Christie’s Bets on New Condo Development With Division Launch

Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California is launching a division focused on selling units in new condominium developments — a move prompted by demand in the luxury segment that is bucking the general downtown in the broader market.

Helmed by Tomer Fridman, Don Heller, Amir Ensani and Aaron Kirman, the division will collaborate with local developers on bringing their projects to market along with handling listings at recently completed developments including Rosewood Residences Beverly Hills, The Harland and Privé Malibu. The team also has exclusive California marketing rights for Burj Azizi in Dubai, a condo development that is expected to become the world’s second tallest building upon completion.

The launch comes at an interesting time in the Southern California condo realm. Overall, the market has seen better days. In February, L.A. condo sales reached a 20-year low, with pricing down, too. But residential brokers — from Christie’s SoCal, The Agency and Douglas Elliman — say the ultra luxury properties defy the broader market, which largely consists of condos built four to five decades ago.

Heller, of the Don Heller Group at Christie’s Southern California, said data surrounding the condo market’s slump is generally reflective of L.A. as a whole but that his clients aren’t looking at L.A. as a whole. They’re zeroed in on high-end submarkets such as Brentwood district of Los Angeles along with Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and other upscale municipalities on the city’s flanks.

“Los Angeles is a conglomeration of a number of micro markets, and each micro market has different sales velocity and absorption rates, so you have some that are down dramatically, and you have some that are maybe even a bit ahead of last year,” Heller said.

In the last couple of months, the condo market has seen some significant sales. Earlier this month, a penthouse unit at West Hollywood’s Sierra Towers sold for $36 million, or $4,888 per square foot. This set an all-time record for a condo sale in L.A. County based on price per square foot and became the priciest condo sale of 2026 to date. In May, Penthouse West at 8899 Beverly Boulevard in West Hollywood sold for $23 million.

In addition to location, the age and degree of luxury of the condo offering matters. Heller says his team has found success in selling new construction on the Westside.

Douglas Elliman’s Cory Weiss, who worked in development for 15 years before moving to sales, said recently finished condo buildings are “really busy” right now. In his view, the trend relies on increased demand for high-end condos along with a downturn in new projects coming online.

On the demand side, Weiss points to an evolving trajectory of people downsizing from large single-family homes to luxury condos at an earlier clip than in the past. Whereas, previously, that shift happened during retirement, Weiss said he’s seeing more and more people in their 40s and 50s making the change in favor of a “full-service lifestyle, security and simplicity.”

Another driver in the buyer market is displacement from Pacific Palisades following the January 2025 fire. When the disaster first struck, there was a wave of fire victims leasing luxury condos. As these leases came to an end, Weiss increasingly saw those families make the condo move permanent.

“They went through huge trauma and loss of all their personal belongings and their homes. This type of lifestyle was such a complete change that it almost made the grieving process or changing of mindset a little easier because it was just opposite of what they were used to,” Weiss said.

Plus, as the fires wreaked havoc in the insurance industry, not having to navigate the process of insuring a new home was also attractive, Weiss said. Ensani echoed this trend, along with people purchasing condos for their young adult children as an investment rather than paying their rents during college and early career.

While the Christie’s team sees more new luxury condo developments in L.A.’s future, Weiss isn’t so sure, saying since the Aman Residences Beverly Hills — which is currently under construction — he hasn’t heard of much new product in the pipeline. The biggest reason for this is Measure ULA.

With ULA cutting into sales profits, Weiss said developers have to find ways to increase their return on investment to have deals make financial sense, not to mention high construction costs. Land availability is another concern. He does, however, see a bright future for these developments in areas surrounding Los Angeles, particularly Newport Beach.

“In L.A., I think it’s going to be a little challenging for the foreseeable future,” Weiss said.

Still, Fridman and the new Christie’s division are confident that more vertical development is on the way.

“L.A. didn’t used to have these [luxury condos] but there was always a latent demand for them,” Fridman said. “It took developers and brands actually coming into the market and building them to understand how large that demand was.”