A mansion at 802 Foothill Road in the Beverly Hills Flats traded for $24.2 million on Dec. 15., according to listing sites. The 17,000-square-foot home on more than half an acre ranked among the top four priciest trades in Beverly Hills in 2023, a year of relatively scant ultra luxe home sales.
802 Foothill was sold by James Previti, CEO of homebuilder Frontier Enterprises. The entrepreneur bought the home for about $11.2 million in 2019. In September 2022, it was listed for $35 million. The price was reduced to about $30 million in June 2023.
Aaron Kirman of AKG Christie’s International Real Estate and Tim Smith of Coldwell Banker Realty represented the seller. Kirman and Matt Adamo, also of AKG Christie’s International Real Estate, represented the buyer, who was not identified. Kirman did not answer requests for comment.
Built in 2022, the house offers amenities such as a cinema, a home gym with a sauna, a steam room, a game room, a wine cellar with a tasting room and an elevator.
802 Foothill is tied for the fourth priciest Beverly Hills trade of the year. In October, 445 Walker Street also sold for $24.2 million. Ranking third priciest in Beverly Hills is 613 Canon Drive, which sold for $24.6 million. 812 Bedford Drive sold for $25 million. The priciest sale in Beverly Hills is 717 Palm Drive, which sold for $33 million.
The high-end sales occurred during a down year for luxury homes. There were 28 trades for homes priced over $10 million in Beverly Hills this year, a 61 percent drop compared to last year. There were 71 sales of ultra luxe homes in 2022, according to research conducted by brokerage Amalfi Estates.
The Measure ULA wealth transfer tax in Beverly Hills’ neighboring city of Los Angeles and interest rates affected sales in Beverly Hills, said Rochelle Atlas Maize of Nourmand & Associates. She sold 802 Foothill to Priviti in 2019.
“It undeniably contributed to a deceleration in the Beverly Hills real estate market,” Maize said in reference to Measure ULA and high interest rates. Buyers sought lower home prices even in markets such as Beverly Hills, where the tax was not in effect and interest rates did not carry as heavy a weight in purchase decisions.
“Notably, prospective buyers in Beverly Hills in the over $10 million category predominantly operate as cash buyers. But throughout 2023, a prevailing sentiment emerged that the market was on a downward trend due the elevated interest rates. It definitely influenced buyer behavior,” she said.
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Maize noted an uptick in ultraluxe activity in December. Joyce Rey of Coldwell Banker Realty also noticed an uptick in business after Thanksgiving.
Rey said the Coldwell Banker Beverly Hills office sales volume in the first two weeks of December was 50 percent higher than the same time in 2022. She also noticed an uptick in open house traffic.
She credited increased activity to a possible reduction of interest rates in the spring, as well as the ending of the SAG and WGA strikes. People are also working to close by the end of the year, she said.
“There were few sales over the summer; however, serious sellers reduced their prices in order to meet buyer demand. Inventory remains limited which prevents huge price decreases,” Rey said.