Record-breaking $200M deal tops list of LA house sales in 2023

All-time records for the priciest house sale in California were broken in May when music power couple Jay-Z and Beyoncé paid a jaw-dropping $200 million for a Malibu estate.  

But overall, the business for Los Angeles’ luxury market didn’t offer a lot of cheer in 2023.

In L.A. County, 232 homes priced at $10 million and above were sold in 2023. That’s about a 37 percent drop from 2022, when 370 homes ultraluxe hopes were sold, according to research from appraisers and consultants Miller Samuel Inc., which authors the Elliman Reports. 

Top agents said that a storm of local politics, such as the City of Los Angeles’ Measure ULA transfer tax, plus higher interest rate restrained the market. ”It made some homebuyers pause a bit,” said Linda May of Carolwood Estates.

It also kept sellers on the sidelines. Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency said there were fewer listings available this year. Listings with aspirational  prices, sometimes in a stratospheric range,  sold well below original listing prices, added Stephen Shapiro, another WEA co-founder. “There was a reality check as to what values were,” he explained. 

But deals continued to flow. Here are the most expensive home sales of the year in the L.A. market.

27712 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu | $200M 

Jay-Z and Beyoncé are famous for hit songs, but in the real estate industry, the duo will live forever  for the biggest deal in California history. The couple spent  $190 million on a mansion designed by architect Tadao Ando on a nearly 6-acre estate located on a bluff overlooking the Pacific in Malibu’s Paradise Cove neighborhood. The music stars added about $10 million more to the sale for some of the home’s art and furniture. 

Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s deal outpaces the former record holder for the state’s priciest home. Billionaire Marc Andreessen paid $177 million for a 7-acre Malibu estate in 2021. A previous record holder was Jeff Bezos’ purchase of a Beverly Hills estate in 2020 for $165 million. Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency represented the buyers and the seller, Bill Bell Jr., an art collector and son of creators of soap operas “Bold and Beautiful” and the “Young and the Restless.”

“One reason for the record-breaking price is that all the elements came together,” said WEA’s Stephen Shapiro, who did not work on the deal, but is familiar with the area. “It was a big piece of land. It had a private, drivable road to the beach. There was a world-famous architect. It had privacy.”  

Kurt Rappaport of WEA represented the buyer and seller for the deal.

2571 Wallingford Drive, Beverly Hills | $61M

After making headlines by walking away from a few deals for pricey estates, celebrity couple Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck bought a Beverly Hills estate for about $61 million from spec developer Gala Asher. 

The 5.2-acre compound in gated Wallingford Estates was first listed for $135 million in 2018, then slashed to $75 million in March, according to listing sites.

Billed as offering a “one-of-a-kind indoor sports complex,” the estate includes basketball and pickleball courts, a gym, a boxing ring, plus a sports lounge and bar. The estate was developed with cars in mind. There’s a garage for 12 autos and parking for 80 more cars on the compound. 

Ginger Glass of Compass represented the seller. Brett Lawyer of Carolwood Estates represented the buyers. 

71 Beverly Park Court, Beverly Hills | $55M

Before moving to the Las Vegas market, Mark Wahlberg unloaded his Beverly Park compound for $55 million, which was a 37 percent decline from April 2022, when the original asking price was $87.5 million. 

The Beverly Hills Post Office estate includes a full-size tennis court, a five hole-golf course and its own skate park. 

Carl Gambino of Compass and Kurt Rappaport of WEA represented the seller. Ginger Glass of Compass represented the buyer.

Off-and-on the market for almost two years, the listing finally traded because the “right buyer” showed up, according to interviews with Rappaport and Gambino. 

67 Beverly Park Court, Beverly Hills | $52M

Once ranked as one of Los Angeles’ priciest listings — $165 million in 2018 and $120 million in 2022 — the estate known as Villa Firenze sold in February. The unidentified buyer was represented by Jade Mills of Coldwell Banker Realty, while Richard Klug of Sotheby’s International Real Estate brokered on behalf of the seller.

The property was the longtime home of aviation billionaire Steve Udvar-Házy and his wife Christine. The 29,000-square-foot mansion features grounds with a 30-car motor court, a pool, several guesthouses, a tennis court and a jogging trail. 

6970 Wildlife Road, Malibu | $52M

An LLC linked to attorney Stuart Liner and spouse Stephanie Hershey Liner sold this Point Dume listing to U2m LLC, an entity linked to Tom van Loben Sels, a partner at a Palo Alto-based tax consulting firm. He has worked with Mark Zuckerberg, a co-founder of Meta and Facebook. 

Located on a bluff above the Pacific, the listing is based on almost one acre of land.

1426 Summitridge Drive, Beverly Hills  | $48M

On a property once owned by 1940s movie star Lana Turner and her husband, bandleader Artie Shaw, The Summitridge Estate was sold by Henry Winterstern, a financier and film producer, for $48 million. 

The buyers were unidentified. Winterstern was represented by Kurt Rappaport of WEA, while the buyers were represented by Fred Bernstein and Ethan Peskowitz, also of WEA. 

The mansion’s amenities include a car museum, a two-story living room and a theater. 

 22446 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu | $40M

Called Samson Beach House, 22446 Pacific Coast Highway was purchased in March by Fashion Nova owner Richard Saghian. It’s the fashion entrepreneur’s second major residential purchase in the span of a year. In March 2022, he made international headlines when he bought The One megamansion in Bel-Air for $141 million. 

Based in Malibu’s ritzy Billionaire’s Beach, Samson Beach House’s initial ask was $69 million in June. It was formerly owned by Lee Samson, founder of Windsor Healthcare Management.

Co-listing agents were Gayle Pritchett of Pritchett-Rapf Realtors and Chris Cortazzo of Compass. Stuart Vetterick of Hilton & Hyland and Branden and Rayni Williams of The Beverly Hills Estates represented Saghian in the deal. 

1201 Tower Grove Drive, Beverly Hills | $38M

This estate in the hills features expansive grounds designed by Christine London. It had been on and off the market for a few years. But 2023 gave the house sale an urgent deadline, said Linda May of Carolwood Estates. She represented the buyer and the seller with Joe Cilic of Sotheby’s International Realty. 

“We lowered the price and we got more activity,” May said. “With new numbers, we met the market more accurately. Then the  right person walked in. (This person) didn’t want to make a ton of changes, loved the house as it was. Most importantly, they could close on March 31 before ULA went into effect on April 1. That sealed the deal.”

Due to a non-disclosure agreement, May did not identify the buyer. However, she did confirm it was a young couple from the Los Angeles area. 

23816 Malibu Road, Malibu | $38M

Dean Factor, the great-grandson of late cosmetics mogul Max Factor, sold his Malibu home in July for $37.5 million. The buyer was The Boathouse Trust, an entity managed by Enza Cohn, an accountant at business management firm Gelfand Rennert & Feldman in Century City. 

The estate, which sits on a 0.4-acre lot, contains a three-bedroom, 3.5-bath main residence and a three-bedroom guesthouse. Factor had listed the property in January with an asking price of $40 million. 

1301 Collingwood Place, Los Angeles | $37.4M

Kipp Nelson, partner at private equity firm Long Arc Capital, sold this mansion in L.A.’s Bird Streets. He built the three-level, five-bedroom, nine-bath home in 2018. It was initially listed in 2020 for $55 million. In July 2022, it was relisted for $48 million. 

Designed by architecture firm Olson Kundig of Seattle, and based on more than half an acre, the amenities include a 15-car auto gallery, a spa, a pool and gardens with olive trees.

Branden and Rayni Williams of The Beverly Hills Estates were the listing agents. The buyer representatives were Jack Harris and Michael Fahimian, also affiliated with The Beverly Hills Estates.

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