Sunset Strip - Hollywood Hills West Market Round-Up: July 2009

22 single family homes sold in the Sunset Strip - Hollywood Hills West neighborhood in July 2009, with a median price of $1,267,500. Sales and median price are about on par with July 2008 when 20 homes sold with a median sales price of $1,287,500.

Some high end sales show how much the top end of the market has roared back from darkest days of the financial crisis.
9161 Oriole Way, a fully rehabbed house built in 2001, sold for $12,800,000 a few mill off its $15,450,000 asking price, in a brisk 19 days. Located in the exclusive Bird Streets, this house has 6 br, 9 ba and 9,696 sq ft of living area on a 32,234 lot.


1430 Sunset Plaza Drive was another sale that tipped the scales. This newly constructed house on lower Sunset Plaza Drive by Rising Glen sold for $9,100,000, 9% below its $9,995,000 asking price, after 67 days on the market. The house has 5 br, 7 ba, 5,650 sq ft of living area on an 11,330 lot.
In the under $5 million range, 2305 Achilles Drive, a top-to-bottom 2008 remodel in the Mount Olympus neighborhood, sold for $4,100,000, just below its $4,295,000 asking price, in 21 days. The house has 6 br, 4.5 ba, 5,600 sq ft of living are on a 17,030 sq ft lot.

Anecdotal evidence shows that the hardest-hit segment of the Los Angeles real estate market is the $1.5 - $3.5 million range. Fewer buyers are able to qualify for the jumbo loans required to make these purchases, resulting in fewer sales and downward pricing pressure. One sale shows how dramatically values have changed.
1663 N Crescent Heights Drive, sold for $2,250,000, $700,000 below its $2,950,000 asking price, after 127 days. This 1989 construction has 4 br, 4 ba, 4,082 sq ft of living area on a 9,680 sq ft lot. It previously sold for a $3,350,000 in January 2008, an astonishing 33% decline in value in approximately 18 months.

Currently, in the Sunset Strip - Hollywood Hills West neighborhood there are seven houses listed at over $10 million, 25 houses listed in the $5 - 10 million range, and approximately 80 houses listed in the $2 - 5 million range. Unless owners "capitulate" and acknowledge the recent decline in values for high-end homes, many of these properties will simply not sell.