Luxury home builder Toll Brothers reports third quarter loss

Toll Brothers, one of the US’s largest builder of luxury homes reported a net loss of $472.3 million, a substantial increase compared to Q3 2008, where the company lost $29.3 million. This brings the total losses for 2009 so far to $644.4 million, bringing their net debt-to-capital ratio down to 14.5% from 18% at the same point in time last year. The company claims to hold $1.66 billion in cash reserves, and $1.35 billion available under a credit facility offered by a consortium of 30 banks.

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Luxury Home goes to auction in New Jersey

The inventory of luxury homes for sale continues to grow, and many agents are turning to auctions as a realistic way of spurring interest and sales. Concierge auctions have just announced that this mansion in New Jersey will be auctioned off September 26th. The “Froh Heim,” Mansion is an historic property set on more than 11 acres in Far Hills, New Jersey, and was recently awarded the “2009 award for excellence for Best Historic Residential Renovation, by New Jersey’s Home builder’s association.

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Candy & Candy sued by Mexican bank

Luxury property developers,  Christian and Nick Candy, have hit the news once again, and are being sued by Grupo Financiero Inbursa, a Mexican banking conglomerate owned by Carlos Slim. The lawsuit was filed in New York State court in Manhattan yesterday. The 11 page complaint alleges that CPC group, Christian Candy’s property development firm, has failed to pay monies owed on a Beverly Hills luxury condo project, 9900 Wiltshire,” that went south after the Kaupthing bank failure. The Candy brothers barely avoided disaster back in October last year, with some “creative accounting.”

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Las Vegas luxury hotel rooms going cheap

Not so long ago, Las Vegas was the ultimate in luxury destinations, with five-star hotels offering everything America’s playground had to offer at exorbitant rates. Typical room rates for a Las Vegas luxury hotel were anything from $200 up per night.  The financial crisis has had a substantial impact on Vegas’ economy; and with unemployment up to more than 13% and visitor numbers dropping like a brick, things have changed a little.

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Luxury real estate – Auctions on the rise

Exclusively Auctions, a leading absolute auction company with both bargain and luxury real estate home auctions, is not surprised by the recent reports of no-minimum auctions hitting $268B and MLS sales on a sharp decline.In Vail, Colorado, this year’s June MLS sales are down to about 27% compared to the total number of transactions completed last year at this time. This decline is in stark contrast to real estate auction successes.

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Luxury home median prices stable – Prices discounted – Buyers market

The latest market report from the Institute for luxury home marketing shows median prices for luxury homes for sale as $1,149,225 and is a graphic demonstration of the way the market plays out during a downturn.

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Proper pricing key to luxury buyers

One of the best ways to judge the strength of the luxury housing market is to simply count the number of serious buyers at a weekend open house event.

Recently, I held an open house at my newest listing: 4329 McFarlin in Highland Park. This immaculate home completed in 2002 offers more than 6,200 square feet of living space, a downstairs master suite, a corner lot with 90-foot frontage in the well-respected Highland Park school district and a lagoon-style pool. on … Continued
on the blog.

Luxury homes in the news 08/20

President Obama to vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, more Luxury home foreclosures; Michael Jackson’s doctor faces foreclosure; and a man in scuba gear burns his luxury McMansion after it fails to sell.

As usual, in the current economic crisis, the news on the luxury home front tends to be either very positive, or extremely bad. President Obama and family, presumable sans entourage but with secret service, is planning on spending a few days in a luxury home on Martha’s Vineyard, the Blue Heron farm. Amenities include a Cape Cod guest house, a swimming pool and a half-court basketball court with horse riding, kayaking and boating. Best guess as to the cost is between $35,000 – $50,000 a week, Still, it is hard work handing out billions of dollars to the banks every week, so I am sure he needs a break.  ABC news

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Home Equity loan rates for luxury homes show market still weak

If the home equity loan rates are anything to go by, the luxury home market is not out of the woods just yet. Bank of America are charging 10.59% on a 100k home equity loan and insisting on a minimum loan to value ratio of 80% and a FICO credit score of 660+.

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Luxury Homes in Ras Al Khaimah fell up to 40 percent in value last year

The value of luxury homes in Ras Al Khaimah has fallen as much as 40% over the last year. (…)

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