Time to Sell Penthouse. The Russians Have Cash.

More than 200 real estate brokers and lawyers, many of them among the most ambitious in the Manhattan real estate world, filed into an Off Broadway theater last month for three hours.

The subject of the gathering was not art, but money: specifically, how to sell multimillion-dollar properties to clients from Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe.

While the brokers sipped wine and nibbled cheese, a panel of lawyers and a banker reviewed some of the biggest sales made to Russians, including the $188 million spent on properties inFlorida and New York by trusts linked to Dmitry Rybolovlev, who made billions from potash fertilizer; the $48 million that a composer, Igor Krutoy, paid for an apartment at the Plaza Hotel; and the $37 million spent by Andrei Vavilov, a former deputy finance minister, on a penthouse at the Time Warner Center.

The real estate market in the United States may still be slumping, but its high end is enjoying a remarkable updraft, propelled by money flowing in from all corners of the globe, including from developing countries like Brazil, China and India. But no group is consistently writing bigger checks than the Russians

Russia's Alfa Capital buys 10.7 percent of Open developer

Alfa Capital Holdings, part of Mikhail Fridman's Alfa-Group, has acquired a 10.7 percent stake in Russian property developer Open Investments , a statement issued by the real estate group said.

Open Investments said on Friday the stake was acquired by NKB Investments, which is an affiliate of Moscow's Uralsib bank, documents seen by Reuters indicated.

According to Reuters data, a 10.7 percent stake is worth $29 million.

Alfa Bank confirmed it had purchased the stake but declined further comment.

Open Investments, controlled by Russian business and political figure Mikhail Prokhorov, is a commercial real estate developer in the Moscow region.

As Russian Real Estate Money Floods in, Could New York Go the Way of London?

LONDON — “The real estate market in the United States may still be slumping, but its high end is enjoying a remarkable updraft, propelled by money flowing in from all corners of the globe, including from developing countries like Brazil, China and India,” writes our colleague Alexei Barrionuevo in his latest real estate piece . “But no group is consistently writing bigger checks than the Russians.

“Over the past four years, Russians and other citizens of the former Soviet Union have signed contracts to buy more than $1 billion worth of residential real estate in the United States, according to estimates from lawyers and brokers.”

Alexei reports about Dmitry Rybolovlev, who made billions from potash fertilizer, Igor Krutoy, a composer, and Andrei Vavilov, a former deputy finance minister, among others.

Tsunamis of cash from extremely well-off Russians, as well as billions from Gulf oilmen and their families, have had a tangible impact on the real estate market in London, probably more than in any other city in the world.

The influx over the past years and decades helped to send the average price of a home in the central London borough of Kensington and Chelsea over £2 million, or more than $3 million, for the first time — while Britain is battling austerity, a downturn and falling wages and benefits.

Russia's Etalon sees long real estate market recovery

MOSCOW, March 19 (Reuters) - Russian housebuilder Etalon said on Monday the country's real estate market was still some way off pre-crisis levels and would continue to grow at least into 2013, prompting it to seek several new projects.

The company, which builds houses mainly in Moscow and St. Petersburg, said it contracted 270,000 square metres of property across both cities in 2011, compared to an adjusted 440,000 square metres for St. Petersburg alone in 2008.

"2012 is off to a strong start and we believe that the recovery will develop further, supporting our cash collections and new contract sales. We have every reason to look towards 2012 and 2013 with confidence," Etalon president Viacheslav Zarenkov said in a statement.

His comments came after Etalon posted 2011 net income up 64 percent to $253 million, on the back of a 16 percent growth in revenue to $774 million.