The Home Front

How Hank Paulson Ducked the Real Estate Crash

By Luke Mullins

Posted: January 14, 2009

As homeowners everywhere watch their properties lose value by the day, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's investment in an exotic bird-watching island is reportedly holding up quite well.

From Bloomberg:

Paulson and his wife, Wendy, paid $32.65 million to accrue a majority stake in Little St. Simons Island since 2003, county records show. Property values in the area have risen about 10 percent in five years, said Ann McCann of Sea Palms Realty Inc.

The island has five cabins that rent for $600 to $1,200 a night. Occupancy remains about 70 percent, even with the recession, said Joel Meyer, general manager.

The island, located off the Georgia coast near Savannah, is apparently accessible only by boat. It can be rented out for $8,000 a night, and cabins are often booked solid months in advance, Bloomberg reports. Eagles, roseate spoonbills, oystercatchers, and painted buntings are among the birds that can be found there.

Hey Paulson gods' flyin for your trail, think you ill begotten money will bail you then.

Mit Yeltu of AZ @ Jan 14, 2009 16:54:33 PM

We shouldn't have ever had a Treasury Secretary with that kind of money. He should be the regulatEE, not the presumed regulatOR.

of @ Jan 14, 2009 15:23:49 PM

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The Home Front

The Home Front

Associate Editor Luke Mullins tracks the treacherous housing market and explains how to unload a five-bedroom McMansion or even find that dream home.

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