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by Overseas Property Mall on Wednesday, November 30th, 2011 in Billionaire Homes, Mumbai Property
Unbelievable.That is the only word fit to describe the fact that the world’s tallest, most luxurious, lavish and downright most expensive single-family home has been left lying empty for what is now more than a year since its completion. People are understandably angry at the waste. But that is not the only unbelievable thing about this mammoth building built by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani.
by Overseas Property Mall on Thursday, June 16th, 2011 in Billionaire Homes, French Property, Monaco Property
Credits: Timo via Flickr
$65,600. a few years ago that would have bought you a property where I live. Now, that is the average price of a property in Monaco, per square meter. The figure comes from the latest release of Knight Frank’s global index of luxury property prices. According to the index London is the second most expensive at $56,300, but this is hardly surprising given the advent of One Hyde Park, a block of flats with none priced under a million pounds.
While Paris’ place in fifth is hardly surprising with a per square meter price of $40,500 the fact that it is at the back of 3 French cities in the top 5 is. Both Cap Ferrat and St Tropez are pricier than Paris with average per square meter prices of $54,600 and $40,800 respectively. We also note the huge gap between 3rd and 4th place.
For France to have 3 cities in the top 5 is significant enough but it doesn’t stop there; the French cities of Courchevel and Cannes hold 6th and 7th place in the chart with per square meter averages of $38,800, and $31,900 respectively. The remainder of the top 10 is dominated by Asia, with Japan’s Tokyo in 8th at $28,300, Hong Kong, China in 9th at $27,300 and Singapore in 10th at 27,100. Many will be surprised at the absence of Shanghai in the top 10, but it headlined as the fastest growing city, its per square meter price of $17,700 representing a growth of 21% over last year.
It is easy to look at $17,700 and notice only how it is way lower than Monaco’s $65,600, so much so that we may partially forget that we are talking about prices per square meter here, in which case even $17,700 is an incredible figure to pay.
Of course Monaco is know stranger to such lavish pricing. This is the third year running it has stood at the top of the global luxury pricing table. Monaco’s biggest deal last year was the purchase of La Belle Epoque, a 17,500-square-foot (1,600-square-meter) penthouse, for 240 million euros ($340 million) from Christian and Nick Candy in September. The buyer, whose name wasn’t disclosed, came from the Middle East.
According to Knight Frank the dominance of established European cities is indicative of a long-running trend:
“The real success stories in 2010 confirm the advantages of a global brand and a diversity of demand requirements, like in London, New York and Paris,” said Liam Bailey, Knight Frank’s head of residential research.
“Tried-and-tested markets with security of infrastructure and political and legal stability will outperform in the long run,” he added.
by Overseas Property Mall on Thursday, April 28th, 2011 in Billionaire Homes
The most expensive single-family home ever sold in America has just been bought for $100 million by a Russian billionaire. The lush mansion in Silicon Valley has been compared to a French Chateau, thankfully they said on steroids because apart from its size, the mansion has little else in common with any Chateau!
With 5 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, a ballroom and indoor and outdoor pools the 25,500 square meter mansion on 11 acre grounds is certainly an impressive home. However its buyer, Yuri Milner, who lives in Moscow with his wife and family, told the Wall Street Journal through a spokesperson that he has no intention of moving into his grand new acquisition.
49 year old Milner made his fortune with Digital Sky Technologies and well timed $200 million investment in Facebook 2 years ago, which is now worth $10 billion. Yuri Milner also invested in GroupOn.
Meanwhile, back in the real US world — where people still buy houses to live in them — house prices are still falling practically across the board, with the average house price in some major cities lower than it has been for 11 years.
by Overseas Property Mall on Friday, February 18th, 2011 in Billionaire Homes, Celebrities & Property
There has been a big fuss made because the founder of Google Larry Page bought a super yacht second hand but many say the decision should be applauded.
Larry Page is married with one child, and he has bought a 195 foot yacht with 10 bedrooms, a massive dining room, helipad, gym, and multi-level sun decks, including a deck with a cinema projector on an overhanging ceiling. This is more than enough space and entertainment for his small family and his friends so doesn’t the measured purchase simply indicate that he has more sense than money as oppose to the other way round?
Take the crew of 14 for a 195 foot yacht, if my maths are correct the 400+ foot yachts owned by Page’s competing tech-mogul billionaires will have crews of double that or more and their yachts cost upwards of 5 times the price.
Larry Page can therefore run his boat for ages before the purchase costs him as much as the larger yachts, and without even counting their running costs.
When the recession hit many Russian billionaires were forced to call of such purchases, and others to hold a fire sale of the assets they owned. If the tech bubble bursts were to burst it would surely trigger another recession, during this Larry Page will find it a lot easier to sell a 195 foot yacht for 20 million than others will find it to sell 400 foot yachts for 150 million.
On the other hand, these yachts are not usually bought to take the family out on a jaunt around the local sea. They are bought as a symbol of wealth and status. So, looking at it from this angle, Page is either trying to be the bigger man, to rise above such petty manhood measuring, subconsciously in fear that Google’s global dominance is not as secure as it once was, or his wealth and status is not as great as the likes of Paul Allen and Larry Ellison, who own yachts of 415ft and 454ft respectively, both costing over $200m.
Which is it? Does it matter? The Senses, formerly owned by New Zealand brewing heir Sir Douglas Meyer is a yacht that us mere mortals can only dream of owning.
by Overseas Property Mall on Tuesday, January 18th, 2011 in Billionaire Homes
It really had to happen didn’t it? Just a few months after the Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani unveiled the world’s first $1 billion private residence, a sky-scraping luxury tower in Mumbai, we now have the streets of Monaco set to sail the sea as the world’s first $1 billion dollar yacht.
by Overseas Property Mall on Monday, October 18th, 2010 in Billionaire Homes
The world’s most expensive home is complete. The $1 billion (£630 million), 27 storey tower block in Mumbai is the home of Mukesh Ambani — the richest man in India, fourth richest man in the world –, his wife and their 3 children. It is difficult to know what to call it. It is far too big and grand to call it a house, the fact that it has more floor space than the palace of Versailles and 600 staff would ordinarily make it a castle, or Mansion, but can you call a sky scraper a mansion?
by Overseas Property Mall on Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 in Billionaire Homes, United States Property
One thing that this global recession and accompanying housing crash has shown us is that the ultimate in prime property will hold its value, and in fact grow during such times.
We recently profiled the most expensive homes in the world, and compared it to a similar list we compiled in 2008. Not only did this show that the world’s most expensive homes were more expensive on the whole, but because several properties featured in the 2008 list were in the 2010 list with a higher price tag, it also showed that prime property prices had risen.
We will now feature the most expensive homes in the US, as some of these homes appeared on the global list for 2010, we will see what their value has done over the past few months.
The Manor is a 56,500 square foot English-style mansion set on 4.6 acres and owned by Aarron Spelling’s widow. The property features a library, gym, bowling alley, wine cellar, gift-wrapping room and media room. The grounds feature pools, gardens, a waterfall, and parking for over 100 cars.
The Manor was the 8th most expensive home in the world in April.
At 35,000 square feet, Fleur de Lys pales beside the Manor in terms of size. In terms of splendour however, few can match the 12 bedroom 15 bathroom mansion modelled on the Palace of Versailles. In terms of features, Fleur de Lys boasts a 50-seat screening room, as well as Italian marble and gold-embossed leather walls.
Fleur de Lys was the most expensive home in 2008 according to our list compiled in November.
Owned by Joel Horowitz, co-founder of the Tommy Hilfiger brand, Tranquility Estate is the ultimate in luxury, set in 210 acres of Lake Tahoe wilderness. The main-home is 20,000 square feet and includes a cigar lounge, art studio and gym, and a staircase that replicates the one on the Titanic. The grounds feature a golf course and boathouse.
Tranquility Estate has been on the market for four years, and was the fourth most expensive in 2008.
Among other things Kaiser Estate is rich in history, having once been home to industrialist Henry J. Kaiser. The property spans 5.5 acres, split into 3 oceanfront parcels with tropical landscaped gardens forming the grounds. The main-home is 15,000 square feet with beautiful views. The ground also feature a 12,000 square foot boathouse and a marina.
Humming Bird Nest Ranch is a gorgeous 123 acre estate featuring a 17,000 square foot Spanish-revival-style main home, ten townhouses, parking for 200 cars, a helicopter pad and a full equestrian facility.
This really is one of the most uniquely special properties on the list; a five storey, 21,000 square foot limestone townhouse in New York’s Upper East Side, with a trendy address near Fifth Avenue. The landmarked building, which was built in 1922 for Forstmann, a German merchant, has retained many of its original features, including the marble staircase and hand-carved mouldings.
The owner of Porcupine Creek is selling due to bankruptcy, making this one of the few distressed sales you will ever see in this price range. The property features a 25,000 square foot main home, pool, spa, grotto, gym and a 19-hole golf course that won acclaim from Golf Digest magazine. It went on the market in early 2010.
by liambailey on Saturday, April 10th, 2010 in Billionaire Homes
Back in 2008, we published 10 most expensive homes in the world – 2008, we thought it would be a good idea to have a 2010 update of the list and so you can see how they compare for yourself. Anyway, here we go:
The world’s most expensive home in 2010 is unquestionable. It is the first $1 billion home the world has seen. A custom-build 27 story towering mansion, Antilla in Mumbai is the home of the world’s fifth richest man, namely Mukesh Ambani, head of Indian petro-chemical giant Reliance Industries, which is India’s most valuable firm by market capitalization.
With double height ceilings, ballrooms, crystal chandelier ceilings, retractable stages, and 600 servants, there is no other home on earth that compares to the 570 feet tall Antilla.
Update: World’s Most Expensive House – Antilia (Mumbai) Lays Empty!
Villa Leopolda is an 80,000 square foot Chateuau built in 1902 by King Leopold II of Belgium. The villa has been rumoured to be the home of Bill Gates and many more global figures, but has actually been home to French banker Edmond Safira, whose wife Lily still lives there. The 19 bedroom villa, which boasts sports courts, a bowling alley, multiple kitchens, dining rooms and a movie theatre, received even more press lately when a Russian mogul lost his deposit on the property when he reneged on completing the sale.
This massively stylish modern penthouse may not be so expensive did it not sit atop the famous number 1 Hyde Park address. As it is in such a premium location it has been built as a home for the rich and famous complete with SAS guard, bullet proof windows, iris scanners, panic rooms and a secret tunnel to the nearby Mandarin Hotel. The building has communal spas, squash courts and wine tasting rooms, and the penthouse is served by 24 hour room service.
This 63 acre home is considered the largest residential compound in America. The 29 bedroom beachfront home of publicity shy billionaire Ira Rennert has 5 sports courts, a bowling alley and a $150,000 hot tub.
This mansion — the former home of publishing giant William Randolph Hearst, the inspiration for the main character in “Citizen Kane” –, features 29 bedrooms and three pools. The estate became a pop-culture icon after being used in The Godfather movie, when the infamous severed horse’s head turned up in the owner’s bed. The fact that assassinated President John F Kennedy stayed in the mansion during his honeymoon also added to its status. The house has some notable neighbours, including Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and David and Victoria Beckham
Anyone else spotting a trend here (the most expensive homes being mainly in the UK and US, this making it 2 all). This Victorian Villa was a girl’s prep school until 1997, when it was bought and upgraded in 2006. After receiving a £10 million overhaul and refurb it was purchased by Ukrainian AIDS philanthropist, Elena Franchuk, and renamed the Franchuk Villa.
This is the home of Time and Edra Blixseth, owners of the billionaires-only golf and ski resort “Yellowstone Club” in Montana. It will be the largest and grandest property on the resort, but is still small in comparison to some of those on this list, with only 10 bedrooms. To catch up the property has impressive features such as every inch of floor being heated, a heated driveway and fireplaces in all bathrooms. (3-2 to America).
The home of Aaron Spelling, dubbed “The Manor” by wife Cindy, has 123 rooms for his family to choose from, an indoor skating rink, multiple pools, three kitchens, sports courts, private orchard, and a bowling alley. The home, which he had built from scratch in 1991 also has a room used exclusively for wrapping presents and an entire floor dedicated to closet space.
The description of this home is above, as it was the 3rd most expensive home in 2008. What is interesting however, is that in 2008 it was valued at $110million, meaning its value has grown substantially even during such difficult financial times.
This home needs no introduction. Built in the 14th century, the castle is now a national monument and museum thanks to the legend surrounding it, which also needs no introduction. It has 57 rooms in total, including 17 bedrooms filled with antiques and historical artefacts. It wouldn’t do for the publicly shy Ira Rennert mentioned above, but for the quirkier billionaire, the 450 million tourists that visit every year may be worth it for living in Dracula’s castle.
by Overseas Property Mall on Friday, March 19th, 2010 in Billionaire Homes, French Property
In a story that perfectly encapsulates the changing fortunes of the world’s wealthiest in the past few years; Russian mogul Mikhail Prokhorov has just lost the 10% deposit he paid towards the purchase of Villa Leopolda, for $525 million from Lily Safra, socialite and widow of banker Edmond Safra.
Prokhorov’s offer was accepted in July 2008. At the time Safra’s camp had said that the villa wasn’t for sale but but Prokhorov’s offer was too rich to ignore. The deposit was paid into escrow the same month by Prokhorov’s holding company, and the sale was due to complete in December 2008.
by OP-Mall on Friday, May 1st, 2009 in Billionaire Homes, Holiday Property, Luxury Property, Travel, Turkish Property
Imagine a hotel with champagne that costs £36 a glass, offers remote controlled toilets (no kidding) when you go for your private business and is situated on one of the most remarkable coastlines of Europe – introducing the very expensive Mardan Palace on the Turkish coast of Antalya. Reminiscent of a European Dubai as the Times Online labelled the area, Antalya is fast becoming the latest tourist hub for sun starving tourists of northern regions.
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