Concierge Auctions Announces Success of its Global Sale at Sotheby's London
A magnificent villa, built by footballer Per Mertesacker, headlined the evening sale of marquee real estate offerings, achieving a record sale price in Germany
'The success of our live sales is a powerful indicator of the continued strength in the global luxury real estate market.'— Krystal Aeby
NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, May 30, 2025 / EINPresswire.com / -- Concierge Auctions, the largest luxury real estate auction house in the world, is pleased to announce the success of its Global Sale in London, which showcased a curated selection of premier luxury properties from across the globe. Culminating live 29 May at Sotheby's New Bond Street galleries in London, the sale achieved nearly $115 million in aggregate bids, including a record-breaking sale in Germany. From the esteemed Sotheby's London saleroom, the auction streamed live to the world on conciergeauctions.com. Select offerings will continue to close online throughout June.
Properties were on public view at Sotheby's London, displayed alongside fine art, jewelry, watches, designer handbags, and more. An audience was in attendance as property connoisseurs competed on the telephone via a team of specialists and online. The event was conducted by Sotheby's auctioneer and Global Head of Whisky, Jonny Fowle.
'The success of our live sales is a powerful indicator of the continued strength in the global luxury real estate market,' said Krystal Aeby, President of Concierge Auctions. 'The results reflect not only the quality of the estates we represented, but also reaffirm what we're seeing across our platform: sophisticated buyers remain highly engaged, discerning, and ready to act when presented with rare opportunities. As we look ahead, we're more confident than ever in the appetite for curated, competitive sales—and excited to bring even more exceptional properties to market in the months to come.'
The auction saw impressive competition, with property connoisseurs competing across North America and Europe, including 10 U.S. states: Texas, Georgia, Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, Ohio, New York, Michigan, Florida, and California.
Headlining the evening sale was Wiehegrund 13, a magnificent split-level villa in Hannover, Germany, originally built by footballer Per Mertesacker and featuring three residences with premium amenities and panoramic terraces, achieved a sale price of €4.875 million in cooperation with Magda Provenzano of Sotheby's Hanover Germany. This marks the highest ever residential sale in Hannover.
Facts and Figures from the Auction:
- Nearly $115 million in aggregate online bids placed
- 25% increase above average Starting Bid prices achieved
- Record-breaking sale in Germany
Further Auction Highlights:
3390 Mount Veeder Road, Segassia Vineyard®, a 15-acre Napa, California Green-certified estate known for its acclaimed Cabernet Sauvignon and a seismic-resilient guest house, resulted in a sale price of $1.96 million in cooperation with Kate Spadarotto of Sotheby's International Realty.
PineHaven Sporting Ranch, located at 3160 Northeast 233Rd Trail, an Adirondack-inspired estate on 40 pristine Florida uplands near Palm Beach blending rustic warmth with luxury, generous entertaining spaces, and exclusive access to Pine Creek Sporting Club amenities achieved a sale price of $8.288 million in cooperation with Blaine 'Doc' Ellingson, Madison Collum, and James Sweat of Sotheby's International Realty.
55 Wind Dancer Lane, a Nick Fullerton-designed alpine home on 21 wooded acres in Big Sky, Montana, boasting floor-to-ceiling windows with stunning mountain views, Swarovski chandeliers, and an indoor pool, saw 7 bidders competing, achieving a sale price of $5.6 million in cooperation with Laura Sacchi of Big Sky Sotheby's International Realty.
Concierge Auctions is accepting consignments for upcoming sales in its 2025 Sale Series.On 25 September, its 'Hong Kong Global Sale' will be held at The Upper House, a highly anticipated event featuring a selection of luxury properties showcased alongside similar marquee offerings. On 18 December, its 'New York Global Sale' will occur at the Pendry Manhattan West, offering a swarth of top-tier properties to high-net-worth buyers from across the globe.
As part of Concierge Auctions' Key for Key® giving program in partnership with Giveback Homes, each closing will result in the funding towards new homes built for families in need.
Agents will be compensated according to the terms and conditions of the Listing Agreements. See Auction Terms and Conditions for full details.
For more information, including property details, diligence documents, and more, visit ConciergeAuctions.com or call +1.212.202.2940.
About Concierge Auctions
Concierge Auctions is the world's best luxury real estate auction marketplace, with state-of-the-art digital marketing, property preview, and bidding platform. The firm matches sellers of one-of-a-kind homes with some of the most capable property connoisseurs on the planet. Sellers gain unmatched reach, speed, and certainty. Buyers receive curated opportunities. Agents earn their commission in 30 days. Acquired by Sotheby's, the world's premier destination for fine art and luxury goods, and Anywhere Real Estate, Inc (NYSE: HOUS), the largest full-service residential real estate services company in the United States, Concierge Auctions continues to operate independently, partnering with real estate agents affiliated with many of the industry's leading brokerages to host luxury auctions for clients. For Sotheby's International Realty listings and companies, Concierge Auctions provides Sotheby's brand exclusivity as Sotheby's Concierge Auctions. Since inception in 2008, the firm has generated billions of dollars in sales, broken world records for the highest-priced homes ever sold at auction and sold properties in 46 U.S. states and 35 countries. The firm owns one of the most comprehensive and intelligent databases of high-net-worth real estate buyers and sellers in the industry, and it has committed to build more than 300 homes through its Key For Key® giving program in partnership with Giveback Homes™, which funds new homes for families in need from every property the company sells. For more information, visit ConciergeAuctions.com.
Kari Hegarty
BerlinRosen
+1 845-548-9216
email us here
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content 'as is' without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
How global art auctions expose FX fees imbalance
Imagine for a minute that you were the winning bidder last year for Claude Monet's Nymphéas. It sold last year at Sotheby's, New York after a competitive bidding war lasting only 17 minutes. And the price? $65.5m. That is just for starters. One might be forgiven for thinking that the auction house commission for the sale would be paid by the seller. One would of course be wrong. There is the buyer's premium to calculate. In this case, if Sotheby's standard fees applied, that means a 27% buyer's premium for works up to $1m; 22% for the part of the transaction between $1m-$8m and 15% for the balance above $8m. The Monet is now going to set back the buyer almost $76m. And there is more to come. Let us also imagine that the buyer is based in the UK and is working through his or her bank, say one of the traditional big four banks. The bank will typically add to the cost of the Monet by charging an FX fee of at least 2%, probably closer to the 3% to 4% range. Even at the midpoint of the FX fees scale, that adds about another $2.3m to the final cost to the buyer. For the sake of brevity, let us avoid the tricky question of VAT on the buyers premium or VAT on imported works of art and just focus on FX fees. The total cost of the Monet in question, including VAT, is now way over $80m for a UK buyer. A saving on the FX fee is do-able and it is almost akin to negligence if the theoretical winning UK bidder uses a traditional bank and meekly pays a 3%-4% FX fee. It also offers disrupters in the market such as iBanFirst, an outstanding market opportunity to highlight the benefits of its smarter, fairer FX fees structure. Vivek Savani, UK Country Manager at iBanFirst, is on a mission to address the imbalance in the FX market. 'Whether we're talking about high-net-worth individuals or not, the foreign exchange imbalance is an unnecessary premium that really doesn't represent smart financial management. It also affects businesses. And I think when we look at it, there are exorbitant fees and premiums built into FX pricing and services that many banks offer. 'Over 70% of businesses are still using their bank. If we extrapolate that to the private market for individuals, it's probably vastly more than 70% moving up towards 80% and 90% of individuals that have currency transfers and requirements, that are using their bank. And it's there that these fees really start to kick in. Typically, they may charge between 2% to 4% and ultimately, that's a really, really high price to pay for, ultimately what is quite a straightforward transaction. And they offer, essentially an execution only service. They seldom offer the quite bespoke service that many of these individuals and businesses require. So yeah, I'd say it's quite a vast problem.' To suggest that the global art market is struggling, as some have claimed, might be stretching it a little. If you want a quick but comprehensive summary of the sector, the annual Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2025 by Arts Economics is a good starting point. It reveals that the global art market recorded an estimated $57.5bn in sales in 2024. The number of transactions grew 3% year-on-year, demonstrating continued interest from collectors worldwide. On the other hand, that total for the year of $57.5bn is down by 12% y-o-y. The US and UK continue to lead the way with 43% and 18% respectively of global sales by value. But their 2024 sales of $24.8bn and $10.4bn are down by 9% and 5% respectively. Given the decline in the total value of art sales, Savani argues that it is time for the art world to start paying closer attention to FX and says this could support the entire ecosystem. It would encourage higher bids for auction houses/dealers, support a better seller experience and increasing buyer strength. And he highlights the support iBanFirst provides in the global art market and says that its business model, built around close relationships, mirrors the art world. Specifically, iBanFirst can help buyers and sellers better track payments, meaning that they are better equipped when it comes to buying and selling based on the real-time cost of currency. 'Purchasing art is a sizable investment for many people, and those fees add to the overall cost of that transaction. They're quite opaque. So ultimately, I would argue that this really deters many people from potentially participating in an overseas auction. It erodes confidence and penalises the sellers potentially from having a wider audience to bid on those particular pieces of art. Having overall transparency would really encourage people to participate and help the sellers and help the buyers at the same time, as well as the intermediaries, the brokers and the auction houses that are a central part of that particular ecosystem.' Savani says that there has been a rise in levels of interest in working with FX specialists instead of banks for such international transfers and in the specialist service that bespoke disruptors can offer. But he adds: 'It's not moving at as quick a pace as one would hope. From the consumer perspective, we want to work with more individuals, more dealers, more brokers, to try and bridge that gap. It is improving. There's still a lot of work to be done, and we hope that we can get the message out there that there is an alternative to the bank. There are better levels of service, of convenience, of information, of assistance that are out there.' Savani summarises the iBanFirst proposition as offering a combination of technology mixed with the human touch. 'We have a really nice piece of technology. Many clients find the platform really convenient, very easy to use, and very different to what a banking system would offer them. We also offer that human touch, so someone that is there to speak to the client from the beginning of the transaction right until the end. And this is something that is really missing from a banking solution and many of our competitors. 'That is, a specialised individual that can provide guidance in terms of setting up the transaction, even more insight and a real, healthy overview of what's happening in the market at any particular time. Ultimately, we hold the hand of the client from the beginning until the end. And that is a very important feature, I would say, when it comes to these high value transactions. They're not small amounts of money, and it's a comfort for clients to know there is someone at the end of a phone that will help them with any situation, whether it's funds, whether it's the payment, whether it's making the transaction, the FX piece.' Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Belgium, iBanFirst is regulated as a payment institution, passported throughout the EU and is a serious competitor to the traditional bank offering for SMBs. Its core banking platform offers fast and secure multicurrency transactions and it wins on cost versus banks, thanks to no setup fee, no tiered monthly subscription costs and no transfer fees. Savani says that what the client sees is exactly what the client pays. The iBanFirst pricing structure is designed with scaling international businesses in mind. iBanFirst gives a standard exchange rate spread that applies across all of a client's transactions. This means they can predict their costs even as payment values increase, rather than watching fees eat away at profits. Its offering best suits established small and medium businesses that are outgrowing entry level payment providers and that need advanced tools for things like FX risk management. It will suit importers and exporters with international supply chains seeking the tools and expertise to manage complex payments, that do not want fees eating into their margins. And it suits wholesalers who rely on FX risk management tools that crave detailed payment tracking and hands on responsive support. What's more, iBanFirst clients are able to track international payments every step of the way, with detailed, timestamped updates and tracking links that clients can share with their partners and suppliers. This is, however, a competitive market, and iBanFirst is competing with some serious players. For example, Wise Business can claim that it keeps things simple, both in terms of pricing and functionality. It targets both individual consumers and businesses, especially those looking for a cost-effective solution. On the other hand, once you are regularly moving over, say, €100,000 euros annually, across borders, iBanFirst would argue that Wise's per transaction fees soon start adding up. And if a business is growing, foreign currency risks will become more of a concern. Wise doesn't offer the kind of FX risk management tools or dedicated support that iBanFirst offers to protect margins from exchange rate swings. Another competitor is Airwallex, a cross-border payment provider that offers multi-currency accounts. Airwallex is a payment gateway allowing e-commerce businesses to collect online payments, and it offers virtual and physical cards for expense management. On the other hand, it's a more complex platform, and its features are plan dependent, that may require a steep learning curve for some users. And iBanFirst might argue that the Airwallex pricing structure is not the most SMB friendly. Another competitor is Payoneer, which specialises in facilitating payments to and from freelancers, contractors and online sellers. But with a split focus across multiple audiences, freelancers, businesses and marketplaces, Payoneer, arguably isn't so focused on developing solutions that meet the specific needs of SMBs. And then there is Ebury. Ebury offers forward contracts and other FX hedging tools and offers mass payment capabilities for handling multiple international transactions. However, its complex tailored pricing structure can make it harder for businesses to predict costs or compare Ebury to other providers. In addition, iBanFirst may argue that the Ebury platform is not so user friendly, making it harder to integrate into a modern tech stack. Two other competitors are Convera and Revolut. Convera does suit large businesses with more complex FX needs across multiple countries, but some SMBs may find the Convera platform overwhelming and potentially more expensive than alternatives like Wise or iBanFirst. And finally, there is Revolut. It features a tiered monthly subscription model and each plan comes with a monthly allowance for currency exchanges at the interbank rate. Revolut business does work well for companies that want a single platform to handle most of their financial needs. So, it does have a lot to offer in terms of functionality, but iBanFirst could argue it's not a specialised tool for a specific business type, because it tries to cater to vastly different audiences. Accordingly, some clients may find themselves paying for features that are not relevant to their business needs. And Savani can argue that if human support is a must have, iBanFirst can win against any of what is a very competitive peer group. "How global art auctions expose FX fees imbalance" was originally created and published by Retail Banker International, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
San Francisco Chronicle
5 days ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
20-somethings are leaving San Francisco — except for this one neighborhood
When Jack Giddings, 28, and his girlfriend Amanda Guo, also 28, decided to move in together, they had a short list of amenities that would make for their ideal place: They wanted somewhere with onsite parking, a more modern building and didn't want to deal with long commutes. Giddings works in downtown San Francisco and Guo commutes down to the Peninsula three times a week. While the couple originally looked in the more 'classic' San Francisco neighborhoods that they already knew and loved, like Nob Hill, Russian Hill, the Marina and the Mission, Giddings said, they couldn't find anything that checked their boxes and was in their budget. That's when their search brought them to SoMa, to a building right near Oracle Park. Their new spot has it all, Giddings said. It's just a 15 minute walk to his job and close to the freeways for hers, it's a newer building and, crucially, it has parking included. And there's an added benefit: plenty of nearby parks for their dog, Tuna (who, at just over 4 years old, you might also say is in his 20s in dog years — although the science of that is disputed). The data show that Giddings and Guo aren't alone. Though the city as a whole is seeing its share of 20-somethings shrink — part of an exodus spurred by the pandemic — SoMa is seeing the opposite. According to U.S. Census American Community Survey data from 2013 and 2023, about 16% of San Franciscans were between 22 and 29 in 2013. That declined to roughly 13% in 2023. But in SoMa, the trend was nearly the opposite. About 14% of residents were between 22 and 29 in 2013. That increased to about 20% by 2023, making it the only area to see a statistically significant increase in its 20-something population. Other parts of the city, like Potrero Hill, also saw increases in 20-somethings, per the data. But the margins of error on the population counts muddied the picture, making it possible that the changes were more due to counting errors than to actual changes, and thus not statistically significant. By the city's definition, SoMa, or South of Market, sweeps beneath Market Street from 3rd Street down to 11th Street, bordered on the southeast side by Townsend Street. The area features several tall residential buildings, many with amenities like gyms and roof decks. And over the last two decades, the neighborhood and the areas adjacent to it have seen tens of thousands of new housing units added — making it home to most of the city's new development over those 20 years. Still, it's an area that's struggled in the post-pandemic era, as businesses retreated from office buildings, construction languished and foot traffic slowed dramatically. On top of that, the neighborhood encompasses vastly different experiences, from luxury condos and trendy restaurants to troubled corridors like Sixth Street. To real estate agents, the demographic changes in SoMa weren't a surprise. Allison Fortini Crawford, a realtor with Sotheby's, listed off the very reasons that brought Giddings to SoMa, saying that the area has always attracted a younger age bracket because of its easy access to the freeway to get to tech jobs down the Peninsula, while still offering amenities like grocery stores, bars and restaurants within walking distance. And compared to other neighborhoods close to the freeway like Bernal Heights, SoMa is more 'hip,' she said, and less family-oriented. Real estate agents said that Potrero Hill, which saw a less statistically reliable increase, had many of the same qualities that might make it attractive to a younger crowd — particularly its proximity to the freeway — along with sweeping city views. Still, that doesn't mean SoMa is suddenly transforming into a 20-something haunt like the Marina. Giddings, for example, said that on the weekends, he and Guo spend a lot of their time in other neighborhoods where their friends live. 'We don't really stick around here that much,' Giddings said. 'Outside of baseball season, it's pretty quiet… it definitely caters towards commuters and people who are only here for work.'
New York Times
6 days ago
- New York Times
Sotheby's to Auction a Ceratosaurus, With Millions and More on the Line
In 1999, Brock Sisson was 16 years old and working at the Museum of Ancient Life in Utah. He was handed a box and warned not to drop it. Inside sat the upper jaw and nose horn of a young Ceratosaurus, a 150-million-year-old predatory dinosaur. In July, Sotheby's will auction off that specimen, estimating its value at $4 million to $6 million. The sale arrives about a year after the Sotheby's auction of 'Apex' the stegosaurus, which sold to the hedge fund billionaire Kenneth Griffin for $45 million. With the looming ceratosaur sale, paleontologists of both the academic and commercial varieties are expressing concern that another multimillion-dollar auction will distort the fossil marketplace. Driving more speculation, they worry, could further spike the already rising prices of fossil digs and lead to the duping of investors. Experts at Sotheby's respond that such sales — by attracting the interest of potential donors — inject more philanthropy in the field of paleontology. Prospectors discovered the ceratosaur, which the sellers have chosen not to nickname, in 1996 near Bone Cabin Quarry, Wyo. It is only the fourth Ceratosaurus skeleton ever found, and the only juvenile. The 10-foot-long animal is notable for its complete skull, made up of 57 'paper thin, super delicate' bones, Mr. Sisson said. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
