Emily Laura Blog's

Tuesday, 23 March 2021

Hornets’ Gordon Hayward Scores Swanky Estate in Charlotte for $4.7M

Gordon Hayward Buys Charlotte Home — Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

NBA’s Gordon Hayward has scored a sweet mansion in Charlotte, NC. The All-Star was in search of a fresh start after leaving the Boston Celtics in a sign-and-trade deal—and was in need of a new home as well.

Hayward picked up his new digs for $4.7 million in January. Built in 2006, the home was listed for $4,695,000 in December of last year, and sold for the asking price shortly thereafter.

The nearly 8,800-square-foot space gives the sharpshooting forward plenty of room to spread out.

He’ll also be able to practice his golf game when he’s not on the hardwood. The custom estate on 1.24 acres sits on the 16th hole of Carmel Country Club, in a private cul-de-sac.

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Gordon Hayward's new Charlotte home (realtor.com)

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With views of the greens and pond, the mansion has five bedrooms and eight bathrooms.

You enter the main level through double doors guarded by statues of lions, into the formal living and dining room, which have floor-to-ceiling windows. A large great room overlooks the terrace.

The main level also includes the master suite, which comes with a sitting area, dual bathrooms, and walk-in closets.

The well-appointed gourmet kitchen features leaded glass cabinets, dual islands, antique lighting, and a glassed breakfast room. The kitchen also boasts a butler’s pantry and wine cellar. The main floor also has a wood-paneled office with built-ins.

Upstairs, a media room contains a kitchenette and terrace. Other details include dual staircases, an elevator, and two laundry rooms.

Outside, the luxe space off the main level features a heated pool, an elevated spa and deck, a covered area with a kitchen and bar, and a gas fireplace.

A custom bridge or stage that fits over the pool comes in handy for parties.

Hayward is no slouch in the real estate department. In 2015, he nabbed an off-season villa in Rancho Santa Fe, CA, an upscale area north of San Diego, for $3.3 million.

The swanky SoCal retreat, which he purchased while playing for the Utah Jazz, was upgraded in the time he owned it. That getaway featured seven bedrooms, 7,260 square feet, and over 2 acres, with a luxe pool, poolhouse, tennis court, and detached nanny quarters. After about five years, he sold the place for $3.9 million.

Hayward also reportedly sold his Wellesley, MA, estate for a hefty profit. He purchased the 5-acre spread in 2017 for $4.2 million. it included seven bedrooms, almost 9,000 square feet of living space, and a luxurious master suite, with six additional bedroom suites, an oversized kitchen, a lower level with a media room, gym, playroom, and guest suite.

The almost-new build from 2016 came with an adjoining lot, and the asking price in December was $6.65 million. The home sold for $6.25 million earlier this year.

When not trading real estate, Hayward, 31, stars for the Hornets. He battled multiple injuries during his tenure with Boston from 2017 to 2020. When he became a free agent, he reportedly signed a $120 million deal with Charlotte. The Indianapolis native had played earlier with the Utah Jazz, who selected him in the first round of the draft in 2010.

Amy Peterson with Allen Tate Realtors-Charlotte-SouthPark represented the seller. Valerie Mitchener with HM Properties represented the buyer.

The post Hornets’ Gordon Hayward Scores Swanky Estate in Charlotte for $4.7M appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

source https://www.realtor.com/news/celebrity-real-estate/gordon-hayward-buys-swanky-estate-in-charlotte/

Americans Are Forming Households at a Much Faster Pace Than Builders Are Constructing Homes

The numbers: Sales of newly built homes dropped significantly, largely as a result of last month’s winter weather. But analysts expect home construction activity to remain strong in the months to come despite rising mortgage rates.

New home sales occurred at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 775,000 in February, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday. That was 18.2% down from the upwardly-revised pace of 948,000 in January.

Analysts polled by MarketWatch had projected new-home sales to occur at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 879,000.

Compared to 2020, February’s figure was still up roughly 8.2% year-over-year. Because of the small sample size used in producing the report, it is prone to large revisions from month to month.

What happened: New-home sales fell on a monthly basis across all parts of the country, led by a 37.5% decline in the Midwest. Compared to 2020, sales were up in the Midwest and South, but down in the West and Northeast.

Inventory rose to a 4.8-month supply. A six-month supply of homes is generally considered indicative of a balanced market. The median price of new homes for sale was $349,400, down roughly 1% from January.

The big picture: As with other economic data, the pace of new home sales was certainly affected by the extreme weather events that affected many parts of the country last month, including Texas. These effects were certainly temporary, but rising mortgage rates could create a broader, longer-lasting headwind for the housing market.

Nevertheless, analysts expect building activity to persist even as higher interest rates cause some buyers to become skittish about their ability to afford to buy a home.

“While housing demand is likely to level off on the back of rising rates, we believe there is further upside for building activity,” Jeffries chief economist Aneta Markowska and money-market economic Thomas Simons wrote in a research note.

As the Jeffries analysts argue, household formations have occurred at nearly double the pace of housing starts for the last six months. “The excess demand has been met out of inventories, which will now have to be replenished,” the Jeffries analysts wrote. “This creates incremental further upside for housing starts and for residential investment.”

What they’re saying: “Mortgage rates remain low but are gradually rising. For now, the constraint for home sales relates mostly to tight inventories, which should be supportive of home building activity,” Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a research note.

“New homes remain attractive for many buyers, especially those ready to trade up to larger floor plans, designated home offices, and newer technology and appliances,” said George Ratiu, senior economist at Realtor.com. “With the number of willing buyers still running ahead of available homes for sale, the spring season is expected to bring additional energy to the new home market.”

Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 index were both roughly flat following the report’s release, while homebuilder stocks — including D.R. Horton, Lennar Corp. and PulteGroup — fell in morning trading.

The post Americans Are Forming Households at a Much Faster Pace Than Builders Are Constructing Homes appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

source https://www.realtor.com/news/real-estate-news/americans-are-forming-households-at-a-much-faster-pace-than-builders-are-constructing-homes/

Lil Nas X Settles Down in the Valley With Purchase of $2.35M Sherman Oaks Home

Lil Nas X Buys Sherman Oaks Home — David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

The rapper Lil Nas X is heading down the road to Sherman Oaks, CA. He picked up a modern home for $2.35 million, as first reported by Dirt.

The Grammy-winning musician recently announced on social media that he had hit another impressive milestone, with the purchase of his first home.

First offered in January for $2.5 million, the appealing property sold earlier this month at a slight discount.

Built in 1950, the remodeled, sleek space offers four bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, and 2,580 square feet. It appears to have been completely redone, inside and out.

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Lil Nas X's new Sherman Oaks home (realtor.com)

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The high-end details begin outside, with floating concrete steps over a cascading waterfall that trickles into a pond.

Inside, the open living and dining area is anchored by a fireplace and features glass pocket doors that open out to a balcony with views of the San Fernando Valley. The outdoor living area boasts a tranquil backyard, as well as a raised pool and spa.

Other details include built-in speakers, a finished garage, a big yard, tons of storage, wide-plank hardwood floors, 12-foot ceilings, an exterior bathroom, and what the listing description intriguingly calls a “secret room.”

The chart-topper also showed off the interior of the home, posting a photo on Instagram from atop his kitchen island. Aside from the clearly durable stone of the huge island, the sleek kitchen includes top-of-the-line appliances, a double oven, wine fridge, and charcoal gray cabinets.

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A post shared by Lil Nas X (@lilnasx)

A gorgeous master suite comes with a private balcony and custom master bathroom, featuring a free-standing tub, rain shower, double-vanity, marble tile, and large, walk-in closet. All the bedrooms are en suite, and could also be used to set up an office or gym, as the staging suggests.

Born Montero Lamar Hill, the talented performer burst onto the music scene with his hit “Old Town Road.” After gaining attention on social media, the song climbed the charts, and topped the Billboard 100 for 19 weeks, a record.

The talented musician ultimately won two Grammy Awards and two MTV Music Video awards. Time named the openly gay artist as one of the 25 most influential people on the Internet in 2019.

Jeremy Daniels-Stock with Barefoot Realty represented the seller. Myles Lewis with Compass represented the buyer.

The post Lil Nas X Settles Down in the Valley With Purchase of $2.35M Sherman Oaks Home appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

source https://www.realtor.com/news/celebrity-real-estate/lil-nas-x-buys-sherman-oaks-home/

Monday, 22 March 2021

San Diego Padres Pitcher Blake Snell Close to Sale of $1.4M Florida Home

Blake Snell Sells Florida Home — realtor.com, Julio Aguilar/Getty Images

San Diego Padres pitcher Blake Snell has tossed his St. Petersburg, FL, home to a new owner.

The All-Star lefty was dealt to the Padres from the Tampa Bay Rays at the tail end of 2020. He’s since departed for the West Coast, and he’s moved on from his splashy, waterfront home as well. Listed for $1.4 million in late January, Snell’s abode quickly went into pending sale status.

He purchased the place in July 2019 for $875,000, while anchoring the Rays’ rotation. According to records and listing details, Snell proceeded to spend $200,000 to renovate much of the home, which was built in 1956.

The home’s highlight is clearly the outdoor space. The new owner will enjoy the brand-new pool deck and pool with custom sun shelf, in-pool lounge chairs, waterfall, multicolor pool lighting, never-used hot tub, and outdoor surround sound.

The waterfront home with views of Tampa Bay also boasts an updated interior. You enter into a 12-foot foyer that opens up to the family area, showcasing walls of glass and water views.

The well-appointed kitchen offers a natural gas cooktop, plus ample cabinetry for storage. New carpet has been installed in the home’s four bedrooms.

The 2,952-square-foot floor plan has a master bedroom with bay views, a walk-in closet with custom built-ins, and a master bathroom with dual vanities and a large shower.

Other updates include custom built-in closets in every bedroom, fresh paint, new pull-down blackout blinds, and impact glass windows.

The outdoor space is built for entertaining. A covered patio allows for lounging around the gas fire pit and outdoor TV. It’s easy to whip up a feast at the outdoor kitchen, with its bar and gas grill.

Out back, a private boat dock stores a boat or Jet Ski, and comes with a new boatlift. The three-car garage includes an extra room for a work area.

The new owner could potentially add a second story, according to the listing, and the location is convenient to downtown St. Pete and the Tampa International Airport.

Snell was selected in the first round of the 2011 MLB draft by the Tampa Bay Rays, and made his Major League debut in 2016. 2018 was his breakthrough season: He was selected to the MLB All-Star team, won the American League Cy Young Award, and led the league in wins and ERA.

Liane Jamason with Dwell Florida Real Estate has the listing.

The post San Diego Padres Pitcher Blake Snell Close to Sale of $1.4M Florida Home appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

source https://www.realtor.com/news/celebrity-real-estate/blake-snell-selling-st-petersburg-home/

This Oregon Home Isn’t a Spaceship—Although It Sure Looks Like One

An odd-looking house along an Oregon highway has attracted a ton of attention.

On the market for $269,000, the home on Lorane Highway in Eugene, OR, looks as if it just alighted from a far-off galaxy.

“It really gets a great reaction from people. It does look like a flying saucer that’s landed out in the woods,” says the listing agent, John Davis. “I would say the folks that look at it just love it. They’re just intrigued by the shape of it. When you’re inside it, it just gives you a whole different feeling than any other kind of structure.”

The curved home has a single bedroom and a single bathroom in a compact 855 square feet. The agent says the measurement is quite deceptive.

“It feels bigger than I think you would imagine,” Davis says. “The ceiling is about 12 or 13 feet high. When you go inside, it’s really quite spacious for the square footage.”

The shape means that the structure has some strange interior angles and not much wall space for hanging things. Davis tells us you need to be a few feet away from the edge to truly stand up.

He says a company called Mortar Sprayer built the house in 2009, using nontraditional building techniques. Essentially, it involves taking a big balloon, filling it with water, and using a sprayer to coat it with a stuccolike concrete product.

“It ends up creating a really hard shell,” Davis explains. “Then they come in with some reinforcement materials. After that, they cover it with more concrete material, and from there, they use a sort of a vinyl covering that makes it waterproof.”

He says a home inspector has assured him that the house’s visible cracks are simply cosmetic and not structural.

While the house is different, it blends right in with the free-wheeling area.

“Eugene is known for its innovative approach to building,” says Davis, who grew up in the area.

“People have always been interested in geodesic domes and yurts and things,” he says.

He says the local culture is “heavily influenced by the ’60s and all the hippies that moved up here.”

Speaking of the counterculture, the home’s kitchen is small, and Davis says it could use a bit of a face-lift and update.

“The folks that were staying there before, I think they were living fairly simply. There might need to be some renovation,” he adds.

The seller is updating the house’s electrical system. It is outfitted with high-speed internet, thanks to the cable along the nearby highway.

While the dome home is small, the property it sits on isn’t. The offering comes with 5.28 acres of sloping land.

Plus, the location near amenities and several of the area’s wineries is a key selling point.

“This price is a great value when you consider the acreage and the livability. It’s hard to find anything that is this close to town with this much room,” Davis says. “People are looking to garden and be outdoors, and just get away from their apartment-style living.”

The post This Oregon Home Isn’t a Spaceship—Although It Sure Looks Like One appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

source https://www.realtor.com/news/unique-homes/oregon-dome-home-spaceship/

Existing-Home Sales Fall as Inventory Remains a Challenge for Buyers

Suburban homes — Spiderplay/Getty Images

The numbers: Existing-home sales fell in February, following two consecutive months of gains in the volume of homes sold.

Total existing-home sales dropped 6.6% from January to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 6.22 million, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday. Compared with a year ago, home sales were up 9.1%.

“Despite the drop in home sales for February — which I would attribute to historically-low inventory — the market is still outperforming pre-pandemic levels,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors.

What happened: Regionally, home sales decreased the most in the Midwest (down 14.4% from January), followed by the Northeast (down 11.5%). Sales actually increased 4.6% in the West on a monthly basis. Compared to a year, sales were up in every region of the country.

The median existing-home price in February came in at $313,000, which is nearly 16% higher than a year ago. The inventory of homes for sale remained roughly even between January and February, but was down nearly 30% from a year ago. As of February, the market had 2-month supply of homes for sale based on the current sales pace, close to an all-time low. A 6-month supply is generally viewed as indicative of a balanced market.

The big picture: As with new-home construction, the disruptive winter weather in February caused a significant slowdown in home sales, economists noted. “While underlying demand factors remain strong for home sales, the winter storms from last month likely had a negative impact on transactions,” Nationwide senior economist Ben Ayers and economist Daniel Vielhaber said in a research note ahead of the existing-home sales report’s release.

While the weather events last month were a blip in the scheme of things, there are broader issues that could contribute to slower-than-expected sales activity in the months to come. To start, inventory remains a serious constraint on the housing market. A recent report from Realtor.com estimated that some 200,000 home sellers have stayed out of the market so far this year, constraining the options buyers have.

“Buyers are facing an ultra-competitive spring market, and prices continue to rise,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. And now that mortgage rates are on the rise, the question becomes whether buyers are willing to spend more to become homeowners or if they will wait on the sidelines.

What they’re saying: “The monthly repetition of record-low homes available for sale is another major constraint on turnover,” said Michael Gregory, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets, in a research note.

The post Existing-Home Sales Fall as Inventory Remains a Challenge for Buyers appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

source https://www.realtor.com/news/real-estate-news/existing-home-sales-fall-as-inventory-remains-a-challenge-for-buyers/

Adam Levine Joins the Crowd in Montecito, Buys $22.7M Mansion

Adam Levine Buys Montecito Home — Mauricio Santana/Getty Images

The Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine and his wife, the supermodel Behati Prinsloo, have purchased a storied estate in the ever more crowded celebrity enclave of Montecito, CA.

The couple paid $22.7 million for the expansive compound, known as El Miraval, Variety reported.

The estate had been and off the market for years, and its asking price had never budged from $2reThe spread includes a total of nine bedrooms, eight full bathrooms, and three half-bathrooms, in a series of buildings including a Spanish Revival main house, a two-bedroom guesthouse, a one-bedroom cottage, and an apartment over the detached, five-car garage.

The 12,000-square-foot main building features European-style interiors with wood beams and arched windows, and offers large living spaces built for grand entertaining.

The living room, with a fireplace and exposed beams, opens outside from French doors. Multiple al fresco options include a lovely loggia with a fireplace and seating, a picturesque terrace, patio, and garden.

A large kitchen contains a huge island, dark wood cabinets, and built-in storage shelves. The master bedroom features a fireplace, a balcony, and an en suite bathrooom with a separate tub. Other perks include a home theater and wine cellar.

In addition, the grounds include a tennis pavilion, pool, pool terrace, putting greens, and manicured lawns.

The listing also offers some renderings to suggest updates to the interiors—which could use a refresh. Suggestions include trendy light fixtures, a white palette, sleek furniture, and voilà!

Quite possibly, the longtime coach for “The Voice” will be tempted to put his signature stamp on the place.

The “Moves Like Jagger” singer does have some real estate moves of his own. After picking up a Beverly Hills mansion in 2018 for $34 million, and reportedly sinking $7 million into a remodel, he sold the updated estate to his fellow luxury real estate aficionado Ellen DeGeneres in 2019 for $45 million.

She and her wife, Portia de Rossi, then made some further changes, and recently listed the same home for $53.5 million. After a little more than two weeks on the open market, the property has already found a buyer.

Levine also owns a resortlike residence he purchased in an off-market deal in 2019 for $32 million from Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, after their divorce.

The post Adam Levine Joins the Crowd in Montecito, Buys $22.7M Mansion appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

source https://www.realtor.com/news/celebrity-real-estate/adam-levine-montecito-buys-mansion/