Luxury Market

California's luxury housing market is booming. In activity reminiscent of real estate's bubble years, the number of homes statewide selling at more than $5 million reached an all-time high last year, while those selling at $1 million or more rose to the highest level since 2007, a real estate information service has reported. Sales are up because well-heeled U.S. and international buyers, confident that the housing recovery is solid, are looking for places to park their cash, real estate experts said.

California's luxury housing market is booming. In activity reminiscent of real estate's bubble years, the number of homes statewide selling at more than $5 million reached an all-time high last year, while those selling at $1 million or more rose to the highest level since 2007, a real estate information service has reported. Sales are up because well-heeled U.S. and international buyers, confident that the housing recovery is solid, are looking for places to park their cash, real estate experts said.

At first glance it's hard to discern who made this new luxury car. The long sloping hood evokes a Mercedes-Benz S class. The bisected grill bears a touch of the BMW 7 series. The galloping horse hood badge hints of the "winged B" on a Bentley. With a dark burled wood dash and steering wheel, soft leather upholstery and brushed metal accents, the spacious interior oozes opulence. The driver's seat has a built-in massage system. The back seat offers a refrigerated compartment to keep drinks cool.

The number of homes statewide sold for more than $5 million reached an all-time high last year, while those selling at a million dollars or more rose to the highest level since 2007 last year, a real estate information service has reported. Cash buyers, an upturn in home prices and the recovering economy played a role in the increase, as did a year-end rush among the wealthy to take advantage of lower capital gains taxes by closing before year end. Across California, 697 homes sold for more than $5 million compared to the previous high of 491 in 2011.

While the post-crash luxury housing market is booming on almost every continent, first-time home buyers are having to settle for something smaller, to look farther afield or resign themselves to rented apartments. In Asia, Africa and Latin America--and even in the Soviet Union, where home ownership is rare--the trend is toward the suburbs or out of the city completely.

Lancer Yacht Corp. said this week that its president and a partner reached a verbal agreement to purchase the company from Bally Manufacturing Corp. of Chicago, which acquired the Irvine-based boat-builder in 1983 for $2.7 million in stock. Saul Padek, Lancer's president, would not disclose how much he and partner Bill Mead plan to pay for the company. Robert Hood, Bally's director of planning and development, refused to comment on the pending sale.

Seeking to ride a rebound in upscale housing sales, an investor group headed by two Orange County businessmen said Friday that it has acquired the business of Grubb & Ellis/Better Homes and Gardens in Orange and San Diego counties. "We have seen a real upturn in the luxury home market in the last 12 months and that prompted our move to purchase the company," said Dennis Gordon, former senior vice president and director of operations for Coldwell Banker in Southern California.

Drive around any European or Asian capital, and you'll rarely see a Cadillac. The only Cadillacs in Paris or Tokyo are likely to be driven by the U.S. ambassador or flown in for U.S. presidential visits. And therein lies a problem of stretch-limo proportions for General Motors Corp.: It lacks a potent luxury brand it can sell around the world, at a time when the luxury segment is emerging as one of the auto industry's hottest growth areas.

ho chi minh city, vietnam -- In a country whose peasant army once marched on flip-flops cut from old tires, Gucci beach sandals priced at $365 can come as a shock. But the luxury market is booming in Vietnam, where Ho Chi Minh's communist revolution exalted equality and the common man just a generation ago.

Less than two weeks after two European luxury car makers pulled out of the crowded U.S. market, Mazda Motor Corp. unveiled a new luxury division that will sell its pricey sedans in the United States beginning in 1994. Pricing for the two proposed Amati sedans has not been set, but Richard Colliver, general manger of the Amati division, said the car would be competitive with other luxury Japanese models priced at $25,000 to $45,000.

DETROIT - Fancy nameplates in the auto business are prepping for a bruising battle for buyers of entry-level luxury sport sedans. At the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week, the Germans and Japanese showed a flurry of new lower-end luxury models, which analysts say have big growth potential among cost- and efficiency-minded buyers who still want nicely appointed performance sedans. The new crop includes redesigned versions of the Lexus IS line, the first Mercedes-Benz front-wheel-drive sedan for the U.S. market, Infiniti's Q50 replacement for its G37 sedan and a BMW 320i, priced about 10% below where the current 3-Series line starts.

Swiss watch giant Swatch Group is scooping up Harry Winston Diamond Corp.'s luxury goods operation in a deal valued at as much as $1 billion. The Swiss firm will pay $750 million and assume up to $250 million in debt of the Toronto-based diamond specialist, which Marilyn Monroe crooned about in the 1953 film "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," Harry Winston said in a statement. The part of Harry Winston that is not sold will be re-dubbed Dominion Diamond Corp. and will source polished diamonds for Swatch.

BEIJING -- Ford Motor Co. continued its China blitz Tuesday, announcing that it would join the country's increasingly competitive luxury-car segment by introducing Lincoln automobiles to the Chinese market by 2014. The announcement comes a day after Ford broke ground on its sixth factory in China, a $600-million plant in the southwestern city of Chongqing, and revealed that it had won initial regulatory approval to free itself from a local joint venture to manufacture cars with Mazda.

"It's been a disaster, a disaster," bellows Ubaldo Grazia. The owner of his family's 500-year-old ceramics business isn't talking about the financial meltdown in his country or the Eurozone debt crisis, but the weak U.S. economy that he said had cost him one customer after another. Saks, Tiffany, Nieman Marcus, Williams-Sonoma — his list goes on. Grazia's company, now in its 25th generation, is one of dozens of ceramics makers struggling in this picturesque medieval town known for its handcrafted pottery.

Auto retailing giant Penske Automotive Group Inc. has bought the Crevier BMW and Mini franchises in Santa Ana. The acquisition, announced Tuesday, represents a move by the dealer chain to increase its presence in Southern California and in the luxury segment of the auto business. Over several decades, the Crevier family has built the dealership into one of the nation's largest BMW centers and recently set off a local advertising war by trumpeting the store's amenities, especially a putting green that customers can use while their vehicle is serviced.

In a dogfight that could help consumers get some of the best deals in years, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus are neck and neck in the race to be the top seller of luxury vehicles in America. For the first time in a decade, Mercedes-Benz is close to toppling Lexus for the bragging rights. But with two months of sales left, Lexus isn't ready to give up the title. That has set the stage for what is expected to be an all-out fight with both brands pouring on the advertising and offering year-end deals.

Less than two weeks after two European luxury car makers pulled out of the crowded U.S. market, Mazda Motor Corp. unveiled a new luxury division called Amati that will sell its pricey sedans in the United States beginning in 1994. Pricing for the two proposed Amati sedans has not yet been set, but Richard Colliver, general manger of the Amati division, said the car would be competitive with other luxury Japanese models priced between $25,000 and $45,000.

It may not be obvious, but well-heeled New Yorkers Rita May and Lorraine Machiz are on designer diets. Every season, May used to spend up to $1,200 to treat herself to a new Giorgio Armani suit, but not this spring. "The economic slowdown is making me more cautious," she said. "I'm looking for things that have more value." As for Machiz, news of layoffs and drastic stock depreciations have put her in such a bad mood that she doesn't feel like shopping.

Hyundai Motor America on Tuesday said that its new Equus luxury sedan will cost $58,000 or $64,500, depending on the trim level, when it goes on sale in December. The Equus ? which Hyundai wants to compete with expensive luxury sedans from Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and BMW ? is the South Korean automaker's first venture into the highest reaches of the luxury market. Currently, Hyundai's top-of-the-line vehicle is the Genesis sedan, which sells for about $25,000 less, depending on the model.

At first glance it's hard to discern who made this new luxury car. The long sloping hood evokes a Mercedes-Benz S class. The bisected grill bears a touch of the BMW 7 series. The galloping horse hood badge hints of the "winged B" on a Bentley. With a dark burled wood dash and steering wheel, soft leather upholstery and brushed metal accents, the spacious interior oozes opulence. The driver's seat has a built-in massage system. The back seat offers a refrigerated compartment to keep drinks cool.