Billy Joel Is Movin’ Out of His $49 Million Long Island Mansion
The Grammy winner wants to sell the roughly 26-acre waterfront estate now that he and his wife are spending more time in Florida
2 min
Billy Joel’s roughly 26-acre, waterfront estate on the North Shore of Long Island is coming on the market for $49 million.
The Grammy winner paid $22.5 million for the first roughly 14 acres of the Oyster Bay, N.Y., estate in 2002, public records show. More recently, he acquired several adjacent parcels of land, restoring much of an original estate that was broken up in the 1950s, according to listing agent Bonnie Williamson of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty.
Known as Middlesea, the property was briefly listed for sale in 2006 asking $37.5 million, but was taken off the market soon after, Ms. Williamson said. She said the Piano Man is looking to sell now because he and his wife, Alexis Roderick, with whom he shares two young children, are spending more time in Florida. A spokesperson for Mr. Joel couldn’t be reached for comment.
Located on Centre Island, a small island roughly 40 miles east of Midtown Manhattan, the estate is close to Mr. Joel’s hometown of Hicksville, a hamlet also located in the town of Oyster Bay. The centerpiece of the estate is a roughly 20,000-square-foot mansion. The property also has a floating dock, a beach house with guest rooms, a gate house, two outdoor pools and a helipad, Ms. Williamson said.
Currently under renovation, the five-bedroom main house has covered porches, brick columns and archways, and a two-story entry hall with black-and-white marble tiled floors. Other amenities at the estate include an under-construction playroom, a room designed to be a spa and hair salon, a bowling alley and a wine cellar. Mr. Joel covered up an indoor pool so he could use the space, which has excellent acoustics, as a music room, Ms. Williamson said.
The renovation of the house is expected to be complete by the late summer or fall, she said. Mr. Joel decided to put the house on the market in the midst of the renovation, Ms. Williamson said, because “whoever buys will want to do their own selections of how to paint and decorate and perhaps style the kitchen.”
Mr. Joel, known for songs like “Piano Man,” “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and “Uptown Girl,” is in the midst of residency at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Records show a company tied to Mr. Joel purchased an estate in the Lantana, Fla., area, for about $22 million in 2015. Another company tied to Mr. Joel also owns property in Sag Harbor, N.Y., records show.
Middlesea will be the most expensive home for sale in Oyster Bay, where the next priciest listing is asking $8.5 million, according to Zillow. In the first quarter, Long Island luxury sales were down by about 34% from the same period of last year, according to a recent report by Douglas Elliman.
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Ray White’s chief economist outlines her predictions for housing market trends in 2024
2 min
Ray White’s chief economist, Nerida Conisbee says property price growth will continue next year and mortgage holders will need to “survive until 2025” amid expectations of higher interest rates for longer.
Ms Conisbee said strong population growth and a housing supply shortage combatted the impact of rising interest rates in 2023, leading to unusually strong price growth during a rate hiking cycle. The latest CoreLogic data shows home values have increased by more than 10 percent in the year to date in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. Among the regional markets, price growth has been strongest in regional South Australia with 8.6 percent growth and regional Queensland at 6.9 percent growth.
“As interest rates head close to peak, it is expected that price growth will continue. At this point, housing supply remains extremely low and many people that would be new home buyers are being pushed into the established market,” Ms Conisbee said. “Big jumps in rents are pushing more first home buyers into the market and population growth is continuing to be strong.”
Ms Conisbee said interest rates will be higher for longer due to sticky inflation. “… we are unlikely to see a rate cut until late 2024 or early 2025. This means mortgage holders need to survive until 2025, paying far more on their home loans than they did two years ago.”
Buyers in coastal areas currently have a window of opportunity to take advantage of softer prices, Ms Conisbee said. “Look out for beach house bargains over summer but you need to move quick. In many beachside holiday destinations, we saw a sharp rise in properties for sale and a corresponding fall in prices. This was driven by many pandemic driven holiday home purchases coming back on to the market.”
3 key housing market trends for 2024
Here are three of Ms Conisbee’s predictions for the key housing market trends of 2024.
Luxury apartment market to soar
Ms Conisbee said the types of apartments being built have changed dramatically amid more people choosing to live in apartments longer-term and Australia’s ageing population downsizing. “Demand is increasing for much larger, higher quality, more expensive developments. This has resulted in the most expensive apartments in Australia seeing price increases more than double those of an average priced apartment. This year, fewer apartments being built, growing population and a desire to live in some of Australia’s most sought-after inner urban areas will lead to a boom in luxury apartment demand.”
Homes to become even greener
The rising costs of energy and the health impacts of heat are two new factors driving interest in green homes, Ms Conisbee said. “Having a greener home utilising solar and batteries makes it cheaper to run air conditioning, heaters and pool pumps. We are heading into a particularly hot summer and having homes that are difficult to cool down makes them far more dangerous for the elderly and very young.”
More people living alone
For some time now, long-term social changes such as delayed marriage and an ageing population have led to more people living alone. However, Ms Conisbee points out that the pandemic also showed that many people prefer to live alone for lifestyle reasons. “Shorter term, the pandemic has shown that given the chance, many people prefer to live alone with a record increase in single-person households during the time. This trend may influence housing preferences, with a potential rise in demand for smaller dwellings and properties catering to individuals rather than traditional family units.”
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