'$50 million is the new $30 million'

A 2007 Mid-Year Luxury Report by Stribling Private Brokerage states that a rumor of a $30 million sale in the Manhattan real estate market "used to fly through the industry like hot news," though after the sale of a $53 million property in late 2006 "we have seen one-of-a-kind trophy properties leap from the $30 millions into the $50 millions, almost bypassing the $40 millions."

Even so, the highest sale price for a Manhattan co-op in the first six months of 2007 was $37.5 million, compared to $31.5 million during the first six months of 2006. There were 69 co-op sales over $5 million in the first half of 2007, compared to 83 in the first half of 2006. Also,  the highest sale price for a Manhattan town house was $33.2 million in the first half of 2007, compared to $40 million in the first half of 2006, according to the Stribling report.

At the other side of the country, the San Francisco Daily newspaper reported this month that a $55 million home in the Pacific Heights neighborhood is dubbed "a fixer" by its broker. The property "doesn't have a renovated kitchen or updated fixtures in the seven and a half bathrooms," and both "the heating and plumbing systems are original to the 1927 structure," according to the newspaper.

All rights reserved. This content may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this content without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.