It’s exactly as I expected. Back on November 22 when the auction of Michael Jordan’s house was postponed until yesterday, supposedly due to “interest stronger than anticipated”, I got suspicious. You don’t postpone a highly anticipated auction due to strong interest and then add on a $13 MM reserve price to boot. It was pretty clear that the interest was not there. So it’s no surprise that news surfaced late last night that the house did not sell – i.e. the high bid did not hit the reserve price.
To recap where this sale has been:
- Originally listed at $29 MM in February 2012
- Price dropped to $21 MM in January 2013
- I think it was in October that they announced that they would be auctioning the home without a reserve on November 22
- Auction postponed to December 16 on November 22 – this time with a $13 MM reserve price
At this point I think it’s pretty clear that very few people have need for a 56,000 square foot house with a regulation basketball court unless it’s bought at a pretty good discount. One has to wonder if perhaps the best use for it would be as a Michael Jordan museum that you could charge admission to. But I suspect that the tony neighbors would have an issue with that and zoning probably doesn’t allow it.
According to Michael Jordan’s spokeswoman, Estee Portnoy, “Concierge Auctions gave great exposure to the property and opportunity, but the market conditions were just not right to drive a fair value. We will be evaluating options for the property in the new year”. Well, “fair value” is what you can sell something for so they were able to drive a fair value. They just didn’t like the fair value. And although it’s not an ideal time of the year to be selling any house, I seriously doubt that the prospects for this home are going to be much better next year.
If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market, get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry, or you just think I’m the next Kurt Vonnegut you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.