What goes up … keeps going up in L.A.’s high-end home market, say the brokers the industry trusts of the year’s biggest sales, from Geffen’s Malibu compound to Angie’s DeMille estate to the Playboy Mansion and beyond.

Between Jay Z and Beyonce’s purchase of an $88 million Bel Air spec house and Angelina Jolie’s $24.5 million buy of the Cecil B. DeMille estate in Los Feliz, there were plenty of headlines coming out of L.A.’s white-hot luxury real estate market the past year, and signs point to more of the same. In the second quarter of 2017, the median sales price of a luxury home reached $9.5 million — a 3 percent increase from the same period last year, according to Douglas Elliman. Meanwhile, the number of luxury sales in the second quarter jumped 26 percent from a year ago, even though those homes are staying on the market longer (seven days). THR’s annual list of top real estate pros — 25 solo artists plus five top teams — reveals how these movers and shakers close the deal, plus what they really think of how their profession is portrayed onscreen.

Kurt Rappaport

“Flawless” is Rappaport’s word for the record sale of David Geffen’s $85 million Broad Beach compound in May that he brokered on behalf of the media mogul. “It was a combination of a seller who was very attached to a property but spending less time in Malibu and a buyer who knew exactly what he wanted.” Although he has struck gold — and grabbed headlines — for his Malibu listings, Rappaport says the bulk of his sales volume this year occurred in Beverly Hills, Bel Air and the Westside. The city sells itself, he says. “Every person wants to be in L.A.; it checks all the boxes.”

Stephen Shapiro

It’s rare, but 30-year veteran Shapiro still gets the tingles on certain deals. This year it was the sale of 1642 Mandeville Canyon, an 11,000-square-foot nine-bedroom that he listed for Fred Silverman, who headed up CBS, NBC and ABC during his career. “Working with a legend like that was a highlight,” says Shapiro, who sold the home in March for $17.8 million. “Getting to walk around his house and see his memorabilia was really special.”

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