If you really to need understand how the global economic downturn and the housing crisis has affected the luxury real estate market? Then here is a piece of news that will serve to put the crisis dynamics into perspective. A luxury mansion in Scottsdale, Arizona has just been listed for sale with an asking price of $5 million. Not an extraordinary news, you’ll say, but here is the catch, the same luxury house was put up for sale in the year 2001 with an asking price of a staggering $35 million. In just a decade, the property prices in the region witnessed a major slump. The house located in the midst of the ‘Happy Valley Estate’ is scheduled to be sent under the hammer via Concierge Auctions in New York on 11th February, 2012. As per the auction requisites, the mansion will be presented to the bidders with an opening bid of just $5 million, which amounts to a mind blowing 85% decrease in the house’s previous market value. The Happy Valley Estate is a clean property, meaning that the mansion as well as the estate hasn’t faced foreclosure nor any legal action. The luxury house auction has been arranged as the previous buyer of the property failed to meet the due payment of $13.9 million in the last four years.
The Happy Valley Estate is sprawled across 19.2 acres of prime land, of which 27,000-square feet has been relegated to resort type living architecture. 10,000 square feet of the resort space is consumed by the mansion alone, along with guest houses that each occupy 1,000 square feet of land. This expensive Scottsdale mansion itself features an indoor tennis court along with a spacious garage, capable of holding up to nine cars. The main attraction of Happy Valley Estate though is the surrounding desert botanical garden, while the mansion presents the owners with a serene French Victorian courtyard. The estate has been divided into three different lots, while all three lots will be available for purchase at the auction either on individual basis or as a collective property. The Happy Valley Estate mansion is comprised of Carrera marble floors and the entire estate was developed specifically for Matt Weinberg, a former board member of Eckerd Corporation. For those willing to participate in the Concierge Auctions event, you would be required to deposit a $100,000 cashier’s check, while the winner of the bidding will have 30 days to realize the complete payment.Â
