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In a letter dated January 13, ST Residential advised all home owners they received and accepted an unsolicited bulk sale offer to sell the remaining inventory of the 401-unit The Atlantic condominium located at Atlantic Station in Midtown. According to a source, the purchaser is a well-resepected real estate company located in Miami Beach, Florida – Crescent Heights (this has not been confirmed yet).

ST’s general strategy is to sell homes unit by unit to the public, but according to the letter, the bulk sale is in line with the bottom line pricing for each unit overall. So basically ST Residential was able to get their bottom line pricing and is going to unload the building inventory to another seller.

An affiliate of Miami Beach-based Crescent Heights paid $50.4 million for the remaining 241 units in the Tao condominium in Sunrise back in May last year. They then decided to lease the remaining units, rather than sell them individually. Who knows if this will be the plan for the The Atlantic. The Atlantic has a rental cap of 25% so I think it would be hard to turn the building into rentals.

Large multi-family distressed/bulk condo deals are a good sign that the bottom has been reached and investors are taking advantage of the opportunity in the market. I’m sure we will get more information when the deal is formally announced.

The days are flying by and we are pretty close to the end of the year. I’ve been super busy as the market continues to heat up and our inventory continues to shrink. I pulled the highest sales for the third quarter and the results were interesting. New construction condos are continuing to sell very well in all price ranges. Since this post is about the upper price range, I have targeted the highest sales above $700,000. You’ll notice that buyers are now going to a variety of properties and not just Sovereign like last quarter (which pretty much dominated the highest closings).

So what does the top 8 list look like?

1. Sovereign Unit 3304 | Closed on 8/12 for $1,300,000 (MLS Available Properties)
   
2. The Aberdeen Unit 1101 | Closed on 8/29 for $1,285,250 (MLS Available Properties)
3. Gallery Unit PH 2601 | Closed on 9/23 for $1,000,000 (MLS Available Properties)
4. Park Place Unit 37E&F | Closed on 8/01 for $975,000 (MLS Available Properties)
5. Ritz-Carlton Residences Buckhead Unit 1801 | Closed on 7/22 for $956,725 (MLS Available Properties)
6. Ritz-Carlton Residences Buckhead Unit 2404 | Closed on 8/04 for $799,500 (MLS Available Properties)
7. The Atlantic Unit 4502 | Closed on 7/01 for $733,033 (MLS Available Properties)
8. Astoria Unit 901| Closed on 7/29 for $726,000 (MLS Available Properties)

There is plenty of activity in the lower price range also. The under $300,000 category continues to thrive and we are starting to see a sellers market emerge. Surprising and exciting!

Next quarter we’ll see the first sale happen at the Mansion on Peachtree (since the new owners took over) and another building which has recently come back to market. Exciting stuff for the condo market and a definite sign the market is coming back to life in full force.

The Residences at the W Atlanta Downtown has relaunched their sales campaign, this time with even lower pricing than before. These units have been reduced roughly 60% from their original prices. Pretty amazing. With only 74 units in the building, I think we’ll now see some movement in this project and have some really great condos in the downtown area to call home.

The units are spectacular, with premium finishes throughout each and every unit. Homeowners have access to all amenities and services of the hotel, including Whatever/Whenever®, the W brand’s 24/7 service philosophy; preferred access to Bliss® Spa, BLT Steak®, the Living Room,
DRINKSHOP and WETBAR; use of WET® heated pool, Sweat Fitness®, Pet Services, Private Helipad, Housekeeping, Wheels® Valet services; and Starwood Preferred Guest® Gold Membership, among other exclusive owner benefits. The on-site residents concierge can handle all of your  desires, as long as there legal.

The new pricing makes living at the W more affordable than ever. One bedroom condos now start at an astonishing $199,900, two bedrooms from $299,900, three bedrooms from $859,900 and stunning two-story penthouses with huge walls of windows from $1,282,900. Click Here for More Photos & the Rest of the Feature

Can you believe we are already through the second quarter of 2011? Time sure goes by quickly. I pulled the highest sales for the second quarter and the results weren’t too surprising. Sovereign continues to be the dominant building in the luxury market closing units over $1,000,000.

It’s not that there aren’t a good number of units over a million to sell. When I pulled the listings in FMLS (First Multiple Listing Service), there are currently 100 properties available. Remember, that doesn’t include units in buildings where the developer hasn’t listed all of the inventory. Still without a single sale this year are The Mansion on Peachtree, W Downtown Atlanta Residences and the St. Regis Residences in Buckhead.

So what does the top 7 list look like?

1. Sovereign Penthouse B – Unit 4802 | Closed on 5/24 for $5,000,000 (MLS Available Properties)
   
2. Sovereign Unit 4201 | Closed on 5/2 for $1,975,0000 (MLS Available Properties)
3. Sovereign Unit 3901 | Closed on 6/15 for $1,750,000 (MLS Available Properties)
4. Sovereign Unit 3101 | Closed on 4/13 for $1,310,000 (MLS Available Properties)
5. Regents Park Unit 10 | Closed on 5/25 for $1,200,000 (MLS Available Properties)
6. Ritz-Carlton Residences Buckhead Unit 2507 | Closed on 6/15 for $1,073,500 (MLS Available Properties)
7. One Brookhaven Unit 204| Closed on 6/03 for $1,000,000 (MLS Available Properties)

I’ll continue to track closings. If you have specific questions about the market (in any price range), please let me know. You can email me privately or simply make a comment below.

I’ve been busy adding some really great information on my condo website for you! There are now a total of 19 condo buildings (located in Buckhead, Midtown and Downtown) with detailed information including: All new photos, Building descriptions, Amenities, Residence features, Views offered from the building, Tower size, parking, maintenance fees, developers and architects, Rental policies, Available listings (purchase and lease) in the building.

If you want to keep up with listings as they arrive on the MLS, be sure to sign up for automated email alerts. It’s the easiest way to know what’s going on without a lot of fuss. When the page loads, just click on “Register Now” in the gray bar. Curious about what you can do with MLW searches on my site? Check out this blog post for more information.

I’ve also added a page dedicated just to Penthouse listings, called Penthouse Collection. Save the link for easy access.

If you want to schedule a private showing, please be sure to contact me.

The Peachtree Residences is located in Buckhead and has expansive 270 degree wrap-around views. The list price has been reduced by $125,000 and is now offered at $850,000. If you are interested in scheduling a showing, please contact me! 404-822-4156

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