UNITED STATES
The average interest rate for 30-year jumbo loan mortgages balances increased to 4.21%, its highest level since October 2014, from 4.14%. Read the full report. [Mortgage Bankers Association] A new report from Real Estate brokerage Douglas Elliman finds that Manhattan home prices have hit a historic high in the second quarter of 2015. In a 11.4% jump from the same period last year, buyers now pay, on average, $1.8 million to purchase an apartment on the island, the highest such price since Elliman began tracking figures in 1989. [New York Post] Take a tour of the late Joan Rivers’ Upper East Side Manhattan apartment, which recently sold for $28 million after 140 days on the market. [Business Insider] Windy City brokers Rich Neal and Rachel Krueger offer a primer on how to navigate Chicago’s “tricky” luxury real estate market. [Michigan Avenue Magazine] U.S.-based real estate firm plumBid will launch an online auction for luxury properties using the “descending Dutch bidding methodology,” instead of the standard ascending auction format. The first property to be auctioned will be a 1920s Beverly Hills home; it which will start with a $11.5 million pre-emptive asking price. [OPP.Today] Tennis star Venus Williams has sold her Bel Air estate for $6.85 million; she originally bought from director Joel Schumacher in 2009 for $5.3 million. The property, of course, comes with a lighted tennis court. [Latin Post]
EUROPE
A fortress-turned-villa designed by famed Renaissance artist and inventor Leonardo Da Vinci is on the market in Livorno, Italy and is expected to sell for between $5.6 million and $11.2 million. [Arabian Business] According to a new report from HM Revenue & Customs, the number of £1 million plus+ ($US1.5 million) homes sold in Britain hit a record high in 2014 with more than 19,000 transactions, up from 15,000 in 2013. [Financial Times]More: A Guide to Large Mortgages in the U.K.
MIDDLE EAST
An unnamed British businessman has purchased a custom designed villa, called M State, on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah for $19 million, setting a record high sales price for villas in the emirate. [Yahoo! News] The Dubai Land Department reports that property sales in the emirate reached Dh24 billion (US$6.5 billion) for the first quarter of 2015. [The National]
ASIA
Bollywood stars are finding enriching returns by investing in Mumbai’s luxury real estate market. [The Times of India] Demand for studio apartments-- still a novelty in China-- is growing in China’s major developed cities as the price of real estate continues to trend upward. [South China Morning Post] Analysts at CBRE Vietnam predict that new rules aimed at leveling the playing field for foreign real estate investors in the nation will not have a large market impact until the second half of 2015 or early 2016, as potential buyers will wait to see if the property market is sustainable. [Thanh Nien News] According to reports from Japan’s National Tax Agency, a block in Tokyo’s Ginza district saw its value rise 14% to $21,000 per square foot, the highest valuation for any plot of land in the country since 1993. [South China Morning Post]
AUSTRALIA
With reports that prices in Sydney and Melbourne may begin to fall in 2016-17, Australian investors are turning their attention to the Gold and Sunshine coasts and Brisbane. [Australian Financial Review] But Sydney property values haven’t fallen yet, with newly released CoreLogic data showing that values are up 16.2% for the year to June 30. [Domain]
RELATED: Apartment Sales on the Rise in Australia
CARRIBEAN
The Cayman Compass compares the benefits of high-end homes to high-end condos and finds, as the old adage goes, location is everything. [Cayman Compass]
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