WEA in The Hollywood Reporter
Los Angeles’ luxury home market on fire, stoked by megasales from the town’s mega-agents. Among the eye-popping deals, the Versailles-inspired mansion Fleur de Lys in Holmby Hills sold for $102 million, beating the previous L.A. record for a residential sale by $8 million, and an ultra-luxe home just hit the market in Trousdale Estates for $85 million, the highest-ever listed there. “It’s been a very strong year,” says agent Richard Stearns of Partners Trust, one of THR‘s top agents of 2014. They were chosen not just for their big sales but also their famed clients. Another sign that the L.A. market (where an estimated 44 percent of luxury home transfers are all cash) is roaring: A trio of areas around town held the top three spots for highest average sales prices in the country so far this year, according to Redfin. The average in Beverly Glen (around Beverly Glen Boulevard north of Sunset) hit $11.9 million, with Holmby Hills and Malibu Road at $9.9 million and $9.5 million, respectively.
KURT RAPPAPORT Westside Estate Agency
Notable Deals: Rappaport knocked it out of the park this year when he represented the seller of Fleur de Lys, which had been sitting on the market on and off since 2007. He’s the latest agent to hold the listing for a Coldwater Canyon estate owned by Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel co-developer Bo Zarnegin, which is on the market for $24 million. That’s a steep drop from the clearly overambitious $55 million it was listed for when it hit the market in 2011.
Personal Residences: Modern homes in Beverly Hills and Malibu; the latter was featured in June’s Architectural Digest.
STEPHEN SHAPIRO Westside Estate Agency
Notable Deals: Shapiro, a real estate power player since the 1980s, sold Tom Brady and GiseleBundchen‘s Brentwood home for $40 million. Other clients include Irving Azoff and Steve Tisch(with whom he inveterately lunches at e.baldi restaurant). He’s listing clothing manufacturer Charles Perez and wife Danica‘s $15.9 million home in Beverly Hills.
Personal Residences: A ranch home in Bel-Air and a Cape Cod-style home in Malibu.
FRED BERNSTEIN Westside Estate Agency
Notable Deal: Bernstein, who also is Michael Milken‘s son-in-law, represented the unnamed European buyer of the $102 million Fleur de Lys mansion.
Personal Residence: A modern home in Trousdale Estates.