You may be under the impression that these are challenging economic times. Wages are stagnant; we’re in the midst of a credit crunch and a housing crisis; the economy has crawled to a stop; and the cost of everything from food to gas to college tuition to healthcare has ballooned.
But perhaps that’s a myopic way to view the economic landscape. The Boston Globe reported that these downtimes have actually created a “bonanza of deals on luxurious pleasures” for the very, very wealthy. (thanks to reader E.S. for the tip)
At the Rolls-Royce dealership in Wayland, the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead is sold out into next year, and orders are still rolling in. Ferrari Maserati of New England in Foxborough notched more sales in April than in any of the previous 14 months. Boston Yacht Sales of Weymouth last week closed on three boats valued at a total of $1.6 million, helping to push business up by 9 percent over last year. Business has been so brisk at Shoreline Aviation in Marshfield that the wait time to purchase a sleek Cessna Citation jet is two years. Million-dollar condo sales, far from stalling like some other sectors of the real estate market, have continued at a pace about like last year’s.
In all of those things, dealers say they see no signs of a slowdown in coming months.
“If I had five Rolls-Royce Phantoms, they’d be gone the next day,” Paul Downey, sales manager of Herb Chambers Rolls-Royce Motorcars of New England and Bentley Boston, said of the convertible that retails for $440,000.
For the class of rich who make more than $1 million a year and have several times that in the bank, the time is right for indulgence. Falling interest rates have made luxury goods cheaper to buy, and the items, which tend to be considered investments because they retain their value, are proving attractive alternatives to the volatile stock market. There is also the foreclosure factor: A growing number of high-end boats, cars, and homes have been foreclosed upon by banks and can be had for cut-rate prices.
Thank goodness someone is benefitting from this recession, right?
The Globe talked to one executive — who, for some reason, didn’t want to be quoted by name — saying he’s noticed the downturn has cut into his company’s profits, which has led him to watch his spending habits. He nevertheless just bought a Ferrari. “With a Ferrari, that’s the car I like, and that’s the car I drive . . . so the economy is not going to affect that,” he said.
Wait, it gets slightly more insulting.
The Globe article concluded:
Still, from the vantage point of some of the region’s wealthy residents, doomsayers have overexaggerated the economy’s weaknesses. Jonathan Bush, president and chief executive officer of Athenahealth Inc., a Watertown-based medical billing and electronic medical records firm, took his company public last year and said the outlook is sunny.
To that end, he said he has donated money to nonprofits that he said he has wanted to support for many years, and he recently purchased a house in Cambridge’s Hubbard Park. The price was $3.1 million, according to the Middlesex Registry of Deeds records.
Bush, a cousin of President Bush, said he’s not a car guy, and has no immediate plans to purchase other big-ticket luxury items. But, he said, “Maybe the materialism is waiting to punch through.”
Yep, the feature piece about the superrich sailing through the recession includes an optimistic perspective from the president’s cousin — a multimillionaire who thinks materialism may soon “punch through.”
The mind reels.