Why, it seems like only 257 days ago that we were writing about how Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen had put their Back Bay penthouse on the market again, this time for $10.5 million, with no real listing photos and a hint of mystery. Were they selling because the family was growing? Were they buying elsewhere in Boston? What about that mansion in L.A. they were building? Was the unloading of the penthouse at 310 Beacon Street a prelude and prerequisite to a big, continental relocation? All the while, there was an entire NFL season and many, many hairstyle iterations for God's nephew.
Well, last Friday's deal, which trades the penthouse to an unknown buyer for $9.2 million, does little to answer these larger questions. There's no sign that Tomsele have bought elsewhere in Greater Boston, and the L.A. mansion is now complete (and the family may, in fact, be growing). And another NFL season is but months away. What we do know are answers to some real estate questions that have loomed o'er the listing since last fall.
Were they ever going to get that $10.5 million asking price?
Hmm. Does it matter? The couple first put the 3-BR, 3.5-BA spread on the market in 2009 for $10.9 million, but took it off by the start of the new year. It reappeared in October 2011 for $400,000 less. Between then and now, a funny paradox developed in Boston's luxury housing market: More places started selling, but generally at chopped prices (there were some exceptions to this, of course). This paradox (see chart above) led us just last week to wonder aloud not if, but when Brady and co. would lower the price on their penthouse.
They did. By, like, $1.3 million. Where does that place them on the ultra-luxury continuum?
Pretty darn high. Though the price-chop before the closing was rather titanic, even in a Boston getting used to them, the price still places the couple's deal, brokered for them by Gibson Sotheby's Allison Mazer, among the city's top five or six for 2012 so far. It's not nearly enough to overtake the top spot (set at $12.5 million in April by 15 Commonwealth), but nothing to sneeze at, especially consider the per-square-foot price of $1,700-plus.
And are there any other listings that could push it further down the continuum? We've known for a while that it was among the priciest askings in Boston.
Sure. The market's got plenty of seven-figure listings (even a few eights, like the Mason House with its music room and $17.9M tag). We suspect, though, that, like with the penthouse at 310 Beacon, several of these will not trade until their prices come down a tad or more. Respect the game.
· Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen Price-Chop Back Bay Manse [Curbed Boston]
· Tom Brady's Back Bay PH: 250 Days and Holding [Curbed Boston]
· Will Tom Brady's L.A. Plans Spur Back Bay PH Sale? [Curbed Boston]
· Boston's Luxury Market: Hold the Champagne, Grab the Cava? [Curbed Boston]
· Boston's Biggest Sale of '12! $12.5M for 15 Commonwealth [Curbed Boston]
· Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen's Very Exclusive Condo Club [Curbed Boston]
· Mason House Hits the Market for $17.9M, Music Room and All [Curbed Boston]
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