jenniferleclaire.com » 2008

Yachting-friendly homes buoy Broward’s high end

Sometimes called the “Yachting Capital of the World,” Fort Lauderdale is home to billions of dollars of yachts and marinas. The county’s wealthiest boaters prefer to park their luxury vessels in their own backyard — the Intracoastal Waterway.

While high-end prices in Broward County don’t outperform Palm Beach County, Fort Lauderdale — Broward’s highest-priced city — is nonetheless seeing some mega transactions thanks in part to its yachting reputation.

The highest-priced sale ever recorded in the county was at 1 Isla Bahia Drive in Harbor Beach, the exclusive, upscale waterfront community: The property traded for $16.25 million in December 2005. Harbor Beach features a private marina and the Harbor Surf Club with its 300 feet of private beachfront space.

“Fort Lauderdale has come into its own,” said one broker. “Parking your yacht behind your house is a unique feature that creates valuable property that wouldn’t otherwise be so valuable.”

The second priciest transaction in Fort Lauderdale history — and the priciest so far this year — confirms this idea. In January, the home at 2727 Aqua Vista Boulevard sold for $9.9 million. The Intracoastal Waterway borders the property, offering plenty of room for dockage.

So coveted are Intracoastal properties that 2727 Aqua Vista nearly doubled its value in four years.

Still, despite these high prices, brokers say the overall market is stormy.

Click here to read the rest of my story on The Real Deal.

October 18th, 2008

Personal Tech Video-Game Sales Slide, But Analysts Optimistic

Sales of the Nintendo Wii game console rose 37 percent in September, but the rest of the industry saw losses. It was the first time in more than two years that the market for consoles and games has seen an overall decline.In all, consumers purchased 687,000 Wii consoles, according to the NPD Group. That marks an increase from 501,000 in September 2007. But the industry’s total sales fell seven percent to $1.27 billion.

“Last September, the industry saw the release of Halo 3, so that’s probably affecting the numbers,” said Michael Cai, a video-game analyst at Parks Associates. The Microsoft blockbuster sold 3.3. million titles, which boosted overall industry sales 75 percent for September 2007, according to NPD Group.

“With just one month of data it’s difficult to generalize whether this is going to be a downward trend or not,” Cai said. “Even a recession is defined by two consecutive quarters of decline. So it’s difficult to make a conclusion from one month of data.”

Click here to read the rest of my story on CIOToday.

Add comment October 18th, 2008

FacFacebook Is Reportedly Considering Digital Musicebook Is Reportedly Considering Digital Music

News emerged Friday that Facebook may be considering adding music to its mix. According to the New York Post, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is considering getting into the digital-music business.If the report is true, it would put Facebook on the heels of MySpace’s latest strategic effort to differentiate itself among youthful social networkers.

Rhapsody.com, iMeem.com, iLike.com and Lala.com are among the digital-music sites Facebook is reportedly in talks with. Facebook is also said to be in talks with major music labels. It’s a move that would put Facebook in competition not only with MySpace, but also Apple’s iTunes Store and Amazon.com, among others.