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This grand Hamptons estate once asked $150M — and just sold at auction for $79M

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La Dune — once the most expensive estate in the Hamptons, asking $150 million before entering bankruptcy — sold for $79 million at an hours-long auction on Wednesday evening at Sotheby’s in New York.

This likely marks the end of the saga for the 4-acre estate, which consists of two homes on elite Gin Lane in Southampton, owned by Louise Blouin, a French-Canadian former art publisher.

A single buyer swept in to buy the parcel at 376 Gin Lane for $40.5 million and 366 Gin Lane for $38.5 million. There were seven bidders from North America, including New York and Connecticut, and the Caribbean.

The sale is ultimately $88.48 million “all in” — a 12% buyer’s premium goes to the auctioneers and the real estate brokers who marketed it.

“This should be a series on Netflix,” said one bidder at the sale, who ultimately wasn’t exaggerating.

Even before the sale began at 4 p.m., there were seven verified bids with a minimum asking price of $66 million, said Chad Roffers, CEO of Concierge Auctions, which is owned by Sotheby’s.

Louise Blouin. Getty Images
There’s plenty of sitting room inside the sprawling estate. Rich Taverna

The Upper East Side sell-off broke for negotiations around 5:20 p.m. By around 7:20 p.m., the crowd of around 75 people had thinned. That’s when the auctioneer returned to announce a $79 million bid on the compound. The crowd waited to hear bids on the separate homes.

Even at 8:45 p.m., they were still negotiating. The issue was that the lender, a privately owned company named Bay Point, has to approve the auction sale, which will likely end up being less than an earlier $90 million offer for the compound that the seller refused, thinking she could get far more for the property, sources said. Wednesday’s sale still has to be approved by a bankruptcy judge in mid-February. The lenders are still owed between $7 million to $15 million.

Jenny Fleiss, co-founder of Rent the Runway, and financier Chris Brown also made in-person bids before dropping out. Both left the auction house well before the auction ended.

Concierge Auctions partnered with co-brokers Harald Grant of Sotheby’s International Realty, Corcoran’s Tim Davis and Bespoke’s Cody Vichinsky in the sale.

An eat-in chef’s kitchen shall be enjoyed by the highest bidder. Rich Taverna
A tub with a view. Rich Taverna
One of the Southampton mansion’s many bedrooms. Rich Taverna

“It took some time but we got it done,” Roffers said after the sale.

“I was surprised. I was hoping for more bidders,” said Grant. “But there was so much press and it was on and off the market for so long, it hurt the process. If this was a fresh property, it would be ‘Boom, Boom, Bam.”

Grant added that if the compound was listed for the first time today, with no bankruptcy, he could sell it for $90 million, or $45 million for each of the two properties, “just on the comps.”

The 4-acre estate, which consists of two homes, is owned by Louise Blouin, a former art publisher. Gavin Zeigler
One of the estate’s pair of pools. Gavin Zeigler

In the Hamptons, Grant said, “people would rather be on Gin Lane than anywhere else. There are certain trophy spots and this is it.”

Blouin bought the property with her former husband for $13.5 million in the 1990s. La Dune was the crown jewel in Blouin’s real estate portfolio, and in 2016 — when the Panama Papers outed her for storing cash in offshore accounts — it asked $140 million.

Earlier, the property was featured in Woody Allen’s 1978 film, “Interiors.” The two homes are a traditional shingle-styled home built in 1892 and another one designed by French architect François Catroux, built in 2001.

The compound comes with two pools and a sunken tennis court. The two homes were able to be bought at auction together or separately, Roffers said.

The buyers have to put up $500,000 in cash. It’s an all-cash auction, bringing “speed, certainty and reach” to the sales process, Roffers said leading up to the sale. “The property is going to sell no matter what.”

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Greater Toronto home sales jump in October after Bank of Canada rate cuts: board

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TORONTO – The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board says home sales in October surged as buyers continued moving off the sidelines amid lower interest rates.

The board said 6,658 homes changed hands last month in the Greater Toronto Area, up 44.4 per cent compared with 4,611 in the same month last year. Sales were up 14 per cent from September on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The average selling price was up 1.1 per cent compared with a year earlier at $1,135,215. The composite benchmark price, meant to represent the typical home, was down 3.3 per cent year-over-year.

“While we are still early in the Bank of Canada’s rate cutting cycle, it definitely does appear that an increasing number of buyers moved off the sidelines and back into the marketplace in October,” said TRREB president Jennifer Pearce in a news release.

“The positive affordability picture brought about by lower borrowing costs and relatively flat home prices prompted this improvement in market activity.”

The Bank of Canada has slashed its key interest rate four times since June, including a half-percentage point cut on Oct. 23. The rate now stands at 3.75 per cent, down from the high of five per cent that deterred many would-be buyers from the housing market.

New listings last month totalled 15,328, up 4.3 per cent from a year earlier.

In the City of Toronto, there were 2,509 sales last month, a 37.6 per cent jump from October 2023. Throughout the rest of the GTA, home sales rose 48.9 per cent to 4,149.

The sales uptick is encouraging, said Cameron Forbes, general manager and broker for Re/Max Realtron Realty Inc., who added the figures for October were stronger than he anticipated.

“I thought they’d be up for sure, but not necessarily that much,” said Forbes.

“Obviously, the 50 basis points was certainly a great move in the right direction. I just thought it would take more to get things going.”

He said it shows confidence in the market is returning faster than expected, especially among existing homeowners looking for a new property.

“The average consumer who’s employed and may have been able to get some increases in their wages over the last little bit to make up some ground with inflation, I think they’re confident, so they’re looking in the market.

“The conditions are nice because you’ve got a little more time, you’ve got more choice, you’ve got fewer other buyers to compete against.”

All property types saw more sales in October compared with a year ago throughout the GTA.

Townhouses led the surge with 56.8 per cent more sales, followed by detached homes at 46.6 per cent and semi-detached homes at 44 per cent. There were 33.4 per cent more condos that changed hands year-over-year.

“Market conditions did tighten in October, but there is still a lot of inventory and therefore choice for homebuyers,” said TRREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer.

“This choice will keep home price growth moderate over the next few months. However, as inventory is absorbed and home construction continues to lag population growth, selling price growth will accelerate, likely as we move through the spring of 2025.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Homelessness: Tiny home village to open next week in Halifax suburb

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HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.

Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.

Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.

The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.

Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.

They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.

The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Here are some facts about British Columbia’s housing market

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Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.

Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.

Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500

Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438

Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103

Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359

Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent

How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

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