe
Filed under Luxury Real Estate News by 
It appears the Qataris will soon own everything – or at least, everything in London. Not content with the billions already invested in the London luxury property market, the Qatari royal family has just purchased Harrods. What I hear is it was £1.5 billion over the table and a similar amount under, but no one is admitting to that.
The fact that Harrods has been foreign owned passes many people by and the news that it has once again been sold to a foreign interest comes as no great shock to those of us aware of the strong connections between the British banking elite and the Middle Eastern oil Sheiks are not even slightly surprised.
The slow movement of wealth from the middle classes to those in charge of creating the money continues, and the recent slump in house sales in the UK also continues. Hard to say when things will come to a head with the Eurozone creating money out of thin air. Who will collapse their currency first? We shall see.
Here is the BBC report on the recent sale of Harrods to Qatar.
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Bluegreen Corporation (NYSE: BXG), a leading provider of Colorful Places to Live and Play®, today announced the expansion of its fee-based services business to include hotel management. Bluegreen recently commenced hotel management services for an existing client, South Mountain Resort in Lincoln, New Hampshire, and for a new client, The Sandhurst Hotel in Ft. Pierce, Florida. The addition of hotel management expands the Company’s portfolio of fee-based service offerings beyond its previous offerings of vacation-resort operations management and sales and marketing. Bluegreen launched its fee-based services business in 2009 at resorts in Arizona, the Bahamas, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Virginia. For the year ended December 31, 2009, Bluegreen generated fee based services revenues of $20.1 million compared to no such revenues in 2008.
“In 2009 we announced that we would actively pursue growth through fee-based services. We couldn’t be happier with the interest shown in our services and the quality of properties we now have under contract,” said David Pontius, President of Bluegreen Management Services. “Now that we have expanded into hotel management at these particular locations, we can continue to broaden our service footprint, delivering the true Bluegreen service experience, from the moment our hotel guests plan their vacation, to the moment they leave the resort.”
South Mountain Resort is part of the InnSeason Resorts collection of properties based in the Northeastern United States. The South Mountain Resort is located at the foot of the White Mountains in Lincoln, New Hampshire, approximately two hours from Boston, MA, and offers a northeast countryside retreat with golf, hiking, sightseeing, canoeing/kayaking, snow skiing and other popular outdoor activities.
The Sandhurst Hotel, located on Hutchinson Island in Ft. Pierce, Florida, is designed for leisure and offers waterfront accommodations just steps from popular area attractions and local businesses. Although Bluegreen owns, operates, or manages many other Florida resorts, this particular vacation destination extend Bluegreen’s specialized hotel management services into a boutique hotel location.
“We have continued to focus on ways to expand our business by leveraging our service and management expertise, while conserving capital,” says Bluegreen’s President and CEO, John Maloney. “We believe that the expansion of our fee-based services model into the boutique hotel arena validates both our ongoing commitment to and successful execution of these strategic initiatives. We believe that there is a sizable market for our style of hospitality services in the hotel business as well as in our core business of vacation ownership.”
“Our philosophy at Bluegreen is to provide all of our guests and club owners with a complete vacation experience from start to finish,” says Pontius. “We believe that we are unique in that we deliver more than a clean room and a smile. When our guests return home, we want them to look back and realize that their vacation was a memorable one and that Bluegreen was an active contributor to that experience.”
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Doubt about Beijing’s luxury home market has led stockholders to divest themselves of luxury home developer’s stocks and caused some overseas investors to be concerned about their real estate assets.
“A lot of rules have been issued since the start of this year, ” recounted Qin Xiaomei, chief analyst with the property firm Jones Lang LaSalle Beijing. “they’ve had a major and broad influence, not only on mid- to low-end homes, but also on top-end properties. ”
Luxury homes may face even more serious regulations, compared to average commercial flats. As well as needs for increased down payments for a second home and postponed loans for 3rd houses, property taxes that both target the exchange and hold period are anticipated to shortly be levied on luxury flats. Like Hong Kong, the Chinese government seems determined to stop a boom, yet at the same time has been pouring billions into the economy.
The down-payment requirement has risen, so they must shoulder higher capital costs. Additionally, the constant jump in housing costs has been not possible so far, which also increases investment risks.
While average exchange prices continued their quick rise, luxury studio exchange volumes slid in the 1st quarter compared against quarter 4 of 2009, demonstrating declining demand. “I won’t purchase a luxury loft in Beijing, since the price has reached such a high level, ” related Claire Cao, supply network inventory researcher with a global oil company. “Besides, as an intruder, I’m mystified about the new policies and do not know what will occur next. ” Instead, she has purchased an apartment in London while working in Beijing and is living in a leased studio in Guomao paid for by her employer.
Qiu Luan, a writer with Hong Kong-based China Review Stories , wrote an article saying : ” Folk from HK, Macao and Taiwan are terribly concerned about their property assets in Beijing as the central government’s policies are actually tough this time. ” Qiu announced HK residents acquired about 23,300 homes in the Chinese mainland in 2009, a steep rise over the year before. The total investment reached 22.4 bln yuan, up 85 percent on the year before. About 20 % of consumers in Chang’an Avenue No eight, a luxury property with a standard unit sales cost of eighty thousand yuan per sq m, came from HK and Macao, according to officers at China Aoyuan Property Group Limited, one of the investors in Chang’an Avenue No eight. “we won’t lower our price now, since we have got a good location and quality. The residences available are also limited, ” declared Ren Jing, a saleswoman at Chang’an Avenue No eight.
But while developers from the top 5 luxury apartment projects in Beijing are all rejecting they are going to cut costs or offer rebates in the future, industry commentators forecast there’ll be a slackening of requirement for luxury property. Daniel Yin, previous handling director of CB Richard Ellis Group’s Beijing branch, recounted a price cut of nearly ten p.c can be predicted in the following a quarter. “More than seventy % of those homes are bought by non-Beijing-registered residents. I
f particular rules like a local tax record, or a certificate of residence release in the capital is required, top of the range property projects will suffer with a huge blow. There could be a difference between reporting price and real exchange price, but a reduction is absolutely certain if polices continue to tighten.
In 2008, when the medium price of a commercial residence in Beijing was 9,000 yuan per sq m, the price level for luxury residences was only fifteen thousand yuan per sq m, according to Lang LaSalle Beijing
Now, residences selling for over 26,000 yuan per sq m can be called top-end flats. Villas might be less impacted by the tightening rules than residences due to favored policies , for example low down payment proportions
Filed under Luxury Real Estate News by
Well, the quality and price of the luxury real estate going to auction continues to increase. This equestrian estate was originally listed at $7.9 million and now has a reserve of just $3 million, although I would expect it to go for more than that.
Concierge Auctions will host a luxury real estate auction of a 150-acre equestrian estate near Camp David on June 12, announced Laura Brady, Co-Founder and Vice President of Marketing for Concierge Auctions.
The sale is being conducted in cooperation with Gary Gestson, a certified Historic Property Specialist with Long & Foster Real Estate.
The J. Martin Benchoff Estate is a family compound located on Old Route 16 in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, only a 90-minute drive from both Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, and 3 hours from Philadelphia. The grandest of the estate’s four residences, a 15,000-square-foot custom home built of native stone, is surrounded by magnificent grounds with spectacular views.
This is a rare opportunity for the discerning buyer to own one of the last great estates within easy reach of Washington, D.C, Baltimore and Philadelphia. Its storied history, unique beauty and recreational attributes render the J. Martin Benchoff Estate a truly incomparable property, said Gestson.
Known for its scenic vistas and lush rolling pastures, the renowned private hilltop estate rests 1,000 feet above sea level with stunning 50-mile views of the historic Pennsylvania/Maryland Cumberland Valley. The property offers a rare blend of mature forest, impeccably maintained for over a century and stocked with indigenous wildlife including whitetail deer, wild turkey and small game for the outdoorsman or hunter. There is also an equestrian facility with stables and outbuildings and a working farm on the property, and access to the Appalachian Trail is an estimated 100 yards away.
The main house features five bedrooms, seven baths, spacious grand rooms with multiple fireplaces, two fully equipped kitchens, and a master suite with a Jacuzzi room and separate redwood sauna. The great room on the lower level can accommodate more than 100 people for entertaining and includes a wet bar, spacious kitchen with wine cellar, and a library with built-in bookshelves. A flagstone patio wraps around the house to an in-ground swimming pool with pool house and a fenced tennis court.
“Following our successful auction of historic Tulip Hill in Harwood, Maryland on April 10, we are pleased to represent another one of the most premier properties in the Mid-Atlantic Region,” Brady stated. “Any buyer seeking an active, sporting lifestyle with complete privacy and the utmost in luxury should take notice of The J. Martin Benchoff Estate.”
The auction of the J. Martin Benchoff Estate on Old Route 16 in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania will be held on Saturday, June 12 at 11am EDT. Attendance will be limited to registered bidders and their representatives. The estate is available for preview daily from 3pm to 6pm and by appointment. View Terms and Conditions of Sale for full details. For more information, visit www.BenchoffEstateAuction.com or call 877-217-2001.
About J. Martin Benchoff (1927-2007): J. Martin Benchoff was an industrialist and big game hunter, and a life long resident of the Waynesboro area. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and in 1954 began his career at Grove Manufacturing Company in Shady Grove, PA as a farm wagon salesperson. He went on to become President in 1969 when the company was purchased by Walter Kiddle and Co. He became Chairman of the Board in 1980 and then Chairman Emeritus in 1988 after Grove became part of Hanson Industries. Together with Grove’s founders, John Grove, Dwight Grove and Wayne Nicarry, he took Grove Manufacturing from a small regional producer of farm equipment to the leader of the international mobile hydraulic crane market. Benchoff ’s contributions to the local community were significant. He was a founder of the Waynesboro Day Care Center, a benefactor of the Waynesboro Y.M.C.A., and most importantly a creator of jobs. He served on the Board of Directors of the former First National Bank of Waynesboro, presently M&T Bank, and the Waynesboro Hospital Board of Directors. He was a member of many clubs and organizations ranging from Metropolitan Club of New York to the Blue Ridge Sportsman Club. The greatest passion in Benchoff ’s personal life was big game hunting, which he pursued throughout the world. Although he took many exceptional trophies in a lifetime of hunting, his proudest achievement was a stone sheep taken in British Columbia and two dall sheep from the Yukon Territory, which placed high in the Boone and Crocket record book. Like all true hunters, he was first and foremost a conservationist who always looked for the most mature animal to harvest.
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April 27, 2010 – Paris, FRANCE – The International Real Estate Federation, FIABCI, with chapters and members in more than 60 countries, and Proxio, Inc., the international marketing and networking platform for real estate, today announced a partnership to provide the ProxioPro Global Referral Network to all FIABCI members through FIABCI’s new website FIABCI.com. The ProxioPro network greatly expands FIABCI members’ referral opportunities by facilitating connections to real estate professionals in over 95 countries, while incorporating property listing exchanges at the same time.
FIABCI has integrated the ProxioPro global referral network as a critical feature of its new member site, providing member networking opportunities via a single sign-on solution. FIABCI members can enter properties of any type, search listing information throughout the world, and share referrals globally — in English as well as 16 major European and Asian languages. Proxio instantly translates property listings for display across its network, to social media sites, or to partner websites, to internationalize FIABCI members and their businesses and optimize their global marketing reach.
“We chose to partner with Proxio because their technology solutions align perfectly with FIABCI’s objectives,” said Lisa Kurrass, FIABCI World President. “Our mission is connecting international real estate professionals. Proxio enables that by combining multilingual listing displays with professional networking tools to create what we believe will be the standard for global real estate for years to come. The Proxio partnership allows FIABCI members to easily connect with each other and initiate high-quality referral transactions—across borders and across languages—to the benefit of all.”
“FIABCI is a premier organization for helping real estate professionals develop networks and optimize business all over the world,” said Janet Case, Proxio’s CEO. “In FIABCI, Proxio has found a perfect partner for providing our solutions to agents looking to create business opportunities by partnering beyond their local markets. We are delighted that thousands of high-quality FIABCI members with truly international outlooks have joined our global network.”
The new FIABCI member site, complete with Proxio integration, is live at www.fiabci.org
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