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Mansion Global Daily: Spain Looks Strong, a Possible Vacancy Tax in Toronto, and More

Mansion Global’s daily round-up of the latest luxury real estate news from around the world

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Spain’s Prime Property Prices Expected to Continue Rising in 2017

As domestic demands improve, popular island and urban resorts have drawn more wealthy second-home buyers. Read More

BY THE NUMBERS

TRENDING TODAY

LISTING OF THE DAY

A Spacious London House With A Traditional Outside and Modern Amenities Inside

Close proximity to shopping, a leafy street location, and a personal spa are just some of the highlights of the newly built St. Luke’s House in Chelsea. And in an area where most houses share walls, this spacious standalone abode is a rarity. Read More

DESIGNER'S CORNER

Creating Luxurious Flooring For Every Room of Your Home

"Flooring is one of the most important components in a house, no matter the budget," said Los Angeles-based designerCortney Novogratz of The Novogratz. "You should pay more attention to it and put more of your budget toward flooring than most other things; you’ll get your money back in the resale value." Read More

NEWS BITES

Toronto’s Real Estate Board Warns Against Possible Vacancy Tax As Toronto officials mull the possibility of a vacancy tax to discourage pied-a-terres and empty properties, the Toronto Real Estate Board is urging the city to consider the move carefully before making any decisions, saying there’s not sufficient data to conclude that such a tax would actually increase the amount of available rental housing. The Ontario government has already taken cooling measures in Toronto this year, including a foreign buyer tax, and new penalties for vacant properties would follow similar rules imposed in Vancouver. BNN

James Franco Selling His Los Angeles Duplex for $949,000 After purchasing the property from "Mad Men" costume designer Janie Bryant for $775,000 in 2012, James Franco is looking to sell his Silver Lake duplex for $949,000. The Spanish-style 1923 property is rumored to have been commissioned by D.W. Griffith as a vacation home. Mr. Franco has run into some trouble with the property, after neighbors complained he was using the home as a de facto production studio and staging film shoots on-site. Curbed Los Angeles

Seattle Home Prices Are Rising Nearly Twice as Fast as Other U.S. Cities Seattle’s booming real estate market has widened its lead on other U.S. cities, with single-family home prices rising 13.5% between July 2016 and July 2017, per the latest Case-Shiller home-price index. Portland had the second highest growth rate, at 7.6%, and nationwide, prices rose 5.9%, their fastest pace in a couple of years. This marks the 11th straight month that Seattle’s growth has outpaced any other U.S. market, and all told, costs in the city have risen 79% since a low in 2012. Seattle Times

New Price Caps in China’s Smaller Cities Mean Prices Aren’t Likely to Rebound Soon After recent market-cooling measures targeting major cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, Chinese officials are focusing their attentions on ensuring that speculators don’t create bubbles in smaller cities, and have introduced a raft of restrictions such as higher down payments, increased interest rates, and in many cases, a requirement that new homebuyers wait anywhere from two to five years before re-selling. Eight cities—Chongqing, Nanning, Nanchang, Changsha, Xian, Wuhan, Shijiazhuang, and Guiyang—rolled out measures last week, and while prices have increased in these areas, experts say they haven’t risen so much as to indicate a bubble. South China Morning Post

New Stamp Duty Rules Are Bringing Australia’s First-Time Buyers Back to the Market Since the imposition of new property tax concessions, first-time buyers are returning to the market in Australia, and data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows first-time buyer rates in New South Wales at their highest level since 2012, and in Victoria, their highest level since 2013. On the flip side, new government restrictions and taxes have also led to a 3.9% decline in investor lending. PropertyWire

Expats Eager to Buy in New York and San Francisco, More Hesitant in Dubai HSBC has done a deep dive into the property-buying habits of expats around the globe, 62% of whom own property somewhere in the world, and 9% of whom own in both their home country and adopted nation. Among other things, the data shows that expat ownership rates vary significantly by city, and though they’re more likely to own where prices are relatively low (such as in Toronto and Sydney), price isn’t everything. In spite of its comparatively low prices, only 16% of Dubai’s expats buy property, likely due to the city’s somewhat volatile market. In both New York and San Francisco, expats are as likely to buy as residents, while British expats often choose not to return to their home country, instead opting to purchase and retire in locales such as France or Tuscany. Financial Times

AROUND NEWS CORP

Massive Fort Worth Ranch Asks $95 Million [The Wall Street Journal]

Move Over, Millennials—Generation Z Can Hardly Wait to Start Buying Homes [MarketWatch]

Penthouses Turn Downsizers' Heads [news.com.au]

Who Draws Up the Purchase Agreement for a Home That Is For Sale by Owner? [Realtor.com]

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