Eternal sunshine, beautiful beaches, luxurious living, and endless culture… Just a few of the reasons why people love Los Angeles and never want to leave. Spanning an area of over 4,000 square miles and home to just over 10 million people, Los Angeles county is a very diverse area offering a huge variety of opportunities for real estate investments. Best known for its smaller, most coveted communities on the West Side, including Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, and Malibu, certain pockets offer up some of the most luxurious real estate not only in the area but in the country. We’ve broken down each of these neighborhoods to help you determine which is the best fit for your next investment.
Bel Air
Tucked away along the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains and removed from the hustle and bustle of the city, Bel Air is definitely one of the most private and exclusive neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Bel-Air is most widely known for its breathtaking homes on some of the city’s largest lots, spacious enough for a pool, a guesthouse, and even tennis courts in addition to a spectacularly grand main house. Many Bel-Air homes include breathtaking views of the Los Angeles basin, making residents feel as if they are still engaged with the beauty of the city while maintaining their privacy.
Home to many high-profile individuals and families, Bel-Air is appealing to many buyers for the privacy it can offer residents. Most homes are gated, surrounded by tall hedges and lush greenery, and feature what seem like mile-long driveways, making this area the ideal neighborhood for those looking for a luxurious, private getaway they can come home to every night. With this high level of privacy comes slight isolation from nightlife and other parts of the city. While the homes are certainly luxurious, the area is lacking in the extravagant dining, shopping, and entertainment options available in other parts of the city
However, with the size of the properties in this area and all of the possible amenities the space permits, your home can serve as your own country club, restaurant, and entertainment space. It is clear that many feel it is worth the compromise, as the demand for Bel-Air homes greatly outweighs the supply. The prestige and grandeur of this area have buyers from all over looking to purchase real estate in Bel-Air. Right now, the estimated median listing price of homes in Bel-Air is $3.3 million.
Beverly Hills
Embodying the epitome of glitz and glamour and home to some of the most extravagant homes in the country, Beverly Hills is often what pops into many minds when they think of the Los Angeles Area. While Rodeo Drive, the Beverly Hills Hotel, and the city’s “90210” zip code are quintessential icons of the city, this area is more than just a tourist attraction. Beverly Hills has come to be an almost universal symbol of wealth and elegance, a place where people go to see and be seen. In addition to some of the country’s best shopping, dining, and entertainment, some of the world’s most luxurious and coveted real estate can be found here.
In today’s market, the median listing price of a home in Beverly Hills sits at $3.9 million. Having boomed in the 1920s and being constantly developed ever since, the Beverly Hills real estate market offers diversity in style and magnitude, whether you’re looking for your Hamptons home replica, a modern architectural property, or a gated private estate. Along beautiful palm tree-lined streets, buyers will find a variety of homes from astonishingly expensive palatial chateaus to more modest, traditional, and less grandiose properties.
Much of the city is made up of small pristine manors that sit back from the street on impeccably maintained landscaping, making Beverly Hills one of the most picturesque neighborhoods in the world. Certain sections (just off Santa Monica Boulevard, for example) are scattered with more affordable apartment buildings, condos, and smaller homes, making it possible for younger residents and upper-middle-class families to live in the area. Residents may sometimes find their streets crowded by tour buses or visiting tourists looking to experience just a taste of the Beverly Hills lifestyle.
While still home to an opulent lifestyle and some of the most exceptionally beautiful and luxurious estates, many of the high-profile individuals that this area used to be famous for housing have decided to relocate to more private, lower-profile areas in the hills such as Bel Air, Brentwood, Calabasas, and even Malibu. Even though the area has become more accessible to more than just Hollywood’s elite, Beverly Hills maintains its position as one of the world’s most famed and extravagant places to live.
Malibu
When many people think of Southern California living, they think of the beach and the natural beauty of the magnificent mountains that border the iconic surf. Malibu is the manifestation of this vision and more, providing 27 miles of spectacular coastline along the Pacific Ocean, making it one of the most exclusive beachfront destinations for the luxury home buyer. Even though Malibu is a popular destination for tourists and local beachgoers, beaches available to the public are separate from those connected to residential lots. The coastline that is Malibu homeowners’ front yard is accessible only by a private entrance, providing buyers with not only their own personal beaches but also an unobstructed view of the edge of the earth. To many alone, this is the ultimate luxury.
Even though many buyers look to this area for prime ocean-side homes, real estate in Malibu is not limited to beachfront property. Many Malibu homes can be found nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains, overlooking the stunningly beautiful Pacific Ocean and providing residents who prefer to be higher up above the water with larger lots and impeccable views. Many of these homes with more property feature pools that seem to blend seamlessly into the horizon, beautiful gardens, access to hiking trails, and plenty of space for outdoor entertaining.
While these natural amenities are luxurious in themselves, Malibu also boasts some of the best restaurants in the city where you’ll encounter some of the most memorable dining experiences from the food, to the views, to the ambiance and stars you may spot simply enjoying their evening. Nobu, Moonshadows, Duke’s, and Geoffrey’s are some of the fanciest spots to dine and are all Malibu staples that are well-known and loved by locals and visitors alike.
While you can’t go wrong with having your next home in any of these areas, they all certainly offer everyone something different. Each neighborhood is unique, located in a different part of the Los Angeles area, and comes along with its own set of amenities. It is therefore difficult to argue that one is more luxurious or desirable than another as the appeal ultimately lies in the eye of the beholder, or the buyer in this case. Whether you are looking for the beach, a larger lot, ultimate privacy, or access to nightlife, you’ll find it in one of these areas.
So you simply have you ask yourself, which area lines up best with your list of must-haves?
