Trophy homes have been more popular than ever during the pandemic, with large, high-cost residences in high demand as affluent buyers seek more space and privacy, as well as more favorable tax regimes.
Despite the lackluster second half of the year, 2022 had the second most sales of U.S. trophy homes—or those priced at $50 million and above, according to
Jonathan Miller,
president and CEO of the New York-based appraisal company Miller Samuel, who has been tracking these sales since 2014.
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More headwinds are expected for 2023, but it’s unlikely prices will soften dramatically or the high-end transactions will evaporate, Mr. Miller said. And although the Fed has been raising interest rates since the spring, big-ticket deals were still completed at the end of 2022, suggesting that it will continue under relatively similar conditions into 2023.
“The buyers of these properties were not hamstrung by the conditions that were felt by most everybody else during this pandemic,” he said. “I don’t expect a record year [in 2023] but I don’t expect a record low, either.”
International markets such as Dubai are likely to see a similar situation in the top sector, and prices for luxury villas in the city seem to have more room to grow, according to Zhann Jochinke, COO of Property Monitor, which provides data for the real estate industry.
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“It’s been a crazy year for the ultra-high end of the market,” he said in an email. “The lack of inventory is the main reason that we aren’t seeing even more sales well above the AED 100 million [US$27.2 million] mark.”
Meanwhile, it was also a banner year for high-end home sales in London, where more houses sold for at least £5 million (US$6.03 million) between January and September in at least 16 years, according to an October report from Savills, which began tracking the data in 2006. In addition, just the first nine months of high-end sales amounted to more than the total number of sales seen in any full year between 2015 and 2020.
Mansion Global took a look at some of 2022’s biggest deals—plus one that might end up on next year’s list.
South Florida
The biggest recorded deal in the U.S. last year was Larry Ellison’s $173 million purchase of a 16-acre compound on Manalapan, a barrier island in Florida. The co-founder of software company Oracle purchased the property—which includes a 62,200-square-foot megamansion and more than a 1,000 feet of water frontage on both the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway—in June from Jim Clark, the 78-year-old founder of several Silicon Valley companies including Netscape. There’s also a seven-bedroom guest house, two cottages on the beach and a manager’s house that are connected via a series of underground tunnels, plus a dock, a sports complex, a pool and a three-hole golf course.
The Sunshine State saw another record deal when American businesswoman and philanthropist
Adrienne Arsht
sold her waterfront compound for $106.875 million–-the most expensive residence ever sold in Miami-Dade County. The 4-acre estate, which includes a restored historic home and a modern residence and overlooks Biscayne Bay, was listed in January for $150 million. There are a total of 12 bedrooms and roughly 25,000 square feet of living space between the two houses, as well as 400 feet of water frontage, an outdoor tennis court and a pool. Ms. Arsht, a former banking executive, had said she would donate the profits from the sale to charity.
Los Angeles
The One—an immensely hyped up Bel-Air megamansion once teased at $500 million—sold at auction in March for $126 million. Despite the steep price cut, it was the city’s biggest sale in 2022. Developer Nile Niami promised the world with this project, which boasted a jellyfish aquarium, a “Monaco-style” casino and a 180-foot infinity pool. However the over-the-top abode was delayed and blew its budget, eventually prompting one lender to file a foreclosure action on the property in June 2021.
New York
In Manhattan, a pair of apartments owned by the late Microsoft founder Paul Allen sold for $101 million in July—making it the city’s biggest recorded deal of 2022. The sale included the penthouse and an 11th floor unit at one of the most desirable co-ops on the Upper East Side, and was the most expensive co-op sale in New York history. Allen’s estate has sold off or listed a slew of his assets recently, including his art collection which fetched more than $1.5 billion at a Christie’s auction this fall.
A penthouse crowning Aman New York on Billionaires’ Row sold for $74.34 million in July, the city’s second biggest deal. Known as the Jala Penthouse, the residence takes up the entire 20th floor and has sweeping views of Central Park. There’s also a private saltwater swimming pool, cabana and a wraparound terrace, plus a primary suite with a private terrace with a hot tub, two walk-in closets and an en-suite bathroom with a soaking tub, radiant heat floors and a steam shower.
San Francisco
Over the summer, a home in the posh Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco sold for $34.5 million, the city’s highest-price sale of the year. The eight-bedroom Beaux-Arts mansion—built in 1927 by architect Arthur Brown Jr., who also designed San Francisco’s City Hall and Opera House—was purchased by the billionaire Glazer family, according to records. The Glazer family currently owns NFL team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who won Super Bowl LV in 2021, as well as the U.K. soccer club Manchester United.
Sydney
A A$63 million (US$42.45 million) sale in the Sydney suburb of Vaucluse was the country’s biggest deal in 2022, according to data from the Ray White agency. The trophy home has seven bedrooms, three kitchens, two swimming pools, a conference center and a 20-car garage, plus was the sixth-priciest residence ever sold in the country. It’s not waterfront, but offers views of Sydney Harbour, the Bridge and Opera House—as many homes in the eastern suburb do. Four of the top 10 biggest sales of 2022 were also in Vaucluse, and there were two in Point Piper, another area with harbor views and which is one of the city’s most expensive neighborhoods. The least expensive residence in the top 10 was priced at A32.5 million, the data showed.
Dubai
A luxury villa on Palm Jumeirah sold for AED 600 million (US$163.37 million) in October, making it Dubai’s biggest deal, according to data from Property Monitor. The 52,000-square-foot megamansion has seven bedrooms and sits at the tip of one of the fronds of the man-made archipelago. This year’s top three deals were all villas on Palm Jumeirah, with the second and third priced at AED 302.5 million and AED 280 million, respectively, the data showed. Only two apartments were on the top 10 list, and houses in Palm Jumeirah took seven of the slots, according to the data.
London
Interest rates are also rising across the pond, thus slowing sales, but that didn’t keep billionaire Evergrande founder
Hui Ka Yan
from relisting his 20-bedroom megamansion for £200 million in October, making it the city’s priciest listing. (Mr. Hui, 64, bought the mansion in 2020 for £210 million, and it remains the most expensive home ever sold in the U.K.) The 62,000-square-foot stucco house is in the exclusive Knightsbridge neighborhood, overlooking Hyde Park, and has 45 rooms, plus a swimming pool, a health spa and gym and underground parking.
This article originally appeared on Mansion Global.
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