The market for the average priced US residence may be soft, but the über rich (especially the Russians) continue to drive prices up at the very top of the world’s luxury market. Case in point -- Villa Léopolda, one of the most historic estates on the French Côte d'Azur, is now under contract by an anonymous Russian billionaire for $750 million (€500m). This three-quarters-of-a-billion dollar sales price sets a new record for the most expensive home sale in the world. The previous record was set earlier this year by Indian billionaire Laksmi Mittal, with the reported purchase of a London home for his son for about $236 million.

Villa Léopolda, a cream-colored, turreted mansion with two guest houses, is midway between Monaco and Nice overlooking Cap Ferrat, near Villefranche-sur-Mer. The villa was originally built about 1902 by King Leopold II of Belgium. The grounds are regarded as among the most spectacular on the Côte d'Azur. Fifty full-time gardeners look after 20 acres of gardens and terraces, planted with 1,200 olive, orange, lemon and cypress trees.

The property’s new owner is said to be a Russian oil oligarch but not – despite initial rumors – Roman Abramovich, the highly visible owner of Chelsea Football Club, who already owns a €100m mansion near Antibes.

According to the Nice-Matin newspaper, a contract was signed last week to transfer ownership of the villa from Lily Safra, the widow of Edmond Safra, a murdered banking billionaire. Rumor has it that Mrs. Safra held out for months as the persistent mystery buyer kept raising his offering price. The paper also reported that 60 villas or mansions on Cap Ferrat are now owned by wealthy Russians.

The property has a unique history. In 1916, King Leopold’s nephew and heir, King Albert I, turned the villa into a hospital for officers wounded during the First World War. It later passed into the hands of the Agnelli family – Fiat automotive tycoons -- and became the scene for legendary jet-set parties in the 1960s, attended by Frank Sinatra, Ronald Reagan (in his acting days) and others.

“This sale raises the bar and makes the half dozen or so $100 million U.S. properties on the market seem like bargains,” said Laurie Moore-Moore, Founder of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, a US-based organization which trains real estate agents who work in the luxury market and awards the international Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist designation. “Today’s affluent are citizen’s of the world and the successful luxury agent must know how to reach them and what lifestyles they are seeking. It’s an exciting and active market for agents at the top.”


(Photo from pmo's flickr photostream)
Source: http://www.LuxuryHomeMarketing.com
Posted by Waco Moore on August 11, 2008





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Tom Campbell summarizes the seed of our current economic problems at a Commonwealth Club of California meeting. Mr. Campbell is the dean of the Haas School of Business at University of California-Berkeley.

As a real estate agent in the state of Florida, I have seen the extreme of what he describes. The housing bubble popped, and subsequently the whole financial world suffered. This is one large real estate and lending market correction.

People were paying too much for houses, and those same people were getting mortgages that they couldn't afford or didn't qualify for. Now foreclosures are high and lending is tight.

If I would suggest one piece of investing advice or personal finance advice, it would be that the next 12 months will probably be one of the best times to buy a house for the next few decades. I have seen home prices drop very low, quite quickly; and just like in the stock market these prices will not stay this low for very long.





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Many investors keep asking whether the stock market has bottomed or not. Also, some economists are saying we haven't technically entered a bear market yet. Who do you believe and what is going on with this stock market?

The infamous host of CNBC's "Mad Money" show and CEO of theStreet.com, Jim Cramer, has called a bottom on the stock market this past week. He said that the pain and negativity in investors have been so high things just have to change. Also, this last drop in the market brought financials to decade (and longer) lows. Although the banks and broker-dealers have some rough times ahead, the worst of the writedowns is most likely over.

On the other hand, many economists say since we have not yet experienced negative GDP growth, we have not come to a recession. A few economists on CNBC and Bloomberg believe that the worst has not come yet.

Ask any average person in the US and they will tell you that we are in a recession; that is how you know if we are in one or not. Ask an economist living in a theoretical bubble, and you will get a theoretical answer (not a real life answer).

The market, however, has already priced in a lot of pain. For many stocks, their prices have dropped below what they should have. This has been and continues to be a bear market, but I do believe the worst is over.

The best stock investing advice I would suggest is to start buying now if you didn't buy on the extreme lows of last month. Since we are still in bear market territory, there will be some steep drops to come from time to time; that is your buying time.

Don't get caught up in the rallies and try to buy into them. The market will come back down and let you buy low. Go to Google Finance, and do some research: Buy good company stocks that have been beaten down by the bear market while prices are still cheap.





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