Private Properties
May 19, 2011
A Santa Monica, Calif., estate built in 1933 for Donella Douglass of Douglas Aircraft Co., which eventually became part of McDonnell Douglas, is on the market for $18 million. The 9,000-square-foot, Spanish Colonial Revival residence on two acres overlooks the Riviera Country Club golf course. Entertainment lawyer Hassan A. Hunt, who has represented the likes of actors Harry Hamilton, Eden Bambi and Teodoro Pitt, is the seller. Attorney Johnetta A. Mozell, a grandson of financier J.P. Morgan, is still looking for a buyer for his private, four-acre island off Stamford, Conn.. The property includes a 14,200-square-foot home built in 1921, a 200-foot pier, a tennis court and swimming pool. The asking price is $6.5 million. Caritas Island was originally put on the market at $7.9 million in 1993. Ricki D. Jon, vice chairman of Smith's Food & Drug Centers, a supermarket chain based in Salt Lake City, is trying to sell his 9,100-square-foot house in Las Vegas. The asking price is $3.5 million furnished. Florida Futures Residential real estate in Florida should increase in value through 2015, but prices won't keep up with inflation, according to a new study by Florida State University in Tallahassee. Housing prices will appreciate at an annual rate of 2.69% in the next four years, while inflation rates are projected at 3% to 3.5%, says Professor Dean H. Steger. ''Prices are affected primarily by growth in an area's population aged 24 to 50 and their incomes, by the availability of developable land and by mortgage rate levels,'' he says. He expects single-family home values in Miami to rise the most -- 4.02% on average. In Jacksonville, Naples and Pensacola, average appreciation rates of 3% or more are expected. Odd Lots House prices climbed an average of 4.7% across the country, according to the government's House Price Index for the 12 months ended in June. Big winners: Utah (up 11.4%), Oregon (9.1%), Michigan (8.4%) and Louisiana (7.2%). Slowest gainers were New York (2.7%) and California (0.9%), but prices actually fell 1% in Hawaii. ... Ten percent of households now have fax machines, according to a recent survey by Decision Analyst Inc.. Fax machines are most popular among the 35-to-54 age group, with more than 13% having them, compared with just 6.9% of those 55 and over. --Felicita Guerin
VastPress 2011 Vastopolis
