LAHAINA, MAUI - HALLOWEEN IS BACK ON FRONT STREET

Halloween is "Back on Front" and festivities kick off at 4:30pm with the 33rd Annual Lahaina Halloween Keiki parade sponsored by the Soroptimist of West Maui, Rotary Clubs of Lahaina and Lahaina Sunrise. Is your costume ready yet for Halloween in Lahaina? Following the Keiki Parade, join us for Halloween in Lahaina in Campbell and Banyan Tree Park for live music featuring Eighteen Ten and the Sounds of Addiction in addition to keiki activities and the Honu Seafood & Pizza sponsored Halloween in Lahaina costume contest with a thousand dollar grand prize. "Back on Front" t-shirts and ono grindz will be available for purchase. The County of Maui and LahainaTown Action Committee support a fun and safe, family friendly Halloween in Lahaina event. Join us on Front Street for Halloween in Lahaina and respectfully enjoy the richness of our streets and historical sites. Mahalo to the Maui Police and Fire Departments. For Halloween in Lahaina, Front Street will be closed from three thirty to midnight for Halloween in Lahaina.  Read more...

Flying Ridge—A 33-acre Estate Featuring Its Own Private Airstrip

Flying Ridge is a 33 acre estate in Newtown, Connecticut, located approximately 80 miles outside of New York City by car. However, one of the property’s most salient features is that it has its own airstrip, the only private airstrip in Fairfield County, Connecticut, grandfathered into the property by the fact that it was registered in the 1940s, before permits were prohibited for such a thing. Because of this, as this video demonstrates, it offers its owner a unique way to bridge the gap between a rustic and quiet Connecticut home and the energy and buzz of Manhattan’s Wall Street.

The fact is, Flying Ridge is just 49 nautical miles from the Wall Street Heliport, and the travel time by helicopter can be done in as little as 22 minutes. As demonstrated by the clip, the view, certainly at takeoff, also offers a breathtaking way to start every morning.

The home, on the market with exclusive Affiliate Barbara Cleary’s Realty Guild, offers an ideal country life in bucolic Connecticut. Newtown is an unspoiled, charming community with excellent services and schools. Flying Ridge itself sits atop a ridge, with farmlands to its east and wetlands to its west.

The property’s provenance is also quite unique. It is owned by the family of the late Robert Edison Fulton, Jr., an inventor, adventurer, and pilot who made several aviation-related inventions on the property, among his 70 patents. His aviation-advances included the "Gunairstructor,” the world’s first fixed-aerial gunnery trainer, used to train allied fighter pilots in aerial combat during World War II, an invention credited with improving their scores by over 400%. After the war, he designed and built the “Airphibian,” an airplane that converted into an automobile. While not a commercial success, it was the first flying car ever to receive an air worthiness certification from the FAA, was flown by Charles Lindbergh in 1950, and is now on permanent display at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center. He subsequently developed, on the property, during the 1950s and 1960s, the Fulton “Skyhook” Surface-To-Air Rescue (“Star”) System, used by the U.S. military to retrieve downed pilots from remote areas, without landing the pick-up airplane.

Mr. Fulton also is famous for his 18-month solo journey around the world on a motorcycle in the early 1930s—an adventure he chronicled in his 1937 best-selling book, “One Man Caravan.”

For more information on this property, please contact Barbara Cleary’s Realty Guild at +1 203 966 7772.

Kapalua, Maui - XTERRA World Championship 2011

Congratulation to Michi (Wiki Miki) Weiss from Austria and Marvin Gruget from France! What a race it was! The weather was absolutely perfect and the Ritz Carlton setting, simply gorgeous.  Kapalua will never be the same.

XTERRA World Championship invades Kapalua

Kapalua, Maui - 650 qualified participants will demonstrate their skills this coming Sunday on the Kahuna's XTERRA World course. Check the XTERRA website here to preview the course. I knew that Lance Armstrong was a celebrity on the road, but seeing him here on Maui to run the famous triathlon is just amazing. Watch a short preview of the bike course.

Long & Foster Real Estate Lists US$12 million Estate in Washington, D.C.

Located near Embassy Row, the property ranks as second-highest priced in the city

Long & Foster^® Real Estate, Inc., the largest independent residential real estate company in the United States and an exclusive Affiliate of Christie's International Real Estate, today announced it has, as part of its extensive number of current listings, the second-highest priced property in Washington, D.C. The property, located in the Massachusetts Heights area in Northwest Washington, is listed by Samu Qureshi, a sales associate with W.C. & A.N. Miller Realtors^®, a Long & Foster Company.

In July, Long & Foster sold Washington’s most expensive property, Evermay, which was listed at $25.9 million. The Evermay estate was enrolled in the Christie's International Real Estate Bespoke Marketing Program.  

“We are very excited about this latest listing. To represent two of the highest-priced properties in one market area is reflective of our position as the number one seller of luxury properties in the Mid-Atlantic region, and of our exclusive affiliation with Christie’s International Real Estate,” said Gary Scott, president of Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc.

“Sellers and buyers of high-end properties are increasingly recognizing the power of the global spotlight Long & Foster, with its affiliations, provides to properties such as these, as well as the value of the luxury homeownership experience we offer them,” added Scott.

According to Qureshi, this extraordinary home exudes warmth and comfort, but it also offers a majestic setting replete with opulent spaces and a fantastic flow, ideal for hosting large or small events both indoors and out. It features a state-of-the-art gourmet kitchen with a butler pantry, as well as a second main-level catering kitchen with a separate entrance.

The three-level hexagonal tower offers private hideaways and look-outs, as well as a view of one of the largest and most mature cherry blossom trees in Washington. Located on Benton Place, N.W., notable properties in the small neighborhood include the Washington National Cathedral and Observatory Circle, residence of the U.S. vice president. The home is just one of four located on a street that is a quiet oasis just a block off Massachusetts Avenue, and sits next to the former home of the late book tycoon, Herbert Haft, and a stone throw from the woods of Rock Creek Park.

“The property was originally two houses, built in 1918, on quarter acre lots. In 2001, they were joined together seamlessly by nationally-recognized builders Escobar & Robb,” said Qureshi. “Virtually the entire interior was rebuilt, resulting in a palatial estate reminiscent of a grand Mediterranean villa. It truly is one of the most magnificent homes in Washington,” he added.

The home’s main level features two one-bedroom suites, one of which has access to the second kitchen and lower tower breakfast room. The upper level has a total of six bedrooms, including the ultimate master suite comprised of two bedrooms, two lavish baths, a sitting room and three walk-in closets. The home also features 10 full baths and three half baths.

A stunning two-story grand foyer features a one-of-a-kind custom-built S-shaped staircase, polished marble floors and two chandeliers with motorized light lifts for cleaning. A magnificent living room features glass-covered, lighted arched display niches, elegant sconces and silk damask roman fabric window treatments with fringed valences.

The family room includes huge hand-hewn wooden ceiling beams, upholstered beaded cornices with a Moroccan flair, motorized drapes, and a custom designed cast stone mantle over the fireplace.  In addition, the family room offers magnificent views of the estate. Beyond the galleria, the custom-designed library contains  floor-to-ceiling hand-crafted maple built-in bookcases.

Outside, the property features a pool surrounded by a large patio area, a fountain and landscaped gardens. A self-enclosed pool house includes a full bath, a separate changing room, and a full sized refrigerator, sink, counters and cabinets.

In addition, slate steps leading to the front entrance are heated to prevent ice or snow accumulation in the winter months, and an elevator from the four-car garage transports residents to the main floor and on to the upper level entrance of the double master suite.

“This really is one of the most beautiful homes in Washington, D.C., cloistered amidst the splendor of Rock Creek Park and just five minutes from downtown and the White House,” said Qureshi. “With a price well below its assessed value, it is also an attractive investment,” he added.

Vintage Estates Realty Opens New Office In Myrtle Beach

The boutique firm is the exclusive Affiliate in South Carolina's coastal communities of Pawleys Island, Georgetown, and Myrtle Beach

 

South Carolina’s premier tourist destination, the picturesque Myrtle Beach, is home to Vintage Estates Realty’s newest office, which opened last month. The boutique office opened with six well-respected local realtors and is led by Don Thomas, a Director on the 2012 Coastal Carolina Association of Realtors Board of Directors. Thomas is the Broker-in-Charge for both of the firm’s offices.

An exclusive Affiliate since 2008, Vintage Estates Realty is now able to offer buyers and sellers of high-end properties in the Myrtle Beach community access to the combined marketing efforts of Christie’s and Christie’s International Real Estate.

"From the beginning our affiliation with Christie's has produced great results and helped propel our company into the forefront in the luxury real estate market in this coastal area of South Carolina,” says Chuck Cooper, well-respected community leader and businessman in the Pawleys Island area and principal of both Vintage Estates Realty offices. “Now with two boutique offices in the area, we are poised for even greater success and can provide more comprehensive service to our clients. It's important to get the word out to other affiliates that Myrtle Beach and Pawleys Island offer some most beautiful and highest-quality properties for vacation and second homes anywhere in the world."

Adds Keith Hellmer, invited principal in the Myrtle Beach office: "Vintage Estates Realty is thrilled to bring Christie's International Real Estate Estate into the coastal South Carolina marketplace, serving Myrtle Beach and Pawleys Island along with the rest of the Grand Strand. A wealth of residential and commercial properties is available and offers an incredible opportunity to purchase real estate with truly phenomenal values. The Grand Strand features 60 miles of coastline in a temperate, semitropical climate and offers a variety of lifestyle opportunities that include primary and second homes along the oceanfront and creek-front environs, golf course communities, marina-front properties, hunting tracts and large farms, plantations, and riverfront estates... Let us show you the charm of these fine coastal communities, this place, and our famed Southern hospitality."

Widely known for its beautiful beaches, challenging golf links, and world-class seafood restaurants, Myrtle Beach is often referred to as the “Grand Strand” and offers a range of luxury oceanfront homes, classic Southern estates, and golf course properties. One of the most talked-about homes in the heart of the Grand Strand is the magnificent Ocean Estate, which has recently been listed by Vintage Estates Realty’s new Myrtle Beach office. Offered for sale at US$4.495 million, the five-acre property enjoys over 1,000 feet of unobstructed ocean views and is Vintage Estate Realty’s first property to be enrolled in the Christie’s International Real Estate Bespoke Marketing Program.

Sales of Atlanta Luxury Homes Jump in 2011 as Inventory Shrinks

Buckhead-area dollar sales of all homes priced $1 million and above are up 62.4% in the first eight months of 2011 compared to the same period last year, reports exclusive Affiliate Harry Norman, Realtors in Atlanta, Georgia. And unit sales of those luxury properties are up 41.2% for the period, according to TrendGraphix, the real estate industry’s data tracking resource. 

Total sales of such Buckhead homes totaled nearly $486 million from January through August 2011 vs. $299 million in 2010.

In the six-county metro Atlanta area (Cherokee, Cobb, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton and Gwinnett counties combined), 2011 sales of $1 million-plus homes are up 19.4% over January through August 2010 and unit sales are up 9.2%.

Moreover, inventory rates of luxury properties are down 34.2% in Buckhead and 29.8% in the six-county area for January through August 2011 vs. 2010. In August, there were 177 $1 million-plus homes for sale in Buckhead vs. 273 last August. The six-county metro area had 243 such homes listed this August vs. 346 a year earlier.

“The increase in luxury home sales in Atlanta and especially in Buckhead, reflects a global strengthening of the high-end market,” states Harry Norman Realtors CEO Dan Parmer, who weighed in on the Atlanta market for Christie’s International Real Estate’s new “State of the International Luxury Real Estate Market” report issued in London in September.

In the report, based on a survey of 129 Christie’s-affiliated brokerages worldwide, 67% of the luxury-property brokers reported an increase in buyer activity for the first eight months of 2011 compared to 2010.

“The improvement in Atlanta’s luxury real estate market is substantial,” states Parmer. As sellers increasingly realize that their home will not command 2007 prices, home prices are adjusting and sales are increasing. The price adjustments are spurring buyers to act, with many seizing the opportunity to buy up. And in this market, building a new luxury home isn’t a viable option for most people. “You can’t build an estate at the price you can acquire one today,” says Parmer.

“The decrease in Atlanta high-end inventory signals pricing stabilization,” explains Parmer. In Buckhead, the August 2011 inventory of closed sales of $1 million-plus properties stood at 12.5 months, compared to 36.6 months in August 2010. In the six-county area, that luxury inventory has dropped to 31.5 months compared to 45.6 months a year earlier.

The high-end market is coming back faster than the low or middle end,” states Parmer. In Buckhead and North Fulton-Forsyth, for example, “we’re finding pockets where a particular price point is doing so well that we’re running out of inventory.”

Through August 2011, the average price of a Buckhead-area luxury home was $1.84 million vs. $1.59 million in 2010, January through August. The most expensive home sale in Buckhead in the past two years closed in August for $9 million. The home listed for $12 million in 2009 and then for $10 million.

Worldwide, Christie’s reported that the largest upticks in high-end sales were in London, Paris, Hong Kong, New York City and Beverly Hills, CA. One surprise is the continuing strong recovery of Florida.

“Our market is edging close to normalcy,” says Michael Saunders of Michael Saunders & Company in Sarasota, Florida. “Ours was among the first to feel the downturn, the first to take the corrective measure of lowering prices and now is among the first to enjoy a sustained recovery. Buyers who arrive today expecting to find a glut of properties to choose from will be shocked to discover a growing shortage of well-priced, well-maintained properties that are in move-in condition.”

"I honestly don’t know how an international buyer in Florida can’t be optimistic,” says Ron Shuffield of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell in Miami. “Prices are the lowest they’ve been in four years; then, on top of that, they are essentially being awarded an extra 30 percent-off coupon with the currency exchange rate.”

The State of Luxury Market report examines the prevailing mood of buyers and sellers, how market activity is trending worldwide, and how transactions are handled in the upper levels of the market. For example, when it comes to buying, the preferred means of payment is cash, said 87 percent of brokers. In Atlanta, most high-end real estate purchases are financed, but the use of cash is increasing.

“High-end buyers have the cash and with interest rates at historic lows and mortgages more difficult to obtain, many are opting to put their own assets into real estate,” says Parmer. At his firm, the percentage of buyers using cash has jumped from 10.5% in 2007 to 25% this year.

Harry Norman, Atlanta's oldest real estate firm, continues to lead Buckhead and metropolitan Atlanta in sales of homes priced $1 million and above, with 26.3% of the Buckhead luxury home market sales through August in 2011 and 24.8% of metro Atlanta sales.

Spanning more than 40 countries with a combined estimated annual sales volume of $100 billion, Christie’s International Real Estate focuses exclusively on properties valued above $1 million.