House prices going through the roof
Even The Donald has been trumped by a real estate record
By Jessica Gresko – Associated Press
PALM BEACH, Florida — Donald Trump’s property for sale has all the big-time extras one might expect. Pricey marble and 24-karat gold fixtures in its bathrooms, a gargantuan fountain by the driveway and 145 metres of oceanfront out back.
Perhaps the biggest thing about the home, however, is its price: $125 million (U.S.). And (sorry, Donald) that price has already been trumped. A home in Aspen, Colo., is now listed at $135 million. Another in Lake Tahoe, Nev., was recently listed at a flat $100 million.
The listings represent a monetary milestone in American real estate: The first time U.S. homes have broken into a whopping nine figures, according to real estate experts, and they’ve done so in quick succession. A May survey of the nation’s most expensive homes by Forbes.com put Trump’s home at the most expensive and the first to break the $100 million mark.
Now, the trio has market followers wondering: Will they sell? And what do you really get for $100 million?
“I’m surprised it took so long for people to realize value,” Trump said of the listings.
Usually the top 10 per cent of any marketplace is considered the luxury market, but these properties are a tier above.
“They’re super-luxury properties,” said Trump, the real estate mogul and reality TV star.
Shari Chase, of Chase International, which has the Lake Tahoe listing, said: “This is stratospheric for offering prices but I think we’re going in that direction….These three properties, they are really the Super Bowl of real estate.”
The listings are extreme. At these prices, bedrooms, bathrooms and square-footage are almost irrelevant. Like their price tags, all three are gigantic.
At the Aspen property, owned by Saudi Prince Bandar, the main residence, finished in 1990, has more than 56,000 square feet (about 1,000 square feet bigger than the White House) on a nearly 40-hectare site. It even has its own car wash and gas pumps.
Need more outdoors? The Lake Tahoe home, owned by Tommy Hilfiger Corp. co-founder Joel Horowitz, comes with 38,000 square feet of livable space on 85 hectares. Included are a private trout-stocked lake and two par-3 golf courses. Among indoor features is a grand staircase that replicates one built on the Titanic.
Smaller on acreage but bigger in square footage is Trump’s property, called Maison de L’Amitié (House of Friendship), which he bought for about $41 million in 2004.
He assigned renovations to Apprentice winner Kendra Todd. Its approximately 80,000 square feet encompass several buildings.
Sara Clemence, an editor for Forbes.com who wrote its listing report, says the recent 100-million-plus-dollar listings are significant.
“That said, just because you ask for it doesn’t mean you’re going to get it,” she said.
Taxes alone on the Trump property, if sold at its current asking price, would be more than $2 million a year, according to the Palm Beach County property appraiser website.
The Donald, surprised to hear his property had U.S. competition, asked, “Who’s at 135? My property is worth more than $125 million. It’s a bargain.”
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