J. Christopher Flowers, founder of JC Flowers & Co. The company is a private-equity firm that bought a 20 million US Dollar co-op apartment in New York City

Billionaire, J. Christopher Flowers, founder of JC Flowers & Co. The company is a private-equity firm that bought a 20 million US Dollar co-op apartment in New York City. It was a cash deal. On that very same day, the former head of Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., Dwayne Andreas, gave up his home in Manhattan for 23.9 million US Dollars. This was also a cash deal.
New York City Department of Finance reported that the deals were among a long line in luxury year end home sales made before 1 Jan, where after an expected jump in capital gains taxes will follow. When Miller Samuel Inc. started tracking the information, they realized that there were more sales in the last three months of the year 2012, on luxury property in Manhattan than in any other fourth quarter in the last 23 years.
Miller Samuels defines Luxury sales as the top 10 percent by price, a 29 % increase from a year before to 260, which based on information gathered by the firm from public records. The numbers capture 85 percent of all such deals in the quarter and will climb higher as sales are completed in the final days of last month are reported to the city finance department. This information was collected from the appraiser’s president Jonathan Miller. In the fourth quarter, the median price of a luxury property was 4.4 million US Dollars.
In a recent interview President of the brokerage Brown Harris Stevens, Hall Willkie said, “Due to the impending income tax changes, there was marvelous pressure on contracts, especially high-end agreements, to get them locked before 31, Dec. There is a handful of so much important contracts that have so far to be reflected within public records.”
Even though budget talks were not finalized before the end of the year, tax increases were expected. The fiscal bill approved by Congress, elevated tax rates onto dividends as well as capital gains for family unit earning more than around 450,000 $ to 20 % from the 15 percent. A provision of the 2010 healthcare law that took effect at the beginning of the year adds another 3.8 percent to the rate for couples who are married and whose income is more than 250,000 US Dollars per annum.
The property that Flowers bought, has 6 bedrooms and it had been on the market since 2011. It was then listed for 23.5 million US Dollars. The full-floor apartment on Park Avenue and 66th Street has the New York’s premium floor plan which includes only two staff rooms, one gym and also a library, in accordance with the particular Brown Harris Stevens list on StreetEasy.com.
In accordance with an assistant who replied the phone within his New York workplace, Flowers is not within the region as he is traveling. He was not available to comment onto the deal.