{"id":8693638,"date":"2022-12-19T11:06:37","date_gmt":"2022-12-19T19:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/?p=8693638&preview=true&preview_id=8693638"},"modified":"2022-12-19T12:32:56","modified_gmt":"2022-12-19T20:32:56","slug":"the-top-10-most-expensive-us-home-sales-are-giving-us-dj-vu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/2022\/12\/19\/the-top-10-most-expensive-us-home-sales-are-giving-us-dj-vu\/","title":{"rendered":"4 of the top 10 most expensive US homes sold in 2022 are in California"},"content":{"rendered":"

By James Tarmy | Bloomberg<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amid dramatically negative changes in the US housing market, the spending habits of the very rich have stayed remarkably consistent.<\/p>\n

The top 10 most expensive residential sales this year were\u2014just like last year\u2014spread among New York\u00a0and the Hamptons, Los Angeles, and South Florida, according to a list compiled by Jonathan Miller, the president and chief executive officer of appraiser Miller Samuel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe footprint of these transactions appears to be firmly established,\u201d says Miller, who notes that his list is provisional, given that late-breaking sales and updates are the norm. \u201cIt\u2019s all the big three locations.\u201d The only change, he says, is that top sales have begun to seep across South Florida, when in previous years they were\u00a0in\u00a0Palm Beach and Miami. \u201cWe have top sales in Manalapan, we have Coconut Grove\u00a0and we have Coral Gables,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The top 10 list contains four houses in the Los Angeles\u00a0area; three in the New York metropolitan area; and three in South Florida.<\/p>\n

Second-Best Year on Record<\/strong><\/p>\n

Overall, 2022 was the second-highest year for sales of properties priced at $50 million and higher in history, according to Miller. (The best year ever was 2021.) This year, six properties sold for $100 million or more, whereas last year 10 did, according to Miller\u2019s data. And 33\u00a0properties\u2014at least as of Dec. 15, when he compiled the data\u2014sold for $50 million or more, compared to 2021\u2019s 49. Last year\u2019s top 10 totaled $1.4\u00a0billion. This year\u2019s total is a respectable $1.1\u00a0billion, about on par with 2019.<\/p>\n

Miller chose not to include ranches in the list, which bumped out a few results, including the $170 million sale of the late T. Boone Pickens\u2019s ranch. That decision was made, Miller explains, because many ranches are partly commercial operations,\u00a0often with dozens of separate houses and outbuildings. \u201cIt strikes me as a different product,\u201d he says. \u201cThe land is so much more of the property\u2019s value than a single-unit residence.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was one change from last year: Houses at the very peak of the market seem to be getting smaller. \u201cThe median square footage this year is 15,819 square feet;\u00a0last year it was 24,015 square feet,\u201d Miller says, a 34% drop. \u201cThey\u2019re getting cramped. Times are tough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are the top 10 US home sales of 2022:<\/strong><\/p>\n

10) 9475 Journeys End Rd. and 9501 Journeys End Lane in Coral Gables, Florida \u2014 $78 million<\/strong><\/p>\n

What that gets you: Two adjacent mansions\u2014one sold for $34 million, the other for $44 million just days apart\u2014were reported purchased by the parents of Amazon Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, although Miller notes that they were purchased by separate LLCs\u00a0and the Bezos family\u2019s involvement has not been confirmed. The cheaper house (\u201ccheap\u201d being a relative term here) has\u00a0just under 13,000 square feet and six bedrooms. Property records for the more expensive house state that it contains five bedrooms and five bathrooms on just over 11,000 square feet.<\/p>\n

9) 9904 Kip Dr in Beverly Hills, California \u2014 $75 million<\/strong><\/p>\n

What that gets you: Reportedly sold by the singer Robbie Williams and purchased by the rapper Drake, the property is\u00a0a 20-acre compound\u00a0with a main house\u00a0that contains seven beds and 13 bathrooms, according to a previous listing. The house has more than 20,000 square feet, according to the listing.<\/p>\n

8) Jala Penthouse at 730 Fifth Ave. in Midtown New York \u2014 $75.9 million<\/strong><\/p>\n

What that gets you: To the uninitiated, the word \u201cpenthouse\u201d would imply that this apartment is at the top of the building. For years, though, the designation (at least, when used as a sales tool) has become vaguer and basically means \u201csomewhere near the top.\u201d Even if it\u2019s not the highest apartment in the Aman New York\u2019s new building on 57th Street, it\u2019s certainly the fanciest, with more than 6,700 square feet and two terraces with views of Central Park.<\/p>\n

7) 153 Lily Pond Lane in East Hampton, New York \u2014 $84.5 million<\/strong><\/p>\n

What that gets you: The 9-plus acre, oceanfront estate was sold by the financier Ron Perelman, who\u2019s spent much of the last two years liquidating his vast trove of houses, boats, art and collectibles. This property\u00a0has 385 feet of prime ocean frontage, and a main house that covers more than 11,000 square feet. It was first listed for $115 million.<\/p>\n

6) 27628 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California \u2014 $100 million<\/strong><\/p>\n

What that gets you: The roughly 3.5-acre cliffside estate was reportedly sold by self-storage billionaire Tammy Hughes Gustavson to Allen Media founder Byron Allen. It totals\u00a0about 11,000 square feet, with a four-bedroom main house and two guesthouses. In something unusual for the hilly area, a path down the cliffs from\u00a0the house to the beach can apparently be navigated by golf cart.<\/p>\n

5) 4 East 66th St. in New York City \u2014 $101 million<\/strong><\/p>\n

What that gets you: Assembled by Paul Allen, the late billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, the property is in fact two apartments he acquired\u00a0over time. The sale took place off-market, so very little is known about the property other than it comprises\u00a0the top two units of a co-op building overlooking Central Park, and that it was reportedly purchased by Julia Koch, widow of the late ultra-conservative mega donor David Koch.<\/p>\n

4) 3031 and 3115 Brickell Avenue in Coconut Grove, Florida \u2014 $106.9 million<\/strong><\/p>\n

What that gets you: When philanthropist Adrienne Arsht sold her four-acre estate on Biscayne Bay for a Miami-Dade County record, it was reported that the buyer was none other than Ken Griffin, the founder of Citadel and a major South Florida booster. There are two houses on the property: One was built in 1913, and the other was built by Arsht in the late 1990s. Together, they have a reported 12 bedrooms across\u00a025,000 square feet.<\/p>\n

3) 10231 Charing Cross Rd. in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles \u2014 $119.9 million<\/strong><\/p>\n

What that gets you:\u00a0The third-highest sale on Miller\u2019s list is the one he says he knows the least about. It\u2019s set on 3.5 acres\u2014that much is more or less certain\u2014but Miller says that there isn\u2019t a property record for the sale. He derived his information from a report on Realtor.com, which said the sale\u00a0closed on July 22 for a four-bedroom home covering more than 11,600 square feet. \u201cWe can\u2019t find the property records, but there are indications that it closed\u00a0for this amount,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

2) 944 Airole Way in Bel Air, Los Angeles \u2014 $141 million<\/strong><\/p>\n