Manhattan Still Attracts Global Buyers

Manhattan Towers

Manhattan properties are still enticing foreign buyers, according to The Corcoran Group of New York City.
"We thought our foreign buyers would flee, but they haven't as yet," Pamela Liebman, president and CEO of The Corcoran Group told a Reuters Global Real Estate and Infrastructure Summit in New York.
The next four to eight weeks will reveal whether the euro zone market chaos that recently swept the single currency to a 4-year low will eat away at foreign demand for Manhattan properties, she said.

The mix of foreign buyers has already shifted over the past two years.
Italians, South Americans, Southeast Asians, Chinese and Russians are in. The Irish and Koreans are out.

Foreign buyers are looking for a safe and secure place to put their money, and they are finding that in the best-known U.S. addresses, Jay Koster, president of Americas Capital Markets for Jones Lang LaSalle, told Reuters.
The current buyers are typically wealthy and looking to buy for families for the long term rather than to flip.

Empire State Building, New York

Corcoran recently closed an $8 million condo sale in the Trump International building, with Central Park views, for a South American family, Liebman said.

What's gone, Liebman said, are brokers representing Irish, South American or Korean investors in purchases of multiple units, at times entire buildings.

Traffic at Manhattan Street

While the demand is still there, the supply isn't always sufficient.
Koster said foreigners are willing to stretch their limits for the sake of getting sought-after addressees.
U.S. mortgage rates have also fallen anew, with 30-year loans averaging near 4-3/4 percent, thanks to the euro zone turbulence. The flight to safety into U.S. Treasuries has pulled down yields used to peg home loan rates, boosting affordability here.

Winds Of Change In Syrian Capital Damascus' Trade Market

MAG 360 Global Trade Centre, Damascus

The winds of change are sweeping over Damascus... into the vibrant, ancient streets of Damascus - Dar'a International Road.

They bring with them a grand vision for doing business... one that will infuse the celebrated metropolis with unlimited possibility.

Early in the first millennium, Damascus established itself as a major trading crossroads of the world. Here, in this bustling "caravan city," the ancient trade routes branching from Arabia, Palmyra, and Petra converged with China's legendary Silk Road, bringing prosperity and renown to the city and all of Syria.

Azem Palace, Damascus

Now, the city of Damascus stands poised to reclaim its title as a global crossroads with the introduction of MAG 360 Global Trade Centre, Damascus. Rising impressively over Damascus, adjacent Dar'a International Road south of the city, MAG 360 fulfills a grand vision for doing business while infusing the historic metropolis with exciting new opportunities, innovative new ideas and unlimited possibilities.

Introducing MAG 360, a groundbreaking "business 2 business" concept, where cool, urban energy is delicately balanced by cutting edge technology.

Omayyed Mosque, Damascus

Situated on a 104,000 square meter site in a light industrial zone along Damascus - Dar'a International Road, MAG 360 stands out like an oasis in the desert, sparkling with promise and opportunities. The site's relationship to the street serves as more than an access and circulation solution; in fact, the streetscape plan is a key element of MAG 360's innovative character, separating vehicular traffic from pedestrian circulation while incorporating landscape and hardscape features expertly configured to evoke a unique sense of place.

Miami's Fontainebleau Sorrento Sells Last 25 Condos for Fire-Sale Price of $7.2 Million

Fontainebleau Sorrento, Miami Beach

Without fanfare or hype, the last 25 luxury condos at the 18-story, 311-unit, two-year-old Fontainebleau Sorrento in Miami Beach have been sold for $7.2 million or a bargain-basement price of $288,000 per unit.

The developer, Turnberry Associates of Aventura, FL, sold the property at 4391 Collins Ave. to BH III, the current owner of the 116-unit Terra Beachside at 6000 Collins Ave., also in Miami Beach. It was an all-cash deal.

When constructed in 2008, the Fontainebleau Sorrento condos were listed at $269,000 to $7.9 million per unit. The units range from 550 square feet to 1,742 square feet.

Mark Pordes of Pordes Residential Sales & Marketing in Aventura brokered the transaction.

"There was no public bidding and no negative publicity," Pordes says in a prepared statement.

"We position each transaction so that the purchased units won't compete with the ones that may still be for sale by the developer. It's complicated, but we make it work."

Pordes says the latest sale is a follow-up to a 25-unit bulk sale at the Fontainebleau Sorrento in August 2009 to a private investor group from New York for roughly $8 million or about $320,000 per condo.

"Bulk sales are working in this market because they provide developers/sellers with a quick cash solution and buyers with an excellent investment opportunity," says Pordes

"These deals will stay popular as long as lenders are in control of projects. Developers need to have certain thresholds met to conform with loan requirements and pay down their debt."

In June of this year, Pordes Residential negotiated the largest condominium bulk sale of the year in Florida -- 146 units at the 2700 North Ocean condominium towers on Singer Island in Palm Beach County for about $120 million to an investor group from New York.

That equates to another bargain-basement price of about $82,000 per unit.

"The smart thing for a developer to do now," says Pordes, "is to raise quick cash through a bulk sale to pay down or pay off debt to the lenders."

As with other deals, the Fontainebleau sale was handled quietly to protect the global reputation of the Miami Beach resort-hotel and its associated properties.
Pordes and his team took the same approach when they assembled a package sale of units for $7.5 million at Peninsula II in Aventura to a group of Argentinean investors in December 2009.

Pordes started his company after working for 10 years as vice president of Residential Sales for Turnberry Ltd., an Avenutra-based condo developer.

He oversaw Turnberry's portfolio in South Florida and the Bahamas including The Reef at Atlantis in Paradise Island, a condo-hotel, condo hotels Fontainebleau II and Fontainebleau III in Miami Beach, Turnberry Village, and Porto Vita in Aventura.

Pordes also handled international sales at Williams Island, and sales at Santa Maria on Brickell Avenue in Downtown Miami.

The firm's management team includes Michael Internoscia, vice president of sales, Michael Sadov, vice president of operations, and Mindy Pordes, director of business development.