Yolanda’s favorite time of the year is upon us: recap time! Time for our fourth annual countdown of the year’s twenty biggest transactions. We spent loads of time compiling this list and we think everything is here. But if we did happen to miss a deal, we’re sure one of you smartasses will let us know. (Just kidding. We really do want to know if we missed anything, so hit us up.)
Before we get things rollin’, here are some brief comments on this year’s list.
While the ultra-high-end market has significantly slowed over the past 12 months, you wouldn’t know it from looking at these deals. Although this year’s median sale price of $36,500,000 was down by $2 million from last year’s figure, the mean price paid — buoyed by several monstrous outlier deals — topped $48 million, up a few ticks from $45.9 million in 2017.
Americans continue to constitute the majority of these buyers, but we also saw folks from Germany, Thailand, Japan, Canada, Australia, England and France spend big this year.
And finally, Malibu once again dominated the top 10 (with five entries), while Beverly Hills tied them for the overall crown (five properties on the entire list). Take a look.
20. Holmby Hills — $28.5 million
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The “quietest big deal of the year” award goes to this Holmby Hills transaction. With no fanfare, British developer Christian Candy sold his LA home to his older brother (and business partner) Nick Candy.
19. Hollywood Hills — $29.5 million
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German billionaire heir Frank Binder and his American fiancee Alexandra Schuck paid $29.5 million for this Mount Olympus property, sold by the now-defunct Woodbridge investment group.
Listing agent: Tomer Fridman, Compass
Frank Binder & Alexandra Schuck’s agent: Darryl Wilson, Rodeo Realty
18. Beverly Hills (Trousdale Estates) — $30 million
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Billionaire Bernard Arnault continues to invest heavily in LA real estate, paying $30 million for a Trousdale teardown next door to another property he already owns. The sellers were a non-famous Iranian family.
17. Hollywood Hills — $31.5 million
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Screenwriter Simon Kinberg is recently divorced and ready to mingle, as one can tell by his purchase of this ultimate bachelor pad above the Sunset Strip. Sold by developer Dean McKillen, the swoopy house was designed by Paul McClean.
Listing agents: Branden & Rayni Williams, Hilton & Hyland; Tyrone McKillen, Hilton & Hyland
16. Beverly Park — $32 million
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This beastly Beverly Park abode was sold to wristwatch mogul John Simonian by an anon Ukrainian.
Listing agents:Aaron Kirman & Neyshia Go, Compass
John Simonian’s agent:Jeff Hyland, Hilton & Hyland
15. Hollywood Hills — $33 million
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The sexed-up Stanley House fetched $33 million in cash from German billionaire heir Frank Binder and his American fiancee Alexandra Schuck — the only folks to appear twice on this list.
Listing agents: Branden & Rayni Williams, Hilton & Hyland
Frank Binder & Alexandra Schuck’s agent: Darryl Wilson, Rodeo Realty
14. Beverly Hills — $33.1 million
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David & Victoria Beckham jetted back across the pond after realizing a huge profit on their Beverly Hills home. The buyer — who is still unidentified — paid cash. Yolanda has offered to trade both our firstborn and our third ex-husband Randall in return for the buyer’s name, but no luck as of yet.
13. Pacific Palisades — $33.8 million
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Beauty queen turned philanthropist Bui Simon — she was Miss Universe 1988 and is married to real estate billionaire Herb Simon — shattered the Palisades record with her big spec-mansion buy.
Listing agent: Elizabeth Halsted, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices
Bui Simon’s agent: Joyce Rey, Coldwell Banker
12. Beverly Hills — $33.9 million
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Adam Levine moved like Jagger (corny, we know) into this redone Tudor in prime Beverly Hills. The home was sold by “Will and Grace” creator Max Mutchnick.
Listing & Selling agent: Kurt Rappaport, Westside Estate Agency
11. Beverly Hills — $35 million
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Of all the folks we’ve ever profiled on this blog, we have yet to find anyone who changes houses more frequently than Ellen DeGeneres (and her wife Portia de Rossi). This particular property was sold for a huge profit to Sue Gross, the billionaire ex-wife of “Bond King” Bill Gross.
10. Malibu — $38 million
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Larry Ellison makes his accountant cry. Larry Ellison doesn’t care. Larry Ellison just bought his 12th house on Malibu’s Carbon Beach. Read it and weep, CPA.
Listing agent:Judy Feder, Hilton & Hyland
Larry Ellison’s agent:Kurt Rappaport, Westside Estate Agency
9. Beverly Hills (Post Office) — $41.5 million
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The hills above Beverly Hills are alive with the sound of crazy Walmart money. Paige Laurie broke the BHPO record with this one. The house also made our 2017 top 10 list, when it first sold last year for “just” $38.5 million to Scottish billionaire Sir Tom Hunter.
At 36, Ms. Laurie is also the youngest buyer to make this year’s top 20.
Sir Tom Hunter’s agent: Denise Moreno, Hilton & Hyland
Paige Laurie’s agent: Michael Collins, Coldwell Banker
8. Malibu — $45 million
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Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber raked in the cash after selling a blufftop Malibu spread to Silicon Valley-based hedge funder Adam Weiss.
Listing agents:Kurt Rappaport, Westside Estate Agency; Chris Cortazzo, Coldwell Banker
Adam Weiss’s agent:Jade Mills, Coldwell Banker
7. Malibu — $48.8 million
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Private equity pasha Behdad Eghbali bought the opulent La Villa Contenta estate from prolific real estate developer Richard Weintraub and his wife Lianne.
Listing agents: Chris Cortazzo, Coldwell Banker; Aaron Kirman & Maya Hazen Manshel, Compass
6. Bel Air — $56 million
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Mohamed Hadid finally sold his Bel Air behemoth — for real this time — to UK billionaire Ian Livingstone.
Listing agents: Joyce Rey, Coldwell Banker, Stacy Gottula, The Agency
Ian Livingstone’s agents: Stephen Resnick & Jonathan Nash, Hilton & Hyland; David Parnes & James Harris, The Agency
5. Beverly Hills — $64.3 million
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This was formerly the longtime home of Danny DeVito but has been completely revamped and expanded by prolific real estate investors Stuart & Stephanie Liner. The buyer, Australian billionaire James Packer, paid one of the highest prices ever recorded in Beverly Hills.
Listing agent: Drew Fenton, Hilton & Hyland
4. Holmby Hills — $68.8 million
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Oaktree Capital Management billionaire Bruce Karsh and his wife Martha bought this stunning Holmby Hills farmhouse. The property was custom-built for the late Hollywood producer Brad Grey, who recently succumbed to cancer.
Listing agents:Stephen Shapiro, Westside Estate Agency; Linda May, Hilton & Hyland
Bruce & Martha Karsh’s agent: Linda May, Hilton & Hyland
3. Bel Air — $85 million
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(This one is actually tied for the #2 spot.) Japanese billionaire Hideki Tomita paid Seagram’s heiress Ellen Bronfman and her hubby Andrew Hauptman cash for this sprawling compound. The deal included both the John Pawson-designed minimalist mega-mansion on one parcel and a separate Paul Williams-designed house on an adjacent property.
Listing agent: Kurt Rappaport, Westside Estate Agency
2. Malibu — $85 million
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Real estate super-agent Kurt Rappaport custom-built this spectacular Brutalist compound on a multi-acre Malibu blufftop. The property was profiled in Architectural Digest not long before Canadian billionaire Daryl Katz found it agreeable.
Listing agent: Kurt Rappaport, Westside Estate Agency (duh)
1. Malibu — $110 million
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Unsurprisingly, Michael & Iris Smith took the crown for this mind-altering blowout deal on Carbon Beach. Let’s be real — they annihilated all their competition on this list. The sale price (paid to Hard Rock Hotel founder Peter Morton) ranks as the most ever paid for a home in all of Southern California.
Listing agents:Branden & Rayni Williams, Hilton & Hyland
Michael & Iris Smith’s agent: Barry Peele, Sotheby’s International Realty