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Everyone seems to be having a tough time in today\u2019s housing market. Even billionaire media mogul and proprietor Rupert Murdoch is struggling\u2014but just in a very different way from young aspiring home buyers who can\u2019t afford to break into a housing market riddled with high mortgage rates and home prices.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Indeed, Murdoch\u2019s Manhattan penthouse was listed at such a high price, that he and his agent have had to cut the price by nearly 40% from $62 million to $38.5 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe revised price reflects current realities and is closer to where the market values the residence,\u201d Kyle Blackmon, head of luxury sales at Compass<\/a>, tells Fortune<\/em>. Murdoch did not respond to requests for comment.\u00a0 The triplex was first listed by the News Corp.<\/a> chairman emeritus for $62 million in 2022, and has since had multiple price cuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the current list price, Murdoch will take a loss on the property, since he purchased it for $57.9 million in 2014, according to a Wall Street Journal<\/em> report<\/a>. For comparison, the average home price in Manhattan is about $1 million, according to Redfin\u2019s most recent data<\/a>. Murdoch (and his family) have an estimated net worth<\/a> of nearly $21 billion, according to Forbes, <\/em>having started a media empire that includes Fox<\/a> News, The Times of London<\/em>, and The Wall Street Journal<\/em>. Murdoch stepped down as chairman in September 2023.<\/p>\n The luxury triplex is roughly 7,000 square feet\u2014more than twice the size of the average American home<\/a>. It boasts 20-foot ceilings, \u201cmassive art walls,\u201d and a 586-square foot terrace, which are features that \u201ccreate true scarcity value,\u201d Blackmon says.\u00a0<\/p>\n While the penthouse, which sits at the pinnacle of One Madison in Manhattan, is undoubtedly one of a kind, the price of the property attracts a very niche set of interested buyers.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cUltra-luxury property sales are challenging due to the limited buyer pool at these price points,\u201d Noah Rosenblatt, co-founder of New York City-based real estate analytics company UrbanDigs<\/a>, tells Fortune<\/em>. \u201cThese unique trophy homes are more akin to the art market than the real estate market, with value determined mainly by a potential buyer\u2019s perception.\u201d<\/p>\n Even Blackmon agrees that the property is so unique that it\u2019ll likely sell to a very specific buyer.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will sell this residence, and the buyer, who will likely be an art collector, will secure an exceptional value for this important and rare offering,\u201d Blackmon says. \u201cThis is the equivalent of a [Jean-Michel] Basquiat oil painting, an asset that can\u2019t be replicated in this location. Residences of this size and importance are selling for twice as much in several buildings in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n While price cuts can sometimes signal that a property was overpriced to begin with, Rosenblatt says these changes are relatively normal in the luxury real estate market.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cContrary to popular thinking, ultra-luxury listings are rarely overpriced,\u201d Rosenblatt says. \u201cAstronomical listing prices serve to affirm the property\u2019s luxury status and signal its availability, making the initial price a strategic tool rather than a straightforward market assessment\u2014an invitation more than a statement.\u201d<\/p>\n In other words, original list prices serve to mark properties as being ultra-luxury, and price cuts bring more buyers to the conversation of actually buying the property, Rosenblatt says.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the outside, it looks like the seller is chasing the market down, [but] these price reductions are more aptly described as trying to achieve market fit,\u201d Rosenblatt says. \u201cThe challenges [with selling the property] highlight the ultra-luxury market\u2019s volatility, driven by unique buyer preferences rather than traditional market forces, and underscore the ever-evolving definition of \u2018trophy\u2019 properties in NYC\u2019s resilient ultra-luxury segment.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nAbout Murdoch\u2019s sky-high Manhattan mansion<\/h2>\n
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