Christopher Austad the agent and the former model

Being beautiful on the inside just doesn’t cut it for agents listing and selling homes. Rather, agents deemed to be physically attractive list homes for roughly $20,000 more and sell them for nearly $16,000 more than their, well, not-as-hot counterparts, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a study by three university professors.

The study asked a pool of 402 participants to rate agents on their headshots on a scale of one to 10 — one being hopeless and 10 being too hot to handle. The team of three professors then analyzed the agent pool’s seven-year business histories. [more]

315 Rose Hill Road in Water Mill

Real estate investor Andrew Borrok is putting his 20,000-square-foot Water Mill mansion on the market for $58.5 million, the New York Post reported.

The eight-bedroom home, located at 315 Rose Hill Road, was listed for the same price in 2010. It sits on 4 acres and includes a palatial $3 million kitchen with walk-in refrigeration, a bakery with artisan deck ovens and heated counters. [more]

Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side

The much-discussed Manhattan apartment inventory drought which led to vicious bidding battles may be on its way to being resolved, DNAinfo reported.

An increasing number of property owners have decided to capitalize on the market’s prices and have begun listing their homes, brokers told DNAinfo.”I think we’re going to see about a 10 to 20 percent influx [in apartments on the market],” said Douglas Elliman’s Brian Meier. “It will help buyers a little bit and calm down the bidding wars.” [more]

8 Thomas Street and Toni Haber (Building photo by Mark Maurer)

The five-story condominium building at 8 Thomas Street in Tribeca doesn’t have golden arches. But the complex has been linked to McDonald’s in recent years, amid residents’ complaints over the smell of exhaust fumes from delivery trucks parked outside the adjacent fast food restaurant at 317 Broadway. [more]

From left: 407 Vanderbilt Avenue and Arina Yakobi of Douglas Elliman

It’s a trophy property if there ever was one. A stately mansion hit the market in the Clinton Hill area asking a whopping $4.88 million — a record, according to StreetEasy. Despite the home’s relative grandeur, the most eye-catching detail in the listing photos is a stack of the current owner’s trophies (no, not the recently-dead kind, the sort you win at youth soccer tournaments) piled in the library. [more]

Vickey Barron

Vickey Barron, a top broker and managing director at Core, has boomeranged back to Douglas Elliman, The Real Deal has learned. The former Elliman agent, who departed for Core two years ago citing a less competitive work environment, has returned to the fold, representatives for both companies confirmed today.

Barron joined Elliman in 2000 and spent 11 years there, earning a berth as one of the brokerage’s top producers. Barron won the Real Estate Board of New York’s Rookie of the Year award in 2001. [more]

Joseph Moinian and W Downtown New York

Developer Joseph Moinian is planning to combine the top two residential floors of the W New York Downtown Hotel and Residences into one 12,000-square-foot duplex penthouse priced at $40 million, the New York Times reported.

By pooling 12 units on the 55th and 56th floors of the hotel at 123 Washington Street, he hopes to capitalize on the trophy apartment trend. The home comes with a $2 million credit toward construction and design. Moinian intends for this to help with marketing and selling the remaining 80 units in the building, the Times said. [more]

7 Harrison Street in Tribeca

A new 12-unit condominium conversion co-developed by Clarion Partners is coming to 7 Harrison Street in Tribeca, a property spokesperson told The Real Deal. [more]

Ben Stiller and 118 Riverside Drive (Interior photo via Elliman)

Ben Stiller and his wife Christine Taylor have sold their 4,000-square-foot, five-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bathroom duplex co-op on the Upper West Side for a hair under $9 million, according to New York City public records seen by Co-op Sales. [more]

Average rents in Manhattan in April (courtesy: Citi Habitats)

Rents continue to rise in both Manhattan and Brooklyn, according to monthly market reports from leading residential brokerages released today. And the market is only slated to tighten further, real estate executives said. [more]