Deconstruct

The family office managing the money of Alibaba execs Joe Tsai and Jack Ma recently purchased a condo at 220 Central Park South for around $190 million — a condo that last sold for $93 million. This extraordinary, almost 100 percent return shows how its becoming difficult to use comps as a way to compare luxury home sales across certain markets in the U.S.

You'll hear from Hiten Samtani, The Real Deal's associate publisher, and Jonathan Miller, who runs an appraisal firm called Miller Samuel.

In November, a company called Tokens.com bought 116 parcels of land for around $1.2 million. Only that land wasn't really land. The plots are located in Decentraland — a metaverse, or online virtual world.

Tokens.com is one of many firms that are buying up virtual real estate in the metaverse. But, what exactly are these firms using this land for? And is it actually real estate?

The Real Deal's Isabella Farr speaks to Tokens.com CEO Andrew Kiguel, as well as Janine Yorio, the CEO of metaverse investment firm Republic Realm and Michael Phillips, the President of Jamestown, which has re-created an iconic Times Square building in the metaverse.

Elizabeth and Ethan Finkelstein are the hosts of Cheap Old Houses, a show on HGTV, and run an Instagram account under the same name, as well as a listing website called Circa Old Houses. We chatted over Zoom about why they got into the business of finding, promoting and restoring Cheap Old Houses, and how their Instagram account blew up to 1.8 million followers.

Texas, the second largest state by population in the U.S., has seen unprecedented growth over the last year. Tech firms have flocked to Austin. Homebuyers are swarming to major metros. On the heels of launching our coverage of Texas, The Real Deal looks at what's driving growth in Texas and how developers are cashing in on the action.

You'll hear from Jacob Sudhoff, the CEO of Douglas Elliman Texas, and Dr. Luis Torres, a research economist at the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University.

Credits: Democracy Out There by Lobo Loco; KVUE segments

For our last episode of the year, The Real Deal's Suzannah Cavanaugh and Isabella Farr discuss whether the rebound of retail, industrial and commercial real estate will continue into 2022 with JPMorgan Chase's Kurt Stuart and excerpts from CBRE's 2022 Outlook Briefing. You'll also hear from Rhino CEO Paraag Sarva discuss how consumer-friendly tech is here to stay.

Credits: CBRE's 2022 Outlook Briefing, including excerpts from CBRE's global chief economist, Richard Barkham, global head of industrial and logistics research, James Breeze, and its global head of occupier thought leadership, Julie Whelan.

A look back at the year that was 2021. From the $82.5 million sale of a condo at 220 Park Avenue South in New York City to buying virtual property in the metaverse to WeWork's IPO, we look at the biggest events, deals and trends across the real estate world this year.

Between the pandemic, supply chain issues, labor shortages and now, a new variant, this shopping season is somehow stranger than the last. But, as restrictions have lifted and more of the country are getting booster shots, TRD reporter Suzannah Cavanaugh looks at whether are shoppers are returning to brick-and-mortar retail this holiday season.

You'll hear from Ethan Chernofsky, vice president of marketing at Placer, CBRE's Jamie Brooks based in Los Angeles, and CBRE's Annette Healey, who works for the firm's retail brokerage services across the New York Tri-State region.

The Real Deal's Isabella Farr looks at the housing craze that has gripped the region from Westchester up to Albany as buyers have flocked there from near and far during the pandemic.

You'll hear from a number of local brokers, including Sally Slater of Douglas Elliman, Nancy Felcetto-Horowitz of Brown Harris Stevens and Raj Kumar and Annabel Taylor from the Lillie K Team at Select Sotheby’s International Realty. We also speak to Katherine Lanpher, a senior editor at Grist, about why she moved to a hamlet in Albany County last year.

Earlier this month, Zillow quit the iBuying business. The firm would no longer buy and sell homes.

TRD reporter Erin Hudson discusses what happened and why Zillow's exit from the iBuying industry is so significant. You'll hear from Trulia co-founder Sean Black, who sold his firm to Zillow in 2015, as well as Rick Palacios Jr., who leads research at John Burns Real Estate Consulting.

After the Surfside collapse, Damac Properties submit a bid to buy the site for $120 million for redevelopment. Reporter Lidia Dinkova looks at the stalking horse bidder who is vying for the space, as well as who is supporting redevelopment and who is against it.

You'll hear from Martin Langesfeld and Pablo Langesfeld, the family of Nicole Langesfeld, and her husband, Luis Sadovnic who lost their lives in the collapse. Steve Rosenthal, a survivor of the collapse, is also featured.

Credits: Damac Properties commercial for Damac Bay from October 2021: and a 2017 NBC News interview with Hussain Sajwani.