Hollywood Hills Home Sale Breaks Pricing Record

A homes sale in the Hollywood Hills has broken new pricing records. Rannie Huang-Greer of Ten X Realty sold the two-property home in the submarket’s famous Bird Streets in two separate transactions totaling $75.5 million. The previous record for the neighborhood was set in 2012 for $39 million. The two transactions were $42.5 million and $33 million.

“I have been working with the client for more than two years, and we were looking in Northern California in the Bay Area and in Los Angeles,” Huang-Greer, a broker at Ten X Realty, tells GlobeSt.com. “The timing was just right for this property, and the market is really good. I try to help my clients understand the current market trends and how they can get a potential return on their investment, whether they are going to live there or not.”

The luxury real estate market is hot, according to Huang-Greer, and not just in Los Angeles but throughout California. “In the Bay Area, Los Angeles and even San Diego, the luxury markets are doing really well. A lot of agents and a lot of buyers expect that the market is going to continue to go up,” says Huang-Greer. “That is why my buyer ultimately pulled the trigger and bought the property.”

The luxury market can be difficult to track because many of the properties are quietly for sale. “A lot of luxury homes are not on the market. Most of these properties trade hands in off market deals,” says Huang-Greer. “For that reason, networking becomes really important. One of these deals was an off-market transaction. The owners were actively looking for buyers.”

A strong local and national economy is driving demand for luxury housing in California. In addition, California is still considered affordable compared to other luxury real estate in the global market. “The economy is good; the stock market is good; and interest rates are low,” says Huang-Greer. “If you look at global real estate, even the $40 million transaction is still relatively inexpensive compared to other markets, like a penthouse in Hong Kong, Shanghai or Beijing. It is a big purchase, but compared to what you can buy in Asia, the pricing has not reached to a point that people cannot afford.”

In addition, Huang-Greer expects pricing to continue to increase in California this year. “For sure, that will happen this year,” says Huang-Greer. “There are so many higher priced listings out there, so there is a lot of opportunity for larger sales.”