Heiress sells 40-acre “building lot” in New York’s Hamptons to financial mogul

The cloud over the current residential real estate market has a silver lining.  The upper-tier market continues to boom, as evidenced by the record-breaking sale of a residential property in East Hampton (NY) for $103 million.

The new sale was supposed to be hush-hush. But, the news was quickly out that Schlumberger Oil fortune heiress Adelaide de Menil and her husband Ted Carpenter had sold the ocean front property to Ron Baron, founder of Baron Funds Investment Company.  The transaction breaks the previous record for the most expensive home sold in the US which was set in 2004, by the sale of Revlon Chairman Ron Perelman’s Palm Beach estate. 

Although the sale in the Hampton’s is a new US record, the world record residential sale is still held by Forbes Billionaire Lakshmi Mittal’s purchase of a London estate for $128 million.

“By comparison, the most expensive home sold last year in Key Biscayne was $10.5 million, ” according to James Salas, Broker of E Realty International ,  “In Key Biscayne prices are still  lower than many other US resort destinations. Price is not so much a factor as matching the right buyer with the right property. I work with very successful individuals that are looking for a very specific feature and when it becomes available they make their move.”

“Although the US housing market slipped overall in 2006, the luxury market has continued to boom, as a result of rising wealth at the top of the demographic pyramid, “Sales of homes priced at $5 million and above jumped 18% last year and rose a staggering 31% in the first quarter of 2007, according to new research by DataQuick and Laurie Moore-Moore, Founder of the Dallas-based Institute for Luxury Home Marketing.

“At least five US sellers are so optimistic that the luxury home market will stay strong that they’ve priced their homes at more than $100 million,” The chances are good that Baron won’t be king of the residential hill for long, we may see a new record in the next 18 months or so.”

Leading the pack as the priciest estate is “The Pinnacle,” under construction at the members-only Yellowstone Club in Montana, and offered for sale by the club’s developer, Tim Blixseth, for $155 million.  The four other highest priced homes include Saudi Prince Bandar’s estate in Aspen (CO), priced at $135 million; “Fleur De Lys”, a Los Angeles (CA) property priced at $125 million; Donald Trump’s $125 million Palm Beach (FL) re-do; and  the $100 million estate known as  “Tranquility,” at Lake Tahoe (NV).  The priciest home on the market in Key Biscayne is $17.9 million, said Salas.

 “One interesting fact about the record-setting New York sale,” added Moore-Moore, “is that Baron didn’t want the existing homes on the property.  So, they were removed for his convenience, leaving him with a fabulous site for building his custom home.” The houses were donated to the nearby community for use as city buildings.

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