Los Angeles Luxury Real Estate Is Breaking Records!

November 2006

While the average USA real estate market is currently experiencing a slow down in appreciation and sales volume, the Los Angeles high-end luxury market is breaking sales volume records. This includes the ultra-posh neighborhoods of Beverly Hills, Bel Air & Malibu, California.

Greg Moesser of LAClassicEstates, a divison of Prudential CA Realty, Beverly Hills, reports that his office’s 2006 Fall Quarter Review showed a 70% increase in the number of sales of high-end (over $10M) properties compared to a year ago. Greg says, “Los Angeles is a cosmopolitan bargain when compared to New York, Paris and London. Take for example Manhattan (NY), where luxury co-ops can sell for $3000 to $4000 per square foot and a former first lady’s penthouse is rumored to be currently in escrow for $6000 per sf.. In comparison, Los Angeles luxury properties, with land included, can still be found under $1000 per sf. and most are priced under $2000 per sf. Right now, a 16,000sf estate with an acre of land on the prestigious the Bel Air golf course is on the market at $8.5 Million Dollars”.

Adding to the area’s demand is great weather, cutting-edge architecture, world class shopping and dining, privacy oriented estates and jetliner city, ocean and mountain views. Los Angeles and Beverly Hills property taxes average a low 1.25% and the purchase process is simplified with title insurance, low mortgage rates and an escrow process that requires no attorney representation. For these reasons, and many more, Los Angeles continues to be in high demand and a cosmopolitan value in the rarified global luxury real estate market place.