Luxury Real Estate

By Jean-Yves Piton

While luxury properties are part of the conspicuous consumption group, unlike several other goods, their proposed premium prices are not a function of the premium brands they are attached to. Instead, factors such as location, amenities, space, architecture and historical value justify their premium prices around the world.

So, what type of luxury homes would you acquire in major metropolitan cites worldwide for $1 million USD in 2008?

According to “What $1 Million Buys in Homes Worldwide” by Matt Woosley, Friday, January 11, 2008, provided by Forbes.com, in New York, you can expect a 647-square-foot Turtle Bay condo with 45-square-foot balcony, white oak floors, and 11-and-a-half-foot ceilings. In London, you can purchase a one-bedroom, one-bathroom flat in Primrose Gardens. In Hong Kong, you can acquire a three-bedroom, 825-square-foot apartment in a high-rise between the residential areas of Aberdeen and Pokfulam.

While $1 million USD grants an invitation to the millionaire's club, it clearly does not buy the most spacious and astonishing luxury property in most top metropolitan cities worldwide in 2008. Based on the figures discussed earlier, such properties might just work as a pied-a-terre during a business trip or a short vacation.



This also explains why more buyers are currently opting for luxury fractional ownership, the trend ahead. This being said, keep in mind that this rapidly increasing trend applies to everything luxury in 2008 (from designer handbags to the finest properties).

So, how do you market a luxury fractional property? Evidently, it is easy to assume the same way you would promote a luxurious property. Partly due to the traditional premium variables like location, amenities, space, architecture and historical value. Also, though a fractional ownership, you could insist on the long-term investment, just as for any other luxurious property.

Nevertheless, there is another element, which must not be omitted to successfully advertise a luxury fractional property. That is promoting the dream to potential buyers and investors. There must be a fine balance of both emotional and rational communications to connect potential buyers to the properties through careful advertising. Where the rational communication focuses on owning a luxurious property (one of a kind), promoting the dream (the emotional communication) helps foster a sense of emotional connection (a state of being and/or sense of being).


Editor’s Note:
Jean-Yves Piton is the Global Services Membership Manager for LuxuryRealEstate.com. He assists Bente Madtsen, the Director of Global Services, in expanding the LuxuryRealEstate.com brand into even more countries around the world. Fractional ownership is a great tool for vacationers and other people looking for flexibility and great investment opportunities. I actually wrote an editorial on Private Residence Clubs, also known as fractionals, in the spring 2008 issue of LuxuryRealEstate.com Magazine. Check it out! The photos of the front and back of the “$1 million” bill are the copyright of Simon Davison.