While foreclosures and subprime fall-out make their way into the headlines and stump speeches of presidential candidates like Hillary Clinton, this spring has been a benchmark season for Beverly Hills real estate.
Consider the following Beverly Hills and Brentwood sales facts during the last five months:
-Two years ago, my client bought her Beverly Hills home for $6.7 million. This spring she sold it for $8 million. You may think that the $1.3 million appreciation came as result of renovations. But the house has remained almost unchanged since she bought it.
-In March I listed a house on Roxbury for $6.25 million. It sold five days later for $6 million.
-A tear down in the Flats listed for $3.99 million. Two days and 15 offers later it sold for over $4 million.
When I read articles in the newspaper, I realize that many parts of the U.S. are in a real estate slump. But this isn’t the case in Beverly Hills. In fact, from April to May, I closed seven escrows. And none of my clients have sold a home as result of a foreclosure. If the location is prime and the house is fabulous, the home will sell quickly and for top dollar, which means that you won’t find bargains in 90210. There are some notable changes.
New construction in Beverly Hills has slowed. I believe that there are two reasons. First, builders, like the rest of us, are hearing the bad news and they are worried about constructing homes when the market is down. Second, lenders are becoming stricter about providing construction loans.
Also, the weakened dollar has made our multi-million dollar homes a steal for people looking for luxury property and paying in euros and yen.
Beverly Hills Plays by Different Rules
While areas like Orange County and parts of Florida have abundant parcels of land, property in Beverly Hills is scarce. You don’t see single-family developments in our city, which means that a new house appears only when an old one is torn down. The limited supply of new homes drives demand up.
What else separates Beverly Hills from the rest of the United States? Instant name recognition. Whether you’re in Paris or Panama, say that you’re from Beverly Hills, and they’ll know exactly where you live. Within the five square miles of our city we have quiet neighborhoods where children safely play outside, a tightly knit community, strong schools, well respected police and fire departments, world-renowned shopping and dining, and marvelous weather. If real estate trends are a measure of a community’s success, then Beverly Hills continues to be one of the best places to live in the world.
Myra Nourmand is a top producing real estate broker for Nourmand and Associates. She is author of the recently published book From Homemaker to Breadwinner. Myra and her husband Saeed have called Beverly Hills home for the past 30 years.
