A neighbor in my middle-class neighborhood of $200-$400,000 homes recently bought two adjacent houses and bridged them to create a 10,000-foot, $1+ million mansion. I thought he was nuts, until I read the New York Times article that suggests this is the best price point in today's market.
No one quibbles that selling a modestly-priced home in virtually any American market today is an exercise in despair. According to a report on NPR yesterday, the country is sitting on a one and a half year supply of new homes. And the numbers seem to be getting worse for some new home builders (see Eric Buscemi's post on the cancellation numbers at Ryland).
The ultra-expensive spreads, such as the $165 million Hearst estate Peter Cohan blogged about yesterday, are also struggling on the sales block. The 'tweeners, though, such as gentrified Boston homes, generous Manhattan flats, or Gold Coast condos, seem to be bucking the trend.
So maybe my neighbor has the right idea. Perhaps the multitude of house-flipping shows on cable television will be replaced with home mergers, turning two modest homes into one gargantuan (and sellable) property. If our society's income is stratifying, the new wealthy will need their estates, and the rest of us, our wattle huts.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-11-2007 @ 12:18PM
Michael Schneider said...
Legendary investor Jim Rogers has had his $15 million New York townhouse on the market. There is an original article about this house and some of the background behind it and Jim Rogers' unknown skill as a real estate investor in the Channeling Jim Rogers section (yellow label at top) at http://www.Barrelomoney.com. Also, you can find just posted items about his latest comments on the housing and subprime situations- he has been very accurate on housing, predicting the housing slide then the bounce in the fall and the slide again.
7-11-2007 @ 12:52PM
Robert Frank said...
Why would any savy investor rich enought to pay $1mm for a home buy two crappy homes bridged together in a middle class area?
This Blogger's point is pointless.
7-11-2007 @ 12:54PM
Tom Barlow said...
We're wondering the same thing.
7-11-2007 @ 2:04PM
joe said...
THIS ARTICLE SURPRISES NO ONE
7-17-2007 @ 2:10AM
Barbara said...
I would prefer to spend the @1,000,000 on ONE really nice house. It was anoy me to no end if the house wasn't consistant throughout...from the foundation to the roof. Maybe he or she doesn't have anything to and needs a HOBBY. Where is this person going to get a warrenty for their $1,000,000 house. There isn't one! they say, "To each his own." No matter how much cosmetics they've done, it still isn't a new house, only superficially.