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The most expensive home for sale in the U.S. market today is in California; the tiny Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, to be precise. Offered at $250 million, the 38,000-square-foot mansion at 924 Bel Air Road is indicative of the current state of the luxury housing market in California: The prices are exceptional, but so are the properties. And the price appears to be right for many, as year-over-year sales in California’s highest-priced markets improved in April, jumping 5.3 percent, according to the California Association of Realtors. Indeed, luxury real estate is thriving in the most coveted markets across the state, including:

BEVERLY HILLS
There’s no shortage of high-end neighborhoods in Los Angeles––Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica and so on––but Beverly Hills, long synonymous with upscale living, continues to top the list of the most expensive markets in La La Land. The average price per square foot in the first quarter of 2017 was $1,925, per a report by Douglas Elliman Real Estate. It’s a result of that magical combination of higher demand and, of late, lower inventory.

“We’re seeing an uptick in domestic investment at the uber-level, and we’re seeing more international dollars than ever,” says Kofi Nartey, director of sports & entertainment, as well as celebrity and luxury real estate at Compass. Talk about domestic interest, the infamous Playboy Mansion sold in August 2016 for $100 million to next-door neighbor and Hostess heir Daren Metropoulos in a transaction that marked the most expensive residential sale in Los Angeles history (that record has since been tied). Buyers from all over are bullish on Beverly Hills. “[For international investors] sometimes it’s more of a safe haven for investment, where the economy is more stable here than the economy they’re coming from,” Nartey notes. “And sometimes these are third and fourth homes; the average affluent buyer has three homes.”

Beverly Hills hasn’t seen any record-breaking sales in 2017 (yet), but prices don’t appear to be heading south anytime soon. Buyers are willing to pay exorbitant amounts of money for these properties, and they’re getting what they pay for. The 20,000-square-foot home at 27 Beverly Park Terrace fetched $26,725,000 in April. The property offers the kind of coveted privacy that comes with five acres and a lengthy driveway. It also features 10 bedrooms and 15 bathrooms, all accessible via the home elevator; fireplaces in practically every room; and outside, a private tennis court and hand-cut mosaic pool.

MALIBU
Malibu’s coastal and mountain views have endless appeal, and it’s reflected in the home prices. The market is the second most expensive in the Los Angeles area, with average sales per square foot reaching $1,499 in the first quarter. However, Malibu had to fight its way back to the top, after suffering more than other metropolitan Los Angeles luxury markets in the economic downturn. “Malibu is unique in that it’s not necessarily a destination market. There’s really just one main road, Pacific Coast Highway. It’s a different lifestyle,” Nartey explains. “It’s also a tale of two markets––the beach side and the land side––and those all trade differently. The prices per square foot can go up 10 to 30 percent, just by going across the street.”

Actual sales activity in the Malibu luxury single-family home sector may have been lackluster over the last few months––year-over-year trades actually dropped a bit, per the Elliman report––but there’s still a great deal of head-turning excitement in the market. The 11,000-square-foot, Frank Gehry-designed gem at 31250 Broad Beach Road, highlighted by a rare 160 feet of beachfront, went to auction and sold in March for $24,150,950. Additionally, it was hard to ignore when the “New Castle” at 23800 Malibu Crest Drive emerged like a phoenix from the ashes and hit the market at $80 million, the highest asking price for a residential property in Malibu ever. The 15,000-square-foot home, developed and designed by Scott Gillen and his company Unvarnished, reached completion in April, standing atop a 360-degree promontory in place of the former Malibu Castle, which was destroyed in a 2007 fire....

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Read the full article on HauteResidence.com

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From actor to real estate broker and now – writer? 

Kofi Nartey got his start as an actor, but the national director of Compass’ sports and entertainment division went on to sell houses to the likes of Golden State Warrior player Nick Young and NFL veteran Marcellus Wiley. Last week, he released his first book, “Sellebrity: How to build a successful sports and entertainment based business,” which offers advice to those looking to break into the industry.

The book, which he self-published, is based on his interactions with famous clients as a broker, but is intended for a wider audience — not just the real estate industry.

Nartey has been selling luxury properties for 13 years and celebrated his one year anniversary with Compass last month. The venture-backed brokerage poached him from the Agency’s sports and entertainment division.

While the startup continues to face sharp criticism from rival firms over its poaching strategies, finances and aggressive expansion tactics, Nartey seemed unfazed. He declined to chat about how Compass has been perceived, but said when it comes to its national sports and entertainment division, things are looking up.

The division has grown to 40 agents nationwide, operating in all of Compass’ existing markets, with seven brokers based in Los Angeles. As head of the operation, Nartey now manages veteran broker Steven Shane in Aspen, whose firm was acquired by Compass last year. He also manages Ben Moss, the division’s Miami-based east coast director, who left his post as the head of One Sotheby’s sports and entertainment division in January, bringing four of his team members with him to Compass.

The Real Deal sat down with Nartey to chat about the division’s progress, his book and more.

What inspired you to start writing?
I’ve always wanted to write a book. I was going to write a motivational book called focus and finish, which is based on my mantra. But the question I get asked the most — twice a week, every week — is ‘how do you get celebrity clients’? So, I figured, let me write a book about that. 

Did the process ever become overwhelming?
At a certain point, I just thought I’d never finish. It was more about finding the time. I’m still full-time in my business, and I have a wife and two kids. It’s not like I can go on a trip to an island somewhere and lock myself up and just write. I had to squeeze it in between escrows and buyers and training agents, so that’s probably why it took more than two years.

How is this book different?
There’s no real voice for best practices when it comes to servicing and selling to sports and entertainment clients, so I wanted to write a book that also gave advice that people can actually use, not a lot of fluff. 

What’s been happening within Compass’ sports and entertainment division since you launched it last year?
We have over $1 billion in listings within the division nationally, and we’re looking to grow within the markets we’re in and markets we’re not in yet.

What were the challenges of starting the division?
The first part was just getting organized. The challenge with a lot of sports and entertainment divisions at other companies and even other industries is it’s just a label. We wanted to have highly-skilled [agents]. There’s an on-boarding process, there’s an application and that way we know everyone in the division meets the criteria to handle these kinds of clients. 

With Douglas Elliman acquiring Teles Properties, do you feel it will make the market more competitive? 
The merger will not impact the specialized market of luxury properties our sports and entertainment division services.

Do you think criticism directed at Compass has impacted your business?
I do not.

Did you always want to be a real estate agent?
Growing up, I always thought I was going to be an attorney, negotiating and arguing. I thought that would be my path. In real estate, you use a lot of similar skills attorneys have to use. I get to exercise that part of my brain [of] understanding contracts, writing contracts, using the law to protect your client and negotiating.

The property of Steve Oedekerk, a screenwriter, producer and director whose credits include the ‘Ace Ventura’ movies, includes a heated gazebo.

Steve Oedekerk, a screenwriter, producer and director whose credits include the “Ace Ventura” movies, “Evan Almighty” and the “Jimmy Neutron” film and television series, is asking $9.995 million for his 2-acre San Juan Capistrano, Calif. estate.

Mr. Oedekerk and his wife Tonie bought the Spanish-style property in 1997 for $2.53 million, according to public records. They spent between $5 million and $6 million in renovations, expanding the main house to 10,400 square feet and turning a large garage into a 3,200-square-foot “clubhouse,” Mr. Oedekerk said. The clubhouse was designed as an office where film and television collaborators could gather while his two daughters could play or do homework.

“I was trying to figure out how not to have my career be a family-crusher,” said Mr. Oedekerk, 56. The estate also has a heated gazebo, pool, tennis and basketball courts and a 680-square-foot guest house. In the clubhouse, two 25-foot-long desks and a custom-designed large coffee table on hydraulic lifts with a built-in lazy Susan are included in the sale, he said. San Juan Capistrano is about 55 miles south of Los Angeles.

The couple bought a lot nearby and is currently building a smaller home as they prepare for life as empty nesters, Mr. Oedekerk said. Kofi Nartey of Compass in Beverly Hills and Tracy Weintraub of Surterre Properties in Newport Beach are co-listing agents.

Read the full article on WSJ.com here.

On Wendesday, April 26, Kofi attended The Hollywood Reporter's Top 100 Power Lawyer's reception at Spago Beverly Hills. It was a great time to network with other business professionals, as well as a who's who of Hollywood power attorneys.

Click here to see Kofi's ad from the April 26th issue of The Hollywood Reporter.