This five-bedroom Colonial in Brookline’s Chestnut Hill neighborhood recently sold for $3.35 million.
Despite sluggish home sales there’s no need to cry over caviar: The ultra-luxury market hasn’t ground to a halt.
Sales of single-family homes with $3 million-plus price tags have remained steady in Massachusetts, and real estate agents say they’ve seen an uptick in multimillion-dollar home sales activity in the last several weeks.
A $10 million mega-mansion traded in Weston earlier this month. And multimillion properties in toney sections of Brookline and Newton are under purchase-and-sale agreement.
“The very high-end market, overall, is in better shape. It’s definitely much more stable,” said Brigitte Senkler, a top-producing broker for Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Concord.
Sales of homes priced $3 million or higher jumped 16 percent in 2007 to 193 transactions from 166 in 2006. There were 57 transactions in that price range through May of this year, down from 66 during the same period in 2007 and 2006, according to The Warren Group, Banker & Tradesman’s parent company.
Industry leaders say financing hasn’t been as significant an issue for affluent homebuyers, even though many home seekers searching for more modestly priced housing have had a tougher time securing mortgage loans because of tighter underwriting standards.
Demand for platinum properties has also come from overseas buyers, particularly Europeans who are buoyed by the strength of the euro.
“International buyers feel they can get incredible purchases now,” said Senkler.
Still, agents say buyers are being more cautious given the turmoil in the stock market and overall economy. And buyers are pushing to get substantial discounts.
“There’s a general timidity on the part of the buyers. Everyone is sensitive about price, even at the upper end,” said Terrence Maitland, a principal of Boston-based LandVest.
James Nemetz, senior vice president of Hammond Residential GMAC in Chestnut Hill, agrees. “Those buyers are out there, but a lot of them are holding back on pulling the trigger,” said Nemetz.
But Nemetz is encouraged by some sales that have occurred recently. His firm sold a 10-room Colonial for $3.35 million – $55,000 over the original asking price – after only six days on the market. Hammond also sold a mansion with nearly 20,000 square feet of living space for $10 million earlier this month.
Reluctant Reductions
In many cases, sellers are reducing asking prices to draw offers, although sometimes reluctantly, according to Realtors.
The asking price for a Sargent Street home in Newton listed in 2006 for $6.9 million, for example, was discounted to $4.59 million and is now under agreement. A 17-room mansion in one of the most desirable sections of Brookline, put on the market three years ago for $8.7 million, was reduced to $6.75 million. The property is under agreement.
And in Boston, 8 Mount Vernon Place sold for about half the original asking price. The 7,800-square-foot historic home was listed more than a year ago for more than $18 million and sold for $9.375 million in March.
“A lot of negotiation goes on,” Senkler said. “These buyers are very sophisticated and they’re very careful about making a good investment.”
Today’s high-end buyers are searching for properties in pristine condition with many amenities. Four or five years ago, they were more willing to consider purchasing a home with an out-dated kitchen and bathrooms.
Now, if they see home that needs renovation they’ll keep searching.
“It’s more of a showstopper. They’ll go on to the next property,” said Margie Kern, one of the owners of Karp Liberman & Kern Sotheby’s International in Newton. “Buyers’ expectations are higher and Â… the sellers are finally beginning to deliver a better product for the same money now.”
