The crisis disrupts hierarchies that were believed firmly anchored.
On the market for luxury real estate, buyers today are not those of yesterday. Thus, the fortunes Anglo-Saxon and Russian land no longer in Paris, Courchevel or the Cote d'Azur remains a market share.
Indeed, prices have been artificially expanded with the arrival of Russian fortunes willing to pay extravagant sums and the market is now frozen with unrealistic sellers and buyers on the lookout for great deals. Only the owners forced to sell resolve to lower their prices.
Thus, the Villa Leopolda in Villefranche-sur-Mer, which is considered the most expensive in the world, estimated at 320 million euros, has not yet been sold but a compromise was signed between the landlord and a Russian oligarch price of 200 million euros.
Source: Le Monde - 16/02/2009
