International Property Journal - News and information on global property markets

YoVenice

Rumors are swirling that Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko is ready to buy a block of oceanfront property in Venice, the Los Angeles suburb.

Melnichenko’s distinctive 394-foot yacht was spotted off the coast, fueling speculation. Several web sites picked up on the report, which centers on a block of Ocean Front Walk, home to the city's famed array of fortune tellers, jugglers and speed-crazed rollerbladers.

Eighty-five percent of the 905 units in the Trump Ocean Club have been sold, according to the latest statement from the developers of the closely watched project in Panama City.

For the first half of 2010, the development reported $24 million in sales, including a bulk sale of 27 units for $6.2 million, reports Sam Taliaferro in his Panama Investor blog. That would put the average price for the 27 condos at $230,000, which is low for a development considered at the top end of Panama City’s market.

But the big unanswered question for the development: How many of the buyers will actually close on their units, especially those who paid top dollar in the boom years? According to the latest report, 26 units worth a total $14.7 million were classified as defaulted and returned to inventory in the first half of the year. (And while it’s not an apples to apples comparison, it’s worth noting the average price of the defaulted units was closer to $565,000.)

MIAMI--After two years of slumping sales, fractional executives this week called for a more aggressive approach to marketing shared-ownership plans to wary second home buyers.

“The consumer is still in a recessionary mindset,” said Piers Brown, founder of Fractional Life, which sponsored the Fractional Summit, an industry conference in Miami this week.

“We need to reassess our outlook and how we energize consumers in exceptional times,” Brown said.

The Hawaii estate where President Obama and his family enjoyed heavily-secured dips in the Pacific Ocean was sold last week for $6.9 million.

Located in the exclusive Oahu neighborhood of Kailua, the 4,900-square-foot, five-bedroom “plantation style” estate was used for the Obamas winter vacations in 2008 and 2009.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser identified the buyer as developer Glenn Weinberg, vice president of the Cordish Company, and nephew of famed Hawaii “real estate baron” Harry Weinberg.

With investors wary of modern financial markets, an old-fashioned way of buying a second home may be returning to fashion.

Instead of dealing with a fractional or settling for a small property, investors are forming private partnerships to buy property, said Barry Strudwick, developer of Del Pacifico at Esterillos on the Costa Rica coast, between Jaco Beach and Manuel Antonio National Park.

Strudwick has seen several examples in recent months, usually four or five buyers coming together, essentially as a limited partnership, to purchase a vacation property.

Glenconner Beach

Colin Tennant, the debonair London socialite who helped create the Caribbean jet set scene, died Friday on St. Lucia.

Although best known for developing Mustique as the getaway spot for Princess Margaret, David Bowie, Mick Jaggar and his other high society pals, Tennant, more formally known as Lord Glenconner, spent the later part of his life on St. Lucia, where he started buying property in 1982.

A new investment should jumpstart a luxury project on a secluded cove on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia.

The funds from a British consortium headed by A-list developers Anthony Lyons and Gary Wilder will be used for the $100 million renovation of the Jalousie Plantation, one of the island’s revered properties. The new hotel will be rebranded as the Tides Sugar Beach and operated by the Viceroy Hotel Group, owner of The Tides brand.

Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia were the strongest performing property markets in the world through the first part of 2010, while Europe continued to struggle with the economic tide.

Ireland was the worst performing market, posting a 16 percent drop in prices from a year earlier, compared to a 34 percent jump for Singapore, according to inflation-adjusted data tracked by the Global Property Guide.

Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects

A skyscraper billed as a rival to the iconic Empire State Building was approved Wednesday by the New York City Council.

The 1,190-foot 15 Penn Plaza is planned for two blocks west of the Empire State Building, drawing criticism that it will alter New York’s famed skyline. Anthony Malkin, owner of the 80-year-old Empire State Building, called the project an “assault on New York City and its iconography.”

Corcoran

In a further sign of the globalization feared by many of his listeners, conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh’s New York City apartment was purchased last week by a foreign buyer.

Described only as a “couple from Asia,” the buyer reportedly paid $11.75 million for the Fifth Avenue penthouse, including the ornate furnishings. The apartment was originally listed at $13.95 million in February.

The 4,600-square-foot, 10-room apartment includes four terraces, two with Central Park views; direct elevator access; wood-paneled library; and his and her dressing rooms and bathes, according to the Corcoran Group listing. It also features an oddly over-the-top baroque style, with cherub-centric hand-painted murals, gold leaf moldings, herringbone mahogany floors, an Italian marble entranceway and walls upholstered in silk Damask.