Copper Beach, Connecticut: One of the most expensive homes sold last year (Source: Christie's International Real Estate)
The most expensive property sold in London last year could have bought 131 “average” priced properties, a new report shows.
The top selling home was a property that went for $98m, according to an annual white paper put out by Christie's International Real Estate.
But London was not the city with the most disproportionate sale, the research shows. That honour fell to Hong Kong, where a home was bought for $104m, equivalent to 202 average-priced properties in the former colony.
(Source: Christie's International Real Estate)
This “trophy property” was the fourth highest price home to be sold last year. Topping the list was a beachfront estate on Further Lane in East Hampton, US, which sold for $147m. Homes in Cote d'Azur, Connecticut and New York completed the top five – but London didn't get a look in.
Christie's said: “Buoyed by the global economic recovery and soaring stock market prices, the ultra-high end of the real estate market established new benchmarks for price in 2014, as five properties around the world changed hands for more than $100m.
(Source: Christie's International Real Estate)
“This stratospheric figure certainly isn’t the norm, even in markets with a reputation for expensive homes. But the increasing number of properties that are listed for sale and, more importantly, sell for more than that milestone amount, has set the bar higher in the game of trophy real estate.
Although London didn't make the grade last year it is a card-carrying member of the $100m club, with properties selling for $101.5m in 2013, $121.2m in 2012 and a whopping $221m in 2011.
The high end estate agent predicts that Los Angeles could be next to reach the $100m mark, with several properties have entered the $90m.
“Clearly the question for Los Angeles is not 'if' but 'when.',” Christie's said.