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Top 10 Most Romantic Homes
CNBC feature on the Top 10 Most Romantic Homes:http://www.cnbc.com/id/41460410
Luxury home sales jump 21% in California
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/12/business/la-fi-luxury-home-sales-20110212
Luxury home sales jump 21% in California
In California, sales of luxury homes rise for the first time in five years even as overall home sales decline.
The 48,000-square-foot Le Belvedere in Bel-Air sold for $50 million to…
Even the rich love a deal.
California homes priced at $1 million or more experienced a sales boom in 2010, the first increase in five years, even as overall home sales in the state declined, a real estate information service reported. The reason: High-end home shoppers went bargain hunting as certain parts of the economy improved but luxury home prices remained depressed.
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The Most Expensive Celebrity Real Estate For Sale
Morgan Brennan, 01.13.11, 11:15 AM EST
From Michael Jackson's estate to Val Kilmer's ranch, these A-listers' homes are up for grabs.
Celebrities are a picky bunch when it comes to buying homes. Among the amenities they may regard as necessities: screening rooms to watch their celluloid selves, entertainment spaces to host A-list parties and elaborately equipped gyms to keep those tabloid-gracing abs rock-hard. Other must-haves are high-tech security systems and secluded locations.
“The home really should be set off the street or down a private driveway,” explains Jade Mills, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Previews International of Beverly Hills, who regularly handles celebrity real estate deals like the late Dennis Hopper’s $6.2 million compound, which she currently shares with fellow agent Jane Gavens.
It’s no surprise then that the properties celebrities like Ricky Martin, Dr. Phil McGraw and Anjelica Huston have on the market are walled-in fortresses tucked into exclusive neighborhoods. Many are in Beverly Hills, where the average police response time to calls for assistance in a speedy three minutes.
We tapped online listing sites Realtor.com and Trulia to round up a list of the most expensive celebrity-owned real estate now for sale. We narrowed the search to Multiple Listing Service (MLS)-listed properties that currently belong to high-profile people in entertainment or that did so in the past. The result is a list of the 15 priciest properties for sale from America’s rich and famous stars.
Boston Red Sox third-baseman Adrian Beltre no longer needs his $19.8 million Bradbury, Calif., home, thanks to his team transfer. TV personality Dr. Phil has listed for $16.5 million a posh Beverly Hills home he purchased in 2002 for $7.5 million cash. McGraw has already snatched up another local home.
Some of these properties' celebrities owners have passed away. That includes Michael Jackson’s Holmby Hills French chateau-inspired home, which is now up for grabs. The home is listed for $23.5 million and includes everything the superstar could have dreamed of to keep the paparazzi at bay. Among the amenities are an in-house spa, plush home theater and an elevator. The only hitch? It’s also where the King of Pop suffered his premature, drug-induced death.
Candy Spelling, the widow of hugely successful TV producer Aaron Spelling, and mother of actress and reality star Tori, owns the most expensive celebrity residence currently on the market. It’s price: a jaw-dropping $150 million, making it one of the most expensive residences for sale anywhere.
Spelling Manor sits on 4.7 acres of lush landscaping and boasts an orangery and a 56,500-square-foot mansion filled with everything from a two-lane bowling alley, game arcade and billiard room. There’s even a professional flower-cutting hall. If you don’t want to pay cash, Spelling Manor can be yours for monthly mortgage payments of $881,961, as calculated by
It probably comes as no surprise that homes in this league can take time to sell, and some on our list have been for sale for half a year or more. “Even in good times the market for these more expensive homes is elongated. You don’t sell these right away,” says Joyce Rey, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Previews International who has brokered sales for Nicholas Cage, Jennifer Lopez and Hugh Hefner. “It’s not as if there are 50 buyers out there looking for what you are offering.”
How do you get to tour such a home? Not during a Sunday afternoon open house, that’s for sure. Instead, the process of viewing a celebrity home as a potential buyer is an arduous one. The Coldwell Banker brokers rigorously screen those who claim to be in the market to shelter celebrities from “vanity showings.”
The high-profile owners of some of the homes on our list are struggling to drum up interest. Ricky Martin’s posh Miami mansion was listed a few years back, pulled off the market and relisted in 2010. Some celebs would rather wait than get burned in a fire-sale; others slash their asking prices. Actor Val Kilmer’s 6,000-acre Pecos River Ranch first hit the market in 2009 with a $33 million price tag. Since then it’s been chopped 44% to its current $18.5 million asking price. Kilmer has fallen up other hardships with the property; as of early January Kilmer’s failure to pay income taxes had straddled the New Mexico nature preserve with a nearly $500,000 lien.
Abbe Lane, a songstress and actress of the 1950s and '60s, has been trying to sell her Los Angeles home since 2008. Initially listed for $19.7 million, her home can now yours for $9.95 million.
While ultra-luxury real estate on average has not suffered to the same extent as the rest of the market, values have dropped 20% in places like Los Angeles, according to Rey. As with less opulent abodes, sellers can do themselves a favor by subscribing to several basic sales tenets.
“Price point is key,” emphasizes Mills. “If you can price something appropriately and it’s a desirable location, it will sell fairly quickly.”
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Chinese Investing & Joyce Rey: new members flock to China's bling-bling club
Read more »Huffington Post - Stone Canyon
Jon Douglas' Bel-Air Estate For Sale
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/29/jon-douglas-belair-estate_n_788828.html#s192796
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Home of the Week - 300 Stone Canyon
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Read more »Chinas Purchasing Power
Chinas Purchasing Power
By Kathleen Carlin-Russell, Editor in chief
A massive population, The Great Wall, its cuisine…these are just a few of the things China is best known for around the world, and, in many circles, global luxury-home owners is being added to that list.
China’s recent boom years have led to the creation of a new wealthy class, whose buying power has helped propel property markets in places like Hong Kong, for example. Just last week, Hong Kong’s Monetary Authority released data showing that its luxury properties are now priced at even higher levels than the peaks of 1997, the year of the Asian financial crisis. Specifically, apartments in the 1,000-square-foot range now cost 13.8 percent more than in the third quarter of 1997. Buyers from mainland China have fueled Hong Kong’s market for years, and demand continues, even as prices rise. Higher pricing in places like Hong Kong is no doubt one of the reasons such buyers have also branched out to other destinations, with London, Vancouver and Singapore ranking among the most sought-after locations for high-end homes among China’s elite, according to sources such as Colliers International and Knight Frank. About $260 million has been spent by Chinese investors on London’s newer properties from March 2009 through March 2010, according to Knight Frank; and a recent Savills report showed that 35 percent of new development sales in London involved Chinese buyers.
That trend should continue and broaden, as local policies are encouraging. China’s well-heeled residents to look beyond their country’s offerings for high-end real estate investments. For example, more than a dozen local governments in China have made moves to restrict the number of homes a family can purchase, as well as increase the down payments required for such buys. Such policies, as well as the strengthening of the yuan against other currencies, have made global luxury home purchases seem even more enticing to China’s wealthy.
Next on the list of potential hotspots for such investors? Sunny California, say some luxury specialists, including Joyce Rey of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. A veteran of the high-end market who has been in real estate for more than three decades, Rey is currently in China meeting with high-net-worth individuals to discuss some of Southern California’s top offerings. No doubt, she will offer information on two of her most well-known listings, Fleur de Lys (priced at $125 million) and Hummingbird Nest Ranch (listed for $75 million), two of the most expensive homes for sale in the United States.
http://content.uniquehomes.com/2010/11/chinas-purchasing-power/
Interview with Chinese Radio Station for Caimeiju.com
Interview with Chinese Radio Station for Caimeiju.comYuanfen New Media Art Space - Invitation
Read more »Joyce Rey in the Chinese News
Joyce Rey：
美国豪宅现在是最佳投资时间
来源：搜狐焦点网 作者：郑雯婷
2010年10月22日16:22 我来说两句(0)
贝弗利山豪宅
Joyce Rey是美国COLDWELL BANKER国际豪宅事业部的两位执行董事之一。
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在美国，COLDWELL BANKER科威国际不动产和21世纪不动产均是REALOGY集团的子公司。 Joyce在2010年创造了美国房地产经纪人最高销售成交额，也是西洛杉矶的最高销售成交额。曾经的她是在洛杉矶中南区担任总培训教师，也担任过空姐和政治旅行与委任秘书。本次搜狐焦点也有幸请到Joyce女士来为我们介绍美国的豪宅市场和投资导向。 【主持人】：据我们所知，科威不动产在中国有114个销售点，今天我们有幸邀请到了科威国际豪宅部执行董事Joyce Rey女士参与我们的访问。这是您第一次来到上海，并参加我们的访谈。
【Joyce Rey】：对，我爱中国。
【主持人】：您能介绍一下美国房地产是怎么样的发展状况么？
【Joyce Rey】：我们美国的房市经历了经济衰退的打击，现在房价有所下降。在我所在的洛杉矶附近没有美国其他地方下降那么严重。现在贷款利率在美国比较低，现在是比较好的购房时间。 现在是非常好的时机，尤其在贝弗利山这块地区，房价受市场波动的影响不会很大，房价比较坚挺。
本系统支持键盘方向键←和→翻页
http://sh.focus.cn/news/2010-10-22/1079851.html
2010-11-09
郑雯婷 Wendy 搜狐焦点上海站记者 Reporter of Sohu Focus
Tel：（86021）23081730 MSN:zwtalways@hotmail.com E-mail:wentingzheng@sohu-inc.com
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Houses Dont Sell Themselves
Read more »One Palace, Never Used - The Los Angeles Business Journal
One Palace, Never Used - The Los Angeles Business JournalJoyce Rey October 2010 LA Times
Read more »Haute Living 2010 Joyce Rey Power Players
Read more »LA TIMES Bel-Air mansion fetches highest price this year for a U.S. residence
Read more »FORBES - America's Most Expensive Mansion Sells
Read more »Joyce Rey & Stacy Gottula on Extra
Joyce Rey & Stacy Gottula on Extra
630 Nimes "Wanna Buy A Mansion In Bel Air?"
http://extratv.warnerbros.com/videos/
Joyce Rey & Stacy Gottula on ExtraJOYCE REY - FORBES - America's Most Expensive Homes
JOYCE REY - FORBES - America's Most Expensive Homes
http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/05/most-expensive-homes-lifestyle-real-estate-luxury-properties-amenities.html
Luxury
America's Most Expensive Homes
Francesca Levy, 05.05.10, 5:20 PM ET
Candy Spelling, widow of television giant Aaron, has listed the Manor, Los Angeles' largest, and arguably most opulent, house up for sale at $150 million, out-pricing every other listed home in the country. Just down the street the owner of a sprawling classical style marble mansion is asking for $125 million, making it the second most-expensive home in America.
Yet another home for sale is in the triple-digit millions, a massive but secluded $100 million Lake Tahoe ranch. You'd never know the country was in a recession based on the cost of these homes. In fact, pricing for this small group of properties is even stronger than last year's list, which was riddled with markdowns. This year's top 10 ranges in asking price from $65 million to $150 million, with an average price of $88.5 million. That's nearly $10 million higher than last year's average. A handful of incredibly expensive homes have been on the market for several years at prices that have not budged through the housing crisis.
But the cost of these estates doesn't serve as much of an economic bellwether--fluctuations of price in this stratosphere have almost no relationship to supply and demand in the broader market. At this price point, the sale of even one home can be a game changer.
To find the country's most expensive homes, we studied real estate listings and news reports,
contacted brokers of prominent luxury homes and spoke to those that follow the luxury real estate
market. We limited our list to homes on the public market--some high-priced sales are closed-door
transactions--but we included ones we could verify. Sales of land alone were also excluded. We included properties with a commercial element if they were anchored by a significant residence, like ranches, or townhouses that include retail space.
The Priciest Get Pricier
Five of the homes on our list have been added since we compiled last year's list, at prices high enough to bump two $60 million homes off. One of them is the Manor, which didn't make the list last year because its listing couldn't be verified. The Kaiser Estate, on the coast of Oahu, is on the market for $80 million and comes with landscaped grounds and some history; it originally belonged to the industrialist Henry J. Kaiser. The other newcomers are a $75 million California estate outside of Palm Springs that features a world-class golf course, a stately grey historic mansion on Manhattan's Madison Avenue for $72 million, and a sprawling estate in Bridgehampton, N.Y., with waterfront views and acres of rolling farmland. It is at the low end of our list, at $68 million.
Movement at the highest end of the market
Two of last year's homes have been sold--no small feat in a down economy. But neither commanded anything near their sky-high asking prices. The massive Bel Air mansion Le Belvedere, which went on the market in early 2009, was quickly reduced from $85 million to $72 million. The discount worked: It is currently in the escrow stage of a sale for an undisclosed
price. The sellers of Colorado's Bootjack Ranch, a rambling property replete with natural beauty, were sensitive to a changing market. The home was once listed for $88 million, but in 2008, $20 million was shaved off the price to lure buyers. Last week Bootjack was sold for $47 million. In spite of a 47% price cut, $47 million hardly smells like defeat to Bootjack's broker Bill
Fandel, of Peaks Real Estate Sotheby's International Realty, who echoes luxury brokers that have newfound hope for the market. “News of its sale may stimulate additional activity among the nation's top-tier properties,” says Fandel.
One example: the $75 million Portabello Estate, in Newport Beach, Calif., which was pulled from the market late last year. The McMonigle Group realtors are negotiating with the owners to re-market the home, and interested buyers are welcome to tour it.
Several of last year's most expensive properties are still for sale. This is because it often takes far longer than a conventional listing for trophy homes to find a buyer, since the universe of people with the assets to purchase them is so small. It's worth noting that those four homes, the $125 million Fleur de Lys, $100 million Tranquility estate, $75 million former Julius Forstmann home on Manhattan's Upper East Side, and $65 million Robert Taylor ranch in Brentwood, Calif., have held firm on price since their appearance on last year's list, suggesting buoyed seller confidence. What's missing from this list are the luxury auctions, dramatic price reductions and fire sale prices that became de rigueur
among multimillion-dollar homes in the past year. The owners of these homes seem to have the patience, and the means, to wait for the right buyer.
MAY MARKET UPDATE from California Association of Realtors
http://videos.car.org/mediavault.html?mhttp://videos.car.org/mediavault.html?menuID=1&flvID=7enuID=1&flvID=7Read more »
CB Leads the Charts:
According to Alexa – the Nielsen of the web – ColdwellBanker.com out ranks Keller Williams, Prudential Prime Properties, Sotheby’s Homes and Christies Great Estates in popularity on the web.And Coldwell Banker Previews.com is the most popular national RE site solely dedicated to luxury properties. Read more »
Annual UNICEF Meeting Videos
Below are links to two powerful and compelling videos that were shown at the Annual UNICEF Meeting last week. Please watch:
Year in review 2009-2010 http://vimeo.com/11471836
Haiti 2010 http://vimeo.com/11474405
Password for both videos: unicef
Read more »Haute Living - 100 Most Influential People in LA
Read more »NBC OPEN HOUSE - 636 Tuallitan Airing this Sunday, 12/6 @ 7 AM
Click Below to view the fabulous property on NBC "Open House":
636 TUALLITAN RD BRENTWOOD CA 90049
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Amazing new gated estate on approximately ½ an acre of sunny lawns, streams & natural Redwood Forest. Built with the finest quality. Dramatic spaces connect the indoors to the outdoors with floor to ceiling windows. Total of 6 bedrooms, 5.5 baths, including 2 master suites w/ room size closets, bathrooms w/ heated floors, gardens and terraces. Library, media room, large open gourmet kitchen / family room and wine cellar. Fabulous outdoor entertaining areas w/kitchen, theatre, state of the art spa, streams waterfalls and rain forest. An incredible home in the most amazing setting. Permitted pool can be built immediately. Close proximity to Brentwood shops and restaurants.
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Tips for the Spring Selling SeasonWorld's Priciest Cities To Own A Home
World's Priciest Cities To Own A HomeWith Amenities to Rival the Ritz - 630 Nimes Rd
With Amenities to Rival the Ritz - 630 Nimes RdL.A. Developer Hadid Offers $85 Million Home
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Read more »Wall Street Journal 2008 Top Real Estate Teams
Wall Street Journal 2008 Top Real Estate TeamsLos Angeles Business Journal - Award Winner
Los Angeles Business Journal - Award WinnerAmerican Cancer Society Garden Gala Event Celebrating her Award with Famed Chef Wolfgang Puck
American Cancer Society Garden Gala Event Honored Top Realtor Joyce Rey and Activist Nancy Daly-Riordan, Welcomed LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
American Cancer Society Garden Gala Event Honored Top Realtor Joyce Rey and Activist Nancy Daly-Riordan, Welcomed LA Mayor Antonio VillaraigosaJoyce Rey (Queen of California)
Joyce Rey (Queen Of California)California Spirit Invitation
California Spirit InvitationBillionaire 500 Magazine
Joyce Rey - Californian Real Estate Legend
Since its launch, Billionaire 500 magazine has established a reputation for bringing to its global readership the best of the best in each sector we cover. So when it comes to real estate in the multimillion dollar neighbourhoods of West LA, there was one person who sits at the top of property broker pyramid that we were keen to meet.
Her name is Joyce Rey - and while her name may not mean as much to our international readers, within the US real estate business she is as bigger star as many of the Hollywood celebrities she counts among her clients. In over three decades she has set multiple sale records as an expert in landmark Californian estates and is one of the most influential brokers in the nation.
We met Joyce at her office in Beverly Hills where the plethora of photos of her with A -listers and politicians is matched only by shelves of industry awards. And yet if you are expecting a ruthless career woman you are mistaken. Joyce is an instantly likeable, down-to-earth and kind-faced lady who immediately puts you at ease and its quickly apparent why her long-standing clients come to see her as much as a friend as well as a broker.
But success doesn’t come with a warm smile alone and her remarkable career has been defined by her relentless hard work to do the best in all she does, her attention to detail, her intellect and ability to multitask before there was even a word for it.
A USC scholar with a Masters in business education, she has been a teacher, flight attendant and a political secretary. Fate and personal experience of buying and selling homes lead her into the real estate business and in 1979 she founded the original Rodeo Realty which was to become the first company to represent properties over $1 Million. Hard to believe now, but this was remarkable at the time and it carved out a career niche.
As her company got bought and sold she steadily became a bar-raising performer with a reputation for representing the most substantial and beautiful properties in West LA, breaking records and winning industry acclaim. She closed the highest sale in a decade in Beverly Hills in 2001, negotiated the sale fo the Harold Lloyd Estate, handled the highest sale of the time in Bel Air, exclusively represented Trump National Golf Club Estates (Palos Verdes) along with countless other mega mansions that she has sold several times over from Beverly Hills to Malibu.
Her accolades are overwhelming, but her proudest moment was being no 1 agent in the country. She is now one of only 2 Executive Directors for prestige property giant Coldwell Banker Previews International. Today she is consistently in the top 1% of performers and still driven by a passion for matching people with homes, and shows no signs of slowing down. Somehow she still finds time for numerous social, community and charitable commitments as well as personal avocations of film, art , yoga and mentoring.
We’ll no doubt see a number of Joyce’s multimillion dollar dream-home listings in coming issues but we thought the time was right in these pages to look at the person behind the properties. Her long experience in dealing with local and interstate ultra-wealthy clients and celebrities means she is absolutely client driven, both in terms of confidentiality and stellar service. I was certainly impressed by her genuine passion to always do the best for those she represents, negotiating the most equitable deals for buyers and sellers.
Joyce said although the general market conditions had slowed sales volume , the top end had shown steady growth reflecting that these legendary neighbourhoods always represent a safe bet. For international buyers releasing high European equity gains to take advantage of the weak dollar there are some stunning acquisitions to be had at some of the word’s best addresses and the Beckhams won’t be the only new internationals coming to town this year. But if there is one thing we know from our high net worth readers, its that you value the best information from best in the business. In our view, if your eyes are on the 90210 area, that would be the lady pictured to the left.
Copyright: Billionaire 500 (UK) Ltd.
http://www.billionaire500.com/
Read more »Enclave
Like the famed erroneous report of Mark Twain’s death, accounts of the demise of the real estate market in Southern California might be labeled as greatly exaggerated.The luxury market in West LA continues to produce noteworthy sales, particularly at the ultra-high end. Through early May, there were nine closed sales of more than $20 million for 2007 alone; in 2006 there were 11 sales for the entire year. In addition, there is s a pending sale in excess of $20 million and extensive activity in the highest price ranges.
Among the recent Beverly Hills homebuyers to top the barrier were actor Tom Cruise and international soccer star David Beckham and his former Spice Girls wife, Victoria. Posh knows posh.
In Los Angeles County, the median home sales price increased 2.7 percent in April from March, and was up 5.5 percent over April 2006. The average sales price in Beverly Hills during the final quarter of 2006 was $1.86 million, a hike of 3 percent from the previous year.
This is not a surprise as Beverly Hills, with its reputation for affluence, neighborhood charm, safety and top-notch schools, traditionally is one of the world’s premier luxury markets. The city’s famed 90210 ZIP code routinely ranks among the highest annually in median sales prices, according to Forbes magazine.
“The market on the high end is extremely active,” says Joyce Rey, the executive director of Coldwell Banker Previews in Beverly Hills. “Sales have just been staggering. Beverly Hills is such a beautiful city and offers so many amenities from fine shopping and dining to first-class schools and top of the line police and fire departments that people are constantly drawn here. I think that always will be the case.”
Another indication of the market’s strength is the willingness of developers and investors to spend money on projects in Beverly Hills. In April, for example, a British developer paid $500 million for a former department store in Beverly Hills with the intentions of tearing it down and erecting a complex featuring 252 multi-million-dollar condominiums, designed by Richard Meyer. It was one of the largest property sales in Southern California history. At least nine more condo or hotel/condo projects are in the works, including a proposal for a new Waldorf Astoria Hotel and the Montage Hotel, which is under construction.
“There is a world-wide audience for these new projects,” says Rey, a longtime resident of Beverly Hills who has been part of transactions involving some of the city’s most well-known properties, such as Pickfair and Greenacres. “Westside real estate is undervalued when compared to every other major city in the world. Our real estate is an extremely attractive investment, especially for foreign investors.” Read more »
Los Angeles Times
Front page, Saturday, July 7, 2007
No housing slump for super-rich
Sales and prices have never been better in the Platinum Triangle
By Annette Haddad, Times Staff Writer
Joyce Rey stands in the soaring marble entryway of a palatial Bel-Air estate, ticking off its selling points.
Master suites? There are five of them, along with three living rooms, a gymnasium and a library. The dining chamber is “embassy-size,” and the pool and gurgling fountains are on par with those at the finest hotels.
“There are six bedrooms under the tennis courts, and nine more above the 10-car garage,” Rey tells a cluster of fellow sales agents scouting the place on behalf of clients. “And don’t forget to see the kitchen downstairs. It’s a commercial kitchen, and big enough to feed an army.”
At $40 million, it’s not for everyone. Yet Rey knows business has never been better in what’s known as the Platinum Triangle of Beverly Hills, Bel-Air and Holmby Hills.
Soccer star David Beckham, Amazon.com founder and Chief Executive Jeff Bezos and actor Tom Cruise all bought here this spring, paying $22million to $35 million for their own grand estates. “Homes like this will always have buyers because this is where the rich want to live,” says Rey, a trim platinum blond who looks at home amid the elegant surroundings in her sleek designer suit and peep-toe heels.
When Rey started selling real estate in the area three decades ago, it was known merely as the Golden Triangle.
Maybe it’s time for another upgrade. While much of the nation — and the region — suffers through a real estate slump, sales in the Platinum Triangle are stronger than ever.
In the first four months of the year, 23 estates selling for at least $10million closed escrow in the area, according to records kept by local real estate agents, up from 10 last year. By contrast, home sales in Los Angeles County fell 19.1% through May, according to research firm DataQuick Information Systems.
Property values in the Platinum Triangle area are also outpacing the county overall, climbing 9% from Jan. 1 through May 30, compared with a 3.9% rise countywide. Indeed, the continued strength at the high end of the market has helped mask flat or declining prices elsewhere, such as in the Antelope Valley.
Super-rich get richer
Before the recent cooling trend, of course, most Southern California homeowners saw their properties escalate sharply in value. Still, the numbers sound a bit more dramatic at the upper registers.
“Twenty million dollars is the new $10 [million],” says a Beverly Hills sales agent who tallies “the list,” the unofficial log of the Westside’s high-end sales. Real estate experts say sales are being fueled by several factors, including the growing ranks of the wealthy.
The richest 5% of the nation’s population saw its average household wealth soar 40% (adjusted for inflation) from 1990 to 2005, according to census data. That contrasts with a 7.3% increase for middle-income families. The super-rich are also getting super-richer: In 2000, 274 Americans on the Forbes 400 list had a net worth of at least $1 billion. By 2006, all 400 on the list had at least that much. Rick Goodwin, who keeps tabs on the nation’s luxe estates as the publisher of Ultimate Homes magazine, says the U.S. is going through another Gilded Age.
“The wealthy are growing exponentially compared to the rest of us and they’ve got the money to really fulfill their fantasies,” Goodwin says. “One way they do that is by buying trophy properties.” And few places in the world tout as many real estate crown jewels as Beverly Hills, Bel-Air and Holmby Hills, which typically offer lush, pastoral grounds and sweeping city or ocean views.
“It’s one of the last best places to own,” says Jeff Hyland, a Beverly Hills real estate broker who chauffeurs his clients in a smokegray Bentley.
As the film and entertainment capital, Los Angeles also has the advantage of being an international destination. And thanks to a weak dollar, it’s a relative bargain to wealthy foreign buyers.
$9.9-million fixer-upper
On a recent Tuesday, Hyland spent his day greeting fellow sales agents at an open house at the top of Hillcrest Road in the heart of the most sought-after ZIP Code — Beverly Hills 90210. With floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city and the Hollywood Hills, the mid-century modern is owned by the family of the late Nathan Shapell, the Los Angeles developer who created Porter Ranch. Sitting on a one-acre lot, the house has a list price of $9.9 million. For that bargain price, it’s a fixer-upper.
“We’re looking for a buyer who is willing to spend around $2 million restoring it,” Hyland says. The Platinum Triangle wasn’t always on fire. During Southern California’s real estate downturn in the 1990s, Beverly Hills was among the first neighborhoods to slump. From 1989 to 1993 prices declined 40%. “The last time, the high end was leading the charge on the way down,” says G.U. Krueger, who in the 1990s was the chief economist for the California Assn. of Realtors. “Now things are totally different.” Krueger notes that the 1990s drop was triggered by job losses amid a broad economic downturn. The current housing malaise is largely driven by an affordability crunch at the lower end of the market, he says, as adjustable-rate loans ratchet higher and lenders tighten standards to counter rising defaults on mortgages.
Demand high, supply low
Such problems seem remote in L.A.’s ritziest neighborhoods, where agents say demand usually trumps supply.
“It’s like floor seats at the Lakers games — there are only so many courtside seats available,” says broker Stephen Shapiro, co-owner of Beverly Hillsbased Westside Estate Agency, which almost exclusively sells multimillion-dollar properties. It wasn’t that long ago that a million bucks bought a true estate in the Platinum Triangle.
One of the first sales topping $1 million was Hugh Hefner’s 1971 purchase in Holmby Hills of what would become known as the Playboy Mansion. It was about then that Rey began her career in real estate, with an eye on selling only highend homes. At the time she was the wife of the TV actor Alejandro Rey and living in Beverly Hills. Building her client list was made easier by the fact that she was already traveling in Hollywood’s elite circles.
Since then she has filled her resume with a catalog of recordbreaking landmark sales in the Platinum Triangle, putting her in the top 1% of all U.S. real estate agents in sales by dollar volume. In 1978, Rey became the first agent to sell a $4-million house in the Platinum Triangle, which happened to be double the highest price ever paid for a Los Angeles home.
The following year, she won the listing for Pickfair, the 42- room mansion owned by early film stars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford that had never been on the market before. It was bought by Jerry Buss in 1980 for $5.4 million. In 2001, Rey closed a $29-million sale in Beverly Hills, at the time the highest price paid in a decade.
Potential record-breaker
Now Rey is on the verge of her biggest deal. In April she and another agent landed the mother of all Platinum Triangle real estate listings — a five-acre Bel-Air estate known as Fleur de Lys built by Metro Networks founder David Saperstein and his then-wife Suzanne in the 1990s. Asking price: $125 million. “There just hasn’t been anything on the market like this before now,” Rey says. The mansion, modeled after France’s Versailles palace, has 45,000 square feet of living space. Features include a ballroom adorned with ceiling frescoes, a library stocked with prized firstedition books and an indoor jogging track.
In the last two months, there have been more than a dozen showings, and the only ones allowed in for a tour are those who can prove they can afford it. In other words, billionaires. If the property sells for anywhere near its asking price, it would break the record for the most expensive residential sale recorded in the United States. The record currently belongs to another Platinum Triangle address, a Bel-Air estate purchased by telecom mogul Gary Winnick in 2001 for $94 million, according to public records.
Given the strength of the high-end market, breaking another record seems within reach. “I’m counting on it,” Rey says.
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Copyright 2007 The Los Angeles Times
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Huffington Post | Lindsay Flans First Posted: 11-29-10 11:36 AM | Updated: 11-29-10 12:33 PM