Fredrik Eklund talks LA condos, the mega-luxury market and patience

The “Million Dollar Listings” star says condos are a growing trend on the West Coast

Fredrik Eklund (Credit: Getty Images)
Fredrik Eklund (Credit: Getty Images)

“Million Dollar Listings” star broker and recent Los Angeles transplant Fredrik Eklund says condominiums are the new wave in his new West Coast home, where mansions in the hills have been the default in the luxury stratosphere.

The Douglas Elliman broker told Mansion Global that new projects in L.A.’s tony neighborhoods like Beverly Hills are presenting new options for buyers. Eklund is selling units at the recently built 8899 Beverly building.

8899 Beverly

8899 Beverly

“Vertical living didn’t used to be something people understood there,” Eklund said. “The whole idea of making a decision before a building was done, and having sales galleries before the home could be seen, that’s new.”

He also thinks L.A. can outdo New York for “mega-luxury homes,” pointing to the big-ticket sales that have closed in the L.A. area recently.

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Earlier this month, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos broke a national record with the $165 million purchase of David Geffen’s Beverly Hills estate (he also bought a $90 million plot of dirt). Between July and December of 2019, three mansions in L.A. County sold for at least $100 million.

The ultra high-end market ($70 million-plus) is doing well, as are homes in the low $3 million range, he said. “But the more difficult market—not that it’s bad, just tricker—is the $6 million to -$15 million market,” he told Mansion Global.

Eklund also weighed in on the proliferation of high-end amenities being offered in condos and apartments. Wellness-style amenities are becoming more popular, like IV drips and cryotherapy sessions available to residents at 40 Bleecker in New York.

As far as advice to buyers, he suggested buyers and sellers be patient and “give it some time.”

“Brokers, myself included, can be pushy, but you need to take time,” he said. “We’re in a market where you have time to come back a few times and look at a place in different lights and at different times.” [Mansion Global] — Dennis Lynch