_Living on the high hills of Los Angeles

Where the buying opportunity is in Los Angeles for luxury lifestyle seekers and lovers of sunny weather.

June 18, 2019

Diversity of culture, 330 days of sunshine a year, beaches of Santa Monica, hills of Runyon Canyon and glamour of Hollywood attracts property buyers from around the United States and globally to the great city of Los Angeles.

The quality of life in the city is unrivalled. Most Los Angeles buyers are motivated by the lifestyle on offer, rather than owning a high-yielding rental estate. Home to celebrities and increasingly to international heads of commerce, Los Angeles will be placing itself right behind San Francisco and New York as having the third highest occupancy of Ultra High Net Worth Individuals in the US by 2026.

The prime areas in Los Angeles include Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Sunset Strip, Malibu and the increasingly popular Downtown market. Bel Air being the most expensive neighbourhood, with buyers spending over US$3 million.

Interest in Los Angeles property, from the Middle East is growing. Recently a Saudi buyer bought a US$52 million compound, as seen in the Wall Street Journal. The property is approximately 20,000-square-feet, which includes a house designed by architect Richard Neutra.

The article went on to mention that the US$45 million cost is relatively modest when compared to other homes on the LA market, which are often asking US$180 million.

Speaking of luxury prices, the under US$2 million market has remained strong, while the over US$5 million market has softened, and is now back to normal

Above US$20 million, there is a lot of product, sales are steady but it remains a buyers’ market. Between these two bands we are seeing steady growth with prices currently rising by around 4% per year. The highest prices sale in 2018 reached US$110 million.

So where in Los Angeles other than Bel Air are there buyer opportunities?

In the past 20 years, the city transitioned from a horizontal city to a vertical city. Several new high-rise developments are in the pipeline, with a number forming part of the metro improvements. There are four metro projects currently under construction that will be operational in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics, these include extensions to the Green and Purple Lines and faster connections to LAX airport which handles nearly 85 million passengers each year.

Historically, wealthy buyers in Los Angeles have gravitated towards established detached family homes, often in gated communities in the Hollywood Hills, but the launch of the Ritz Carlton Residences in Downtown Los Angeles in 2010 exposed an appetite for high-end new build condominiums in the city centre.

The downtown market has undergone a revival in the last decade as new investment has spawned numerous galleries, theatres, hotels, restaurants and improved public spaces. The US$ 1 billion mixed-use Metropolis Complex has acted as a catalyst, and plans are underway for a new 65-storey Oceanwide Plaza which is a combination of hotel and condos.

The emergence of ‘Silicon Beach’, home to 500 start-ups, has meant we are seeing more entrepreneurs as Los Angeles starts to rival San Francisco as a hotbed of creativity. The city is also home to two of the top research universities in the world, USC and UCLA.

A prime neighbourhood that is often overlooked is Holmby Hills which sits to the north west of Beverly Hills. Today’s celebrities head to Sunset Strip, Beverly Hills and Malibu, but Holmby Hills, once home to Walt Disney, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby is more exclusive, less ostentatious and now attracts heads of commerce outside of the entertainment industry.

FEATURED PROPERTY

Holmby Hills

ADDITIONAL LOS ANGELES PROPERTIES

Oriole Way

Carmelina Avenue

Click here to read more details about the Los Angeles Insight Report 2019.