Sotheby’s International Realty Announces 2023 Brand Stats
Sotheby’s International Realty Releases Luxury Outlook 2024
After the past few years’ frenzied market, the market is hitting more of a buyer-seller equilibrium, with inventory levels moving up ever so slightly, buyers getting used to a new normal of interest rates, prices generally holding steady, and high-end home seekers expanding their reaches to more parts of the globe.
There are lots of changes happening, and the report explores them in depth—everything from the newest tech tools currently disrupting the real estate market, from artificial intelligence to smart-home technology, to pinpointing the parts of the world where tax incentives are increasingly enticing wealthy citizens.
Luxury Outlook 2024 also looks at the growing importance of sustainability and climate resilience to home builders and buyers, how hybrid work has shifted the world’s real estate needs, and how provenance can help homes sell.
This is a difficult time when it comes to geopolitical challenges, with several conflicts raging around the world at once. That makes it difficult to predict what the future will bring, and whether an intensification of conflict could affect financial markets.
For now, there continues to be economic uncertainty into 2024, despite some sporadic positive news. In the U.S., for one, economic growth accelerated in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the Commerce Department.
While many experts are torn about the effects the conflicts are likely to have from a financial perspective, many market watchers predict an overall positive 2024 for the real estate market. As Sotheby’s International Realty CEO Philip A. White Jr. points out in his interview, Freddie Mac is forecasting prices rising by 0.8% between August 2023 and August 2024, followed by another 0.9% gain in the following 12 months, pointing to “tremendous” demand for houses relative to supply, continuing “to keep upward pressure on prices.”
For now, at least, most of the worries about the real estate market stalling due to rising interest rates haven’t come to fruition, with demand strong, as people move both because they’re going through major life events—such as new children and new jobs—or simply because they want to upgrade their homes and, with it, their lifestyle.
Speaking of the lifestyle factor, as always, we explore the high-end purchases people are making outside the real estate realm, including art, collectibles, and more.
Luxury buyers and sellers want to spend wisely, and staying well-informed is just the way to do it.
Read the Luxury Outlook 2024 by clicking here.
Wine: Witnessing Steady Growth Since the Pandemic, Champagne Sales Continue to Pop
SPARKLING JOY
Champagne moves in such exalted circles—glamorous parties, society weddings, Grand Prix podiums—that it is easy to forget that it is actually a wine. And, like every wine with the potential to age, it is much in demand both from collectors and investors, and never more than now. Over the past two years, leading cuvées have soared in value: 1992 Krug Clos du Mesnil has jumped 92% from £1,176 a bottle to £2,260, 2008 Louis Roederer Cristal by 68% from £167 to £281 and the 2007 vintage of the prestigious growers’ champagnes, Pierre Péters, has leaped from £125 a bottle to £282, up 126%.*
Richard Young, vice president, senior specialist, wine for Sotheby’s, explains that interest in champagne has been increasing since the start of the pandemic. Despite champagne’s production levels being at their highest, even for many of the most prestigious cuvées, Young identifies two main factors that led to the hike in prices. “Emerging markets have pushed up global demand, while market leaders—Dom Pérignon, Krug, Louis Roederer Cristal, and some of the best growers’ champagnes—have tightened allocations, driving prices up and fuelling speculation from both trade buyers and collectors.”
The temptations for investors are obvious: Young also credits “a string of outstanding vintages—2002, 2008, 2012—that have strongly encouraged speculation. And it’s interesting to note that collectors now desire champagne in their cellars just as much as fine burgundy or bordeaux.” And champagne, he thinks, is promoting and marketing itself “very successfully to a younger, more diverse and affluent clientele”.
And what of the future? Can champagne sustain the growth levels of the past few years? Young feels that champagnes that have been allowed to age and those with a smaller production will do best. The fizzing interest in champagne is unlikely to slow down anytime soon.
The three main grapes for champagne are chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier
THREE 2008 VINTAGE BOTTLES TO BUY NOW
Salon, Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs Brut 2008 (magnum/1.5L), $5,635
Unusually for Salon, this cream of the Mesnil crop was only bottled in magnums in 2008: a mere 8,000 of them, so demand certainly outstrips supply for this magnificently concentrated and complex wine.
Jacques Selosse Extra Brut Millésime 2008 (750ml), $4,295
There is something almost burgundian about the texture and power of Selosse’s champagne—it is vinified in old barrels from Domaine Leflaive —and the hauntingly herbal, lemon-scented 2008 is a fine example from a great vintage.
Louis Roederer Cristal 2008 (magnum/1.5L), $1,295
60% pinot noir and 40% chardonnay, from the vintage in which Roederer first used biodynamically grown grapes (40% of them): stunningly rich and opulent champagne that will easily last another decade.
All available at sothebyswine.com
*Data from Liv-Ex. Photos: John Heseltine/Alamy Stock Photo
Sotheby’s Launches New You Tube Channel Trailer
Welcome to Sotheby’s YouTube, where we bring you inside the world’s premier auction house for art and luxury. Hear from our world-renown specialists, experts in their fields, and watch the bidding action live from the auction room. We’ll take you behind the scenes in artist studios and into the living rooms of some of the greatest collectors around the world.
Sotheby’s Expands in Georgia and Michigan
Sotheby’s International Realty announced its expanding presence in the state of Georgia with the opening of Mountain Sotheby’s International Realty in Blue Ridge. The addition marks the Sotheby’s International Realty brand’s eighth affiliated office in the state.
The office is owned by David Boehmig, president and CEO, and Jenny Pruitt, executive chairman, of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty. The new location will be led by Lisa Johnson, executive vice president and managing broker, and will service the entire North Georgia mountain market. Johnson possesses 25 years of experience in residential real estate and maintains numerous leadership roles within the state of Georgia’s leading real estate association.
“Blue Ridge is considered the jewel of North Georgia,” said Philip White, president and CEO, Sotheby’s International Realty. “The market began developing years ago among retirees and second homeowners but became more popular for buyers looking for large outdoor space. The area also offers affordability compared to the surrounding areas and is within driving distance to Atlanta. The addition of the Blue Ridge office allows the company to further service their clients and I am thrilled to support their continued growth.”
“Given the demand we are seeing for homes in the North Georgia area, it made sense for us to expand to better support this growing market,” said Boehmig. “While the availability of mountain and lakefront homes are highly competitive, our company is able to provide on-the-ground knowledge, a white-glove level of service, and international marketing opportunities through our affiliation with Sotheby’s International Realty.”
Mountain Sotheby’s International Realty will have several agents supporting the new office who bring an extensive familiarity of the North Georgian market.
Sotheby’s International Realty also announced the opening of Great Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty, signifying the brand’s continued growth in the state of Michigan. The addition marks the brand’s seventh office in the state.
Great Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty is owned and operated by Dean Groulx and Wendy Groulx, who bring more than 60 years of collective experience to the company. Headquartered in the city of Elk Rapids, the office will serve the greater Traverse City area in Michigan including Alden, Bellaire, Elk Rapids, Elk Lake, Lake Leelanau, North Port, Suttons Bay, Torch Lake, and Traverse City.
“Greater Traverse City has a robust luxury home market,” said Philip White, president and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty. “It’s become attractive for high-net-worth individuals and entrepreneurs and we’re seeing both U.S. and international buyers purchasing primary and secondary homes in the area. Our continued growth in the state enables our brand to service this growing market and I look forward to supporting Dean, Wendy, and the entire Great Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty team.”
“The Traverse City area boasts a lifestyle and culture that few other places can match,” said Groulx. “Our area has access to some of the largest and most pristine freshwater lakes and access to world-class entertainment and fine dining. Few real estate companies can match the background and experience of our brokers and sales associates, and our affiliation with Sotheby’s International Realty will offer sellers and buyers in the greater Traverse City area an experience like no other thanks to its prestige, global presence, and marketing capabilities.”
The company has plans for future growth in Alden, Bellaire, Traverse City, Northport, and Leelanau. Great Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty was launched in partnership with Russ Post, owner/broker of Ocean Sotheby’s International Realty.
The Sotheby’s International Realty® network currently has nearly 26,000 affiliated independent sales associates located in over 1,000 offices in 81 countries and territories worldwide. Mountain Sotheby’s International Realty listings are marketed on the sothebysrealty.com global website. In addition to the referral opportunities and widened exposure generated from this source, the firm’s brokers and clients will benefit from an association with Sotheby’s auction house and worldwide Sotheby’s International Realty marketing programs. Each office is independently owned and operated.
John James Audubon & The Double Elephant Folio
| NOV 14, 2019
An early subscriber’s copy of John James Audubon’s “Double Elephant Folio” – incomparably the most important and most beautiful color-plate book ever published. The watermarks of the first ten images identify this copy as one of the first Audubon received a subscription for. This is an unusually large and brilliantly colored copy, with the plates in very early state: all ten first plates are engraved by Lizars alone, prior to retouching by Havell Jr, and 141 of Low’s 150 variable plates are present in the first state. FULL STORY… CLICK HERE
