The real estate market in the US is sending mixed signals. We do come across cases where a lavish property is languishing on the market for the lack of a buyer. There are even cases where a property fails to attract a buyer even after scaling down the asking price. But at the same time there are examples, particularly from New York, of luxury apartments and  homes being picked up quickly even if they carry a hefty price tag. The most recent example is of an apartment on Fifth Avenue in New York that sold for $34.6 million and in the process earned the seller $5.5 million in just nine months.
The apartment was bought by William Lie Zeckendorf, co-chairman of real estate firm Terra Holdings LLC, in December from the estate of Bruce Wasserstein, the chief executive of Lazard Ltd. (LAZ) who died in 2009, for $29.1 million. John Burger, a broker at New York-based Terra’s Brown Harris Stevens who represented Zeckendorf in the deal explained this phenomenon as a function of scarcity. The apartment represents the best of the best and hence recession proof.
The apartment is a pre war construction and covers the entire floor. It has natural light in all the rooms and panoramic view of the Central Park and the city. Located on the 11th floor of the building, the apartment has five bedrooms, 5 1/2 bathrooms, a library, private elevator and a corner living room with direct views of Central Park. The apartment has been bought by Scott Bommer, president of SAB Capital Management LP and his wife Donya, a former anchor of the “Good Day Philadelphia†television show.
