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4 | Michael Saunders & Company LOCAL LEGACY GLOBAL VISION Christie's International Real Estate Releases its Greatest Hits of 2015 If you have any lingering doubts about the recovered strength of the U.S. market for luxury properties, here is an item of news that should put them to rest. Christie's international Real Estate, our international luxury brokerage partner, reports that its top ten property sales of 2015 amounted to a staggering $486.8 million, for an average sale price that approached $50 million. Seven of the sales originated in the U.S. Leading the hit parade was the sale of a Fifth Avenue co-op, overlooking New York's Central Park. In fetching $77.5 million, the spacious five-bedroom duplex topped the previous highest price paid for a city co-op apartment set in the summer of 2014 when more than $71 million changed hands for a palatial duplex just a few blocks away on Park Avenue. Comparable luxury costs much less in Southwest Florida, but is no less desirable. Just through mid-February, 59 properties priced from $1 million and up – Southwest Florida's official threshold for luxury – were sold in our three county market area of Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte Counties during 2015. 118 more are under contract as of this writing. Mayfair International's View from Abroad We all watched as the turmoil rocking the Middle East spilled over into Europe during the past year, making our domestic challenges seem modest by comparison. In fact, in a world currently beset by economic volatility and political strife, America stands as a beacon of stability for people with the goal of safeguarding their assets through prudent, long-term investing in properties overseas. With the U.S. real estate market demonstrating its resilience after one of the most challenging periods in its history, international buyers from abroad are eyeing our properties as never before. Nick Churton, Managing Director of Mayfair International Realty – our international brokerage partner in London – weighs in with some of his thoughts on how this should further stimulate the Florida property market. "The fortunes of the U.S. real estate industry have come full circle from the gloomiest days of the Great Recession," Nick writes. "And indeed it is Florida that is enjoying a large part of this reversal brought on by an improving U.S economy and of course by the unparalleled lifestyle potential of the Sunshine State." "By any measure of modern history, however, these are still troubled times," he adds. "The mass exodus of refugees from the Middle East and Africa to Europe is unprecedented since World War II. And it is not just people who are on the move. Money always precedes and follows mass migrations of this magnitude. With the cooling of economies in countries such as China and Brazil – as well as the precipitous drop in world oil prices bringing new challenges to petro-reliant countries like Russia, Nigeria and Venezuela – real estate in stable economies is a magnet for investors. And like the last major exodus, it is to America that many of these people will be drawn. Thus Florida as a haven within a haven will continue to invite more than its fair share of international purchasing activity for the foreseeable future." News from the Network Guided by a vision for giving homebuyers and sellers something they had never experienced before — extraordinary service, uncompromising integrity and cutting-edge marketing — a woman named Michael founded Michael Saunders & Company. Almost forty years later, and with her son Drayton by her side, Michael's firm has grown to be the leading independent real estate brokerage on Florida's Gulf Coast, with a meaningful local legacy and powerful international affiliations that place the company in a league of its own. 1976 WAS THE YEAR THAT REAL ESTATE WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME. LOCAL LEGACY. GLOBAL VISION. Guided by a vision for giving homebuyers and sellers something they had never experienced before — extraordinary service, uncompromising integrity and cutting-edge marketing — a woman named Michael founded Michael Saunders & Company. Almost forty years later, and with her son Drayton by her side, Michael's firm has grown to be the leading independent real estate brokerage on Florida's Gulf Coast, with a meaningful local legacy and powerful international affiliations that place the company in a league of its own. 1976 WAS THE YEAR THAT REAL ESTATE WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME. LOCAL LEGACY. GLOBAL VISION. michaelsaunders.com 1.888.552.5228 LOCAL LEGACY GLOBAL VISION

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