Contact: Lee Miller at 936-674-5912 or by email at lmiller@msgpr.com

For Immediate Release

Record US Residential Sale Breaks $100 Million Mark

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.

“Currently I’m on track for another record sales year with over $24 million in property listed,” according to Robby Carson, Luxury Home Specialist and co-owner broker of Estes Park Realty.  “We’re extremely excited about the growth of the luxury market in Estes Park.”

“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,” said Laurie Moore-Moore, Founder of the Dallas-based Institute for Luxury Home Marketing. “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.”

“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,” said Moore-Moore. “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 locally is $7.5 million, said Carson.

 “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.

“Estes Park has been known for many years as a sleepy mountain town but has recently come to light as a thriving arts, entertainment and vacation destination of the affluent, “says Lee Miller of MSGPR. “Major custom luxury home builders have set up shop with prime property now on the market and fashionable downtown lofts are garnering major interest with the new construction featuring the riverwalk extension.”

Carson added, “We’re sure that with the discovery of Estes Park as a destination for the affluent that luxury home sales will continue.”

 About Estes Park Realty

Robby Carson with business partner Mike Christopher started Estes Park Realty last year after working together as a team at another local agency. With marketing partner Lee Miller of MSGPR, the team has put together an agency that has become the premier real estate brokers in the Estes Park Valley area.  Some of this success is due to competitive marketing fees, in-house marketing staff, extensive web presence and the only million-dollar guild broker listing in the Wall Street Journal website. 

 For more information, visit www.EstesParkRealty.com and www.EstesParkFineHomes.com or stop by the office at 343 S St Vrain Ave, Ste 1 (Hwy 7) 100 yards South of the Holiday Inn in Estes Park Colorado. 

About The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing

The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing works with residential real estate professionals around the world, providing education and training to assist them in delivering exceptional service to buyers and sellers of luxury homes and estates.  Institute members have completed specific training and have access to specialized tools to build expertise in marketing upper-tier properties.  Members who meet strict performance standards may earn the prestigious Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist designation.  Information about the CLHMS designation and an international list of members can be found at www.CLHMS.org, which is also accessible via The Wall Street Journal’s RealEstateJournal.com website.

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