Los Angeles’ Mansion Tax Has Raised $439 Million: These Ritzy Neighborhoods Have Been Stung the Most
Getty ImagesThe Los Angeles “mansion tax” has been in effect for less than 18 months, and already it has changed the city’s real estate game.The levy, which is essentially a transfer tax on high-end properties sold within city limits, has so far raised more than $439 million, from 670 sales, for affordable housing and homeless initiatives in the city, according to the Los Angeles Housing Department.But, as a consequence, the city’s luxury real estate market took a hit.A tax to fight inequalityLos Angeles is home to some of America’s wealthiest people. But it is also infamous for Skid Row and the thousands of residents who are homeless and live on the streets. The city’s 2024 homeless census reported more than 75,000 unhoused people living on its streets, and the city is short around 500,000 units of affordable housing.To make up for the shortfall, L.A. voters passed United to House LA in 2022, a ballot initiative that imposed a “mansion tax” on real estate transactions over $5 million. The program applies a 4% transfer tax on property sales between $5,150,000 and $10,300,000 and a 5.5% transfer tax on properties sold for $10,300,000 or more—on top of a preexisting .45% real estate tax for all home sales. And as you can imagine, wealthy homeowners were not happy.The measure went into effect April 1, 2023 and in the months prior, moneyed home sellers scrambled to make deals before the deadline. In some cases, sellers offered major discounts to get sales done before the deadline.“Botched” plastic surgeon Paul Nassif, for instance, offered buyers’ agents $1 million if they could get a deal done before the mansion tax went into effect (Nassir’s seven-bedroom, 12,000-square-foot mansion eventually sold—in June 2023—for $18.4 million).Brad Pitt, on the other hand, lucked out and sold his $39 million compound on the last day of March 2023, narrowly avoiding a hefty $2.145 million fee. He wasn’t alone. Mark Wahlberg also got in right under the deadline and sold his Beverly Park mansion for $55 million in February 2023, though he’d originally priced it at more than $87 million. Both stars were part of a sell-off trend: Luxury home sales spiked in March 2023 before plummeting the next month. A year before the mansion tax took effect, Los Angeles saw 366 single-family home sales of $5 million or more. In the 12 months after, there were 166—a 68% decrease. Beyond speeding up some sales, the mansion tax also had many celebs, including Rashida Jones, Leeza Gibbons, and Maria Bello, opting to rent out their homes rather than deal with the real estate market.L.A. isn’t the only city with a mansion tax. New York City instituted a one in 1989, which imposed a 1% tax on sales of properties of $1 million or more. Of course, the average home was a lot cheaper then—and in 1989, $1 million could buy you a mansion. Today, the median home listing price in NYC is $850,000.Where the mansion tax hit hardestL.A.’s expansive westside neighborhoods have accounted for nearly half of all “mansion tax” sales. The city’s 5th Council District, which includes exclusive communities like Bel-Air and Beverly Crest, contributed $83.3 million over 138 sales. The 11th Council District, which includes Brentwood and Pacific Palisades, contributed $73.9 million via 174 sales. And Council District 4, which includes the star-studded Hollywood Hills, Silver Lake, and Los Feliz neighborhoods, brought in $59.4 million through 127 sales.Some of Los Angeles’ ritziest enclaves, like Beverly Hills, Malibu, and Calabasas, are technically outside of the city boundaries and, therefore, aren’t subject to the tax. Below, check out homes in some of the Los Angeles neighborhoods that have put the most money in the mansion tax pot.Bel-AirMedian home list price: $6.2 millionThis 14,941-square-foot, Bel-Air home has nine bedrooms and 13 bathrooms and is on the market for $115 million.Realtor.comBeverly CrestMedian home list price: $11.25 millionThis five-bedroom, 5.5-bathroom home is on a 3.48-acre lot and is listed at $11.25 millionRealtor.comBrentwoodMedian home list price: $5 millionThis 14,000-square-foot Brentwood mansion has nine bedrooms and seven bathrooms and is listed for $24.49 million.Realtor.comPacific PalisadesMedian home list price: $4.75 millionThis Pacific Palisades home has seven bedrooms and 7.5 bathrooms and is listed at $18.5 million.Realtor.comLos FelizMedian home list price: $2.59 millionThis $4.495 million Los Feliz home has five bedrooms and 3.5 baths.Realtor.comSilver LakeMedian home list price: $1.8 millionThis three-bedroom, three-bath Silver Lake home is listed at $2.19 million.Realtor.comHollywood HillsMedian home list price: $2.09 millionThis four-bedroom, 4.5-bath Hollywood Hills home is listed at $3.49 million.Realtor.com
EXCLUSIVE: Matthew Perry’s $4.7 Million Hollywood Hills Home Is Put Back on the Market—2 Weeks After It Was Mysteriously Delisted
Getty Images; Realtor.comThe final property that Matthew Perry purchased before his shocking death at the age of 54 has been put back on the market for $4.7 million—two weeks after its listing was mysteriously taken down.Located in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, the three-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom home was purchased by Perry for $4.99 million in May 2023, just a few months before he passed away at a nearby Pacific Palisades property in October.The home was originally listed for sale in May 2024 for $5,195,000. After four months on the market, the home was discounted to $4.7 million.Then, in October, the listing was removed without explanation, only to reappear on Realtor.com® two weeks later with the same price that it was discounted to in September.It is unclear whether the home was delisted because it had received an off-market offer that fell through, or because it was for administrative reasons. However, the property has been put back on the market with the same listing agent who was originally responsible for it: Greg Holcomb with Carolwood Estates.The final property that Matthew Perry purchased before his shocking death at the age of 54 has been put back on the market for $4.7 million—two weeks after its listing was mysteriously taken down.Getty ImagesLocated in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA, the three-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom home was purchased by Perry for $4.99 million in May 2023.Realtor.comThe home was originally listed for sale in May 2024 for $5,195,000. Four months later, the price was reduced to $4.7 million.Realtor.comThen, in October, that listing was removed without explanation, only to reappear on Realtor.com two weeks later with the same price that it was discounted to in September.Realtor.comRealtor.com has contacted the listing agent for comment.Perry, who died on Oct. 28, 2023, at his Pacific Palisades property, is thought to have never actually lived in the Hollywood Hills home, having begun renovating the dwelling almost immediately after purchasing it.Described in its listing as a “sleek mid-century treasure,” the house was built in 1957 and offers three bedrooms (one has been converted into a screening room), 3.5 bathrooms, and a stunning outdoor space with a swimming pool and a fire pit.“Gorgeously renovated, the thoughtful updates provide an ambiance of elevated luxury while embracing the original architectural aesthetic,” the listing states. “This beautiful oasis boasting sex appeal and sophistication is remarkably private and serene yet situated moments from the best of Sunset Strip and Beverly Hills.”The home is understood to have been the last property Perry purchased before his death at the age of 54; however, he had amassed an impressive real estate portfolio.Interestingly, the home in which Perry died was recently sold for $8.55 million in an off-market deal to a real estate investor and developer from Arizona.Perry purchased that property for $6 million in 2020. And it was at that home where his body was found face down in a Jacuzzi. The official autopsy report later revealed he died of “acute effects of ketamine” and subsequent drowning.The four-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom property was purchased by Anita Verma-Lallian, a real estate developer and movie producer based in Scottsdale, according to the New York Times.Verma-Lallian is understood to have purchased the home as an investment property, with the deal officially closing on Oct. 16, almost a year to the day since beloved “Friends” star Perry died.The actor is never thought to have actually lived in the home.Realtor.comDescribed in its original listing as a “sleek mid-century treasure,” the house was built in 1957.Realtor.comIt offers three bedrooms (one has been converted into a screening room), 3.5 bathrooms, and a stunning outdoor space with a swimming pool and a fire pit.Realtor.comThe home is understood to have been the last property Perry purchased before his death at the age of 54.Realtor.comFive defendants, including two doctors, have since been charged in connection with Perry’s death. One of the defendants, Jasveen Sangha, is due to stand trial in March 2025. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.During his ownership, the “Friends” star is thought to have made several updates to the home, including the addition of a raised pool overlooking the ocean.The same month Perry closed on that property, he listed his Malibu beach house for a staggering $14.95 million. He eventually sold the home for $13.1 million in January 2021.Later in 2021, he sold his 9,300-square-foot “mansion in the sky” penthouse in Los Angeles for $21.6 million, a significant discount from its initial $35 million price tag—but still more than the $20 million he paid for it in 2017.It was also reported one month after Perry’s death that the actor had been renting a Beverly Hills home for $49,000 a month while his Pacific Palisades home underwent renovations.According to DailyMail.com, he was sharing the three-bedroom home with his longtime assistant, Kenny Iwamasa, who is one of the five people charged in connection with Perry’s death.Iwamasa pleaded guilty on Aug. 7 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death and now faces up to 15 years in prison.Perry’s death sent shock waves through the entertainment industry and prompted a public outpouring of grief, particularly from his “Friends” co-stars, with whom he had reunited on-screen just two years prior in what would prove to be his final TV appearance.The actor shot to fame while playing the role of Chandler Bing in the hit sitcom, which ran for 10 years, from September 1994 to May 2004. The show also starred Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc.
Inside Marc Jacobs’ $9.2 Million Frank Lloyd Wright-Designed Home—as he Lifts the Lid on ‘Unexpected’ 4-Year Renovation of the Property
Instagram/Marc JacobsFashion designer Marc Jacobs might be best known for his catwalk creations, but in 2019, he turned his attention to a more ambitious design project: overhauling a $9.17 million Frank Lloyd Wright-designed property in upstate New York that he purchased on something of a whim in 2019.Jacobs, 61, is now opening up about the lengthy and complex renovations he and husband Charly Defrancesco, 43, have made to the waterfront home, while also explaining his reasons for purchasing the property in the first place.In the December issue of Vogue, which Jacobs guest-edited, the fashion icon shared a single image of himself posing inside the Rye property—which, according to the notes in his essay about the home, took a mammoth crew of 40 people to capture.While Jacobs declined to give readers a more in-depth view of his historic home, which is known as the Max Hoffman House, he has been much more open about it on Instagram, where he regularly shares images of himself posing in and around the property.Located about an hour’s drive from Manhattan and set on a stunning 2 acres of land, the home was originally built in 1955 for auto importer Max Hoffman. The 5,791-square-foot layout features five bedrooms and six baths.Fashion designer Marc Jacobs has opened up about the extensive renovations he has made to the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed property he bought for $9.17 million in 2019.Steve MaxwellThe 61-year-old fashion icon explained in a new essay in Vogue how he fell in love with the property upon his first viewing.Instagram/Marc JacobsJacobs regularly shares images of himself posing in and around the home on social media.Instagram/Marc JacobsLocated about an hour’s drive from Manhattan and set on a stunning 2 acres of land, the home was originally built in 1955 for auto importer Max Hoffman.Instagram/Marc JacobsThe L-shaped home, which boasts a Japanese garden, has been expanded over the years and underwent an interior renovation in the 1990s.But by the time Jacobs came to view it in 2019, the house required what he describes as a great deal of “care, attention, and patience.”Still, despite having decided that he would likely never move out of New York City, the designer says he was overcome with emotion upon seeing the house for the first time, recalling the sense of awe and amazement he experienced at the unique design and stunning grounds.“I hadn’t even stepped inside, but I could feel it—this place was different, and genuinely one of the coolest houses I had ever seen,” he writes.The ‘Wright’ stuffWright, an American architect known for his innovative designs such as Fallingwater in Mill Run, PA, and the Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan, designed homes that fit into their surroundings. His trademark flourishes included walls of windows and built-in furniture.Jacobs’ residence is constructed from stone and plaster, with a slate roof and copper trim. Walls of glass frame the serene surroundings.“The eaves were interrupted by square cutouts revealing the open, expansive sky (also creating incredible architectural shadows on the ground),” Jacobs recalled from his first viewing. “I then noticed the decades-old Japanese maple trees—as if perfectly managed and manicured by nature. They were so different than anything I remembered from growing up in the city.”Jacobs could recognize the architect’s hallmark design elements showcased in the home, explaining: “The house was living proof of Wright’s hallmark Usonian principle, emphasizing a close connection between a structure and its surrounding environment.”Though he was “moved” by the design of the home itself, he explains that it was more the feeling of calm he experienced after stepping inside it that won him over.“Floor-to-ceiling windows opened to the south and east, bathing the space in natural light,” Jacobs gushed. “Outside, the Long Island Sound stretched like a painting—serene, unwavering, majestic.“I sank into a chair, as if placed on purpose by the window to lure me in, and the view consumed me. In that moment, the city, the noise, the rush, my daily fears and anxieties all melted away. I felt fully present and completely at ease.”Jacobs has extensively renovated the architectural gem, working with the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy on a painstaking, down-to-the-studs restoration.Instagram/Marc JacobsInstagram/Marc JacobsInstagram/Marc JacobsJacobs and his husband, Charly Defrancesco (pictured), tied the knot inside the home’s “monumental fireplace” before work on the home had begun.Instagram/Marc Jacobs“I knew I could be happy here, but it would take all my resources, determination, and time to make it mine” Jacobs recalled.Instagram/Marc Jacobs‘All my resources, determination, and time’But the home was not exactly in a turn-key condition.“The first step was to understand the extent of the decay the house had endured,” as Jacobs recalled. “Immediately noticeable were the sagging eaves, the multitude of leaks from the roof, the dried out, splintered mahogany and the battered exterior woodwork, which had suffered seven decades of winds from the Sound.”He added, “I knew I could be happy here, but it would take all my resources, determination, and time to make it mine.”In 2019, the deal was done. Before the work started, he and Defrancesco married at their newly purchased but very much unrenovated residence, in front of the “monumental fireplace” with just 40 guests in attendance.The couple would later hold another ceremony in New York City, which was attended by hundreds of guests—including the likes of Anna Wintour, Bella Hadid, and Naomi Campbell—but the decision to first marry in their new home cemented its emotional significance in their lives.Home with historyBuilt for the Austrian-born automobile dealer who had fled the Nazis, according to Architectural Digest, the waterfront home was also owned by “philanthropist Emily Fisher Landau and, eventually, by Alice and Thomas Tisch,” who sold the property to Jacobs.AD noted that the property is located in a gated community on Manursing Island, which has a wildlife sanctuary as well as the Playland Amusement Park.At the time the home came on the market, USA Today noted it had been completely renovated in 1998 and featured one-of-a-kind details, including a “dramatic two-story living room with a suspended second-floor walkway and floating staircase, wood-paneled elevator, guest quarters with a separate entrance, three-bay tiled and heated garage, and a slate roof.”Prior to buying the Westchester County abode, the fashion mogul had lived in a plush Greenwich Village townhouse.Jacobs says the home was suffering from significant “decay” when he took it over.Instagram/Marc JacobsThough he was “moved” by the design of the home itself, he explains that it was more the feeling of calm he experienced after stepping inside it that won him over.Instagram/Marc JacobsThe home’s incredible views of the Long Island Sound were one of the most memorable things about it, Jacobs noted.Instagram/Marc JacobsJacobs and his husband have worked hard to maintain Wright’s original designs, while also adding some “over-the-top” touches that make the home feel more like their own space.Instagram/Marc JacobsLabor of loveThe homeowners collaborated with the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy on a painstaking, down-to-the-studs restoration and modernization of the space. It entailed careful removal of the stone flooring to reveal the mechanicals beneath.The leaky roof also had to be replaced. Like so many renovations, this one came with plenty of surprises and setbacks.“With each passing month, it became clear that the work and craftsmanship necessary was far beyond what anyone had anticipated,” he noted. “Our contractors and architect brought in experts for woodwork restoration and slate-roof replacement.”After suffering “countless delays and unexpected turns,” four years later, the labor of love (and much labor) was near completion.Once they moved in, they were confronted with the challenge of living in an old house with high-tech amenities, like smart home technology controlled by an app, or how to open the entry gate.“This was the start of my next chapter, but I was not quite ready for the realities of being in an old house, newly equipped with a bevy of modern conveniences—most of which I still don’t understand how to use or what they do,” he admitted.A basement that Wright added at the original owner’s request has become “over-the-top,” Jacobs noted. That deluxe lower level is now a “full-time laundromat, infrared spa, part-time pharmacy, hair salon equipped with a barber chair and rinse sink, nail salon (for my current fixation), gift-wrapping station, office supply center, and the room with the only properly proportioned wooden closets in the entire house for a fashion-obsessed couple.”The newly reimagined spaces include an en suite den, a “doll-house-like library” filled with first-edition books, the window-filled great room, and a “fish bowl” office connected to the primary suite.“Though my spirit will always belong to New York City, my heart has found its home in the quiet joy of the suburbs,” Jacobs added.
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