Mystery Buyer Snags World's Most Expensive Home

According to HauteLiving.com:

A sprawling mansion on the French Riviera recently acquired the title of world’s priciest home after an unnamed buyer shelled out $750 million for the property. Villa Leopolda, a Belle Apoque mansion nestled on the hills of Villefrance between Nice and Monaco, once belonged to King Leopold II of Belgium. The property’s most recent owner Lily Safra, widow of Edmond Safra, a Lebanese banker who died in an arsonist’s fire in 2003, reportedly waited months as the buyer’s bids continued to increase. The purchase is part of a growing trend of wealthy Russian oligarchs occupying lavish properties on the Cote d’Azur. Villa Leopolda’s price tag shattered the previous record for world’s most expensive home, a property in Kensington Palace Gardens sold for $110 million in 2004 to steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal.

Moscow on the Hudson

In this summer of high-end real-estate purgatory, New York real-estate circles are abuzz over some good news. In early July, a town house on a gilded block of East 64th Street changed hands for $42.5 million. The buyer hasn't been publicly identified. But speculation is centering on Leonard Blavatnik, a Russian oil magnate who last fall paid $50 million to buy the neighboring house from Seagram's heir Edgar Bronfman Jr.

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http://www.newsweek.com/id/148945/output/print

$47M! Spelling's Widow Buys 2 Floors of Residential Tower

msnbc.com: $47M: Spelling's Widow Buys 2 Floors Of Residential Tower

$47M: Spelling's Widow Buys 2 Floors Of Residential Tower The top two floors of a Century City residential tower still under construction have been sold for a record $47 million to Candy Spelling, the widow of TV mogul Aaron Spelling, it was reported Tuesday.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25800952/from/ET/

Largest Residential Purchase in History!

NEW YORK POST

LILY CLEANS UP ON RIVIERA
LA Leopolda, the most spectacular seaside estate in the south of France, is falling into the hands of a nouveau-riche Russian. Sources in Paris say Lily Safra will sell the property to Roman Abramovich for $500 million, by far the largest residential purchase price in history. Abramovich, who is worth $23.5 billion, is said to be an intimate friend of Vladimir Putin, who still runs Russia. Hearing of Lily's impending windfall, one well-known New Yorker kicked himself and moaned, "Gianni Agnelli offered La Leopolda to me in the early 1980s for $3 million. I turned it down with the sarcastic remark that I didn't care to support 50 gardeners." Agnelli, the Fiat chairman who was fearful of kidnappers, then sold it for around the same price to Edmond Safra, who died tragically in Monaco in 1999.

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High-rises, High Prices...Ultra-Wealthy Buyers

LA penthouses tempt the very rich with luxe services and stellar location.

http://www.latimes.com/classified/realestate/news/la-re-penthouse30mar30,0,6409181,full.story

Home Sweet Investment

The market has strength. Don't let fear intrude.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/opinion/18tabarrok.html

Real Talk: Winter 2008

FAST FORWARD!
Finally the real estate market is off the front pages! Between the presidential primaries and the volatility of the stock market this past month, the real estate market actually feels calm! At last, the constant media blitz about falling housing prices has shifted off of THAT subject and we have a few new topics to set our minds into stress and frenzy!

There is no doubt in anyone's mind that we have experienced a shift in market pricing and a shift in practices and thinking. The shift, however, has been subtle and does not reflect in any way a downturn in Westside values and more importantly demand. Let's take an in-depth look at what has been happening in our own back-yard to better understand the direct affect the real estate market is having on each one of us.

To read more, visit www.lindamay.com