Academy Award winning actress Renée Zellweger. has listed her sprawling, 39-acre Pomfret, Conn. estate on the market for $1.5 million, according to Real Estalker, and is putting her celebrity status to good use in helping to sell the property.

“Socially, architecturally and aesthetically, Pomfret is the embodiment of the old-fashioned American small town,” she said in a recent release about the listing, “while it is simultaneously, a culturally rich and sophisticated community.”

Zellweger purchased the estate, the main house of which is a 1779 Colonial, 3,400-square-foot property with four bedrooms and three bathrooms, as well as a guest house and a barn, for $1.32 million in 2004 as a vacation retreat. [more]

Realogy’s net revenue for the third quarter was $1.2 billion, an increase of 10 percent from third quarter of 2010, the company announced today, largely due to an increase in transaction volume at the company’s franchises, which include the Corcoran Group, Citi Habitats, Coldwell Banker and Sotheby’s International Realty.

“Despite difficult macro-economic issues, our third quarter produced 10 percent revenue growth before restructuring and other items,” said Richard Smith, Realogy’s president and CEO. “Given the macroeconomic headwinds facing the housing market, our operating performance has shown resilience. We believe we are substantially advantaged with our leaner, highly variable cost model, a capital structure that includes $2.1 billion of convertible debt and the continued support of our largest investors.” – Katherine Clarke [more]

If the national real estate market behaved as Coldwell Banker brokers say their baby boomer clients do, a recovery would be in full force.

According to a survey of 1,333 agents conducted by the national brokerage and released today, 87 percent of Coldwell Banker agents reported having at least one baby boomer client who owns or is looking to own a second investment property. Twenty-two percent of respondents said at least half of their clients in the demographic own or covet such a property.

“Our survey clearly indicates that those boomers who are financially secure are actively seeking to buy their retirement home, or a second home, and they are taking advantage of the opportunities and value available in today’s market,” said Coldwell Banker CEO Jim Gillespie. – Adam Fusfeld
[more]

David Stevens, chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association, and Richard Smith, CEO of Realogy

Housing market experts remain divided over the Obama administration’s proposal yesterday to sell government-owned foreclosed properties and convert them to rentals. The administration’s suggestion would involve teaming up with private-sector partners, who may be willing to purchase pools of similar properties for conversion, in order to clear the foreclosure backlog and meet increasing demand for rental units. Yesterday’s request for information by the government, was primarily aimed at potential investors, the Journal said.
Solutions that rely on investors to clear the overhang of foreclosures have “extraordinary value,” said David Stevens, chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association, who previously served as the commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration.  [more]

New York’s horse farm properties have not been immune to the downturn and are facing sharp price reductions in both high- and low-end markets, the New York Times reported. For those who once had to board their horses because they couldn’t afford a farm, this may be the time to enter the market.
In North Salem, the heart of Westchester’s horse region, a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom renovated farmhouse with a three-stall barn and four acres is asking $895,000. Five years ago it would probably have asked closer to $1.3 million, according to Carol Goldberg, the listing agent for Vincent & Whittemore Real Estate. [more]

Short sales are becoming more and more common in expensive areas as Long Island luxury homeowners try to escape the embarrassment of a foreclosure, the New York Times reported. In Nassau County, 22 houses worth more than $1 million are listed as short sales and
in Suffolk County, that number is 12.

Short sale inventory reached a record high in April, according to Richard Halloran, managing broker of Coldwell Banker’s Babylon office, citing 1.042 Nassau homes listed as short sales and 2,430 in Suffolk. In December 2008, those figures were 1,541 in Suffolk and 633 in Nassau.

“With the courts at a standstill and banks not foreclosing on properties,” Halloran said, “the banks are getting better at doing short sales, so more people are doing them.” [more]

From left: Kelsey Grammer and Bill Clinton with the Almond in Bridgehampton, the Arthur Hammerstein House and 519 Broadway

For the past 10 years, the Hamptons’ A-list flocked to Almond in Bridgehampton for chef Jason Weiner’s macaroni and cheese with chopped truffles. But the restaurant closed in December, and Almond’s longtime location at 1970 Montauk Highway is on the market for $3.15 million with Town & Country Real Estate. The listing broker is Missy Capozzoli, who also worked for years as a part-time waitress at Almond. In addition, an apartment in the landmarked Arthur Hammerstein house in Beechhurst, Queens is on the market for $1.299 million. Also, a nautical-themed Soho loft is now on the rental market for $15,000 per month, according to the listing broker, Charlie Attias, a senior vice president at the Corcoran Group. Click here for more. [more]

Don Imus and his Westport, Conn. estate

Radio firebrand Don Imus and his wife, Deirdre, have slashed the price of their Westport, Conn. estate by $5 million to “meet the market,” listing broker Darlene Letersky of Coldwell Banker told Norwalk newspaper the Hour. The four-acre beachfront estate, which includes a 10,000-square-foot main house, a guest house and a gate house, is now asking $24.95 million. If it sells, it would be among Westport’s priciest real estate transactions ever (the 2006 sale of Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas’ 17-room mansion for $25 million currently holds that record). [more]

10138 SW 12th Street

The South Florida home to see the biggest price cut today is a
five-bedroom, four-and-a-half bathroom house at 10138 SW 12th Street in
Miami, according to data from Condo Vultures Realty. The $1.2 million
Miami-Dade County home saw a $200,000, or 14 percent, price cut. It was
originally listed for $1.5 million when it hit the market in January.
The price was last cut to $1.4 million in February. The
5,037-square-foot home sits on a 23,352-square-foot lot and has a pool,
spa, tennis court and patio. Humberto Garcia Miranda of Coldwell Banker
has the listing. (Condo Vultures
data includes condos and single-family home listings in the main
metropolitan areas of Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Key
West that are priced at $1 million and above, and that include
photographs. Listings are taken from the South Florida MLS.) TRD

[more]

1028 Willow Avenue in Hoboken

A 4,000-square-foot townhouse at 1028 Willow Avenue in Hoboken has sold for $2.295 million, the second-highest price ever paid for a single-family home in the New Jersey city. Recently featured on NBC’s “OpenHouse NYC,” the renovated townhouse has four bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms and a large two-car garage. Other features include an elegant master bedroom suite with a marble-encased bathroom and a garde [more]