Los Angeles Luxury Condo Market Heats Up as Wealthy Buyers Move In

Last year, the Los Angeles metropolitan area was decimated by wildfires. But today, local real estate experts say the luxury condo market is experiencing a strong revival.

The most expensive segments of the city's luxury condo market, with price points ranging from $5 million to $10 million and from $10 million and above, are heating up, Realtor.com data confirms.

For the past three months on average, median list prices per square foot were up 2.3% year over year for condos in the $5 million to $10 million range and up a healthy 5.2% for ultraluxe condos priced at $10 million-plus.

This is in contrast to the broader Los Angeles area condo market, says Realtor.com senior economist Jake Krimmel.

"Condo list prices overall and on a per-square-foot basis are down year over year in metro Los Angeles," he says. "What's more is that they're declining at a higher rate than over L.A. metro inventory or single-family home inventory."

Branded luxe development Rosewood Residences Beverly Hills is seeing brisk sales in the $10 million-plus range. (Evan Ramzi)

Overall, condos in Los Angeles are lingering longer on the market than single-family dwellings, with condos adding six days on the market compared to a year ago, and single-family homes losing a day for the same time period.

Meanwhile, the market for ultraluxury condos is accelerating. Condos priced a $10 million-plus, which generally take much longer to sell than less expensive properties, typically went under contract 54 days faster in July than they did a year earlier.

Brokers on the ground say the revival has much to do with branded buildings, which are filled with amenities, offer plenty of privacy and safety, and most importantly, give residents an easy get-up-and-go lifestyle.

Park Elm Residences at Century Plaza

Neyshia Go with Sotheby's International Realty led the sales team for Park Elm, a recently constructed high-rise condo development in Century Plaza. Developed by London billionaires the Reuben brothers and completed in 2021, the identical 44-story towers contain 143 units in the north tower and around 130 in the south tower.

Go says sales in the open tower have been brisk. In July, she closed on 27A, a $10.7 million three-bedroom unit.

Like most upscale condo buildings, amenities such as the roof deck pool at Rosewood abound and offer busy, wealthy buyers a luxe but maintenance-free lifestyle. (Evan Ramzi)

She tells Realtor.com the unit's buyer was a local who downsized from a sprawling single-family home, desiring more travel and a lock-and-leave lifestyle, without the burden of maintenance or concerns over keeping a dwelling safe during extended periods away.

She notes that some clients had moved into a rental after their homes were damaged in the wildfires, then realized they preferred the simpler lifestyle.

She describes their mentality as this: "It’s nice to not have to go up and down stairs in my 6,000-square-foot house anymore, it's nice having a doorman, it's nice knowing if something happens I can call someone, it's nice knowing I don't have to pay the pool man, gardener, or for fire insurance."

After the fires, insurance rates soared so dramatically that Go says she knows clients who were paying $50,000 to $100,000 annually for coverage.

Park Elm has a very reasonable monthly fee, which includes insurance. It's about $1.50 per square foot, says Go, thanks to the building's high-quality construction, which allowed for lower insurance premiums. With 273-plus units, the payments are widely spread out.

Additionally, there's the standard plethora of amenities. Park Elm boasts fitness and wellness centers, a pool, and a roof deck. There's also has a screening room, dog park, and reading garden.

Penthouse E in Rosewood is still listed for $35 million, but earlier this year Residence 3A closed for $12.35 million. (Evan Ramzi)

However, Go says the most unique and desirable amenity is the development's proximity to the Century Plaza ecosystem, with its abundance of retail and commercial spaces, including restaurants.

"Los Angeles is notorious for not being a walkable city the way New York City is," she says. But at Park Elm, "suddenly, you don't need to get into your car."

She even has clients coming in from lower-tax pastures such as Texas and Florida, wanting a pied-à-terre for the few months of the year they are in town for business, family, or even just leisure.

"We have someone who wanted to be near his favorite golf club."

Notable luxe sales in the metro

Meanwhile, record-breaking high-end condo sales are popping up all over the county.

A half-built penthouse atop the Aman Beverly Hills is on track to sell to a mystery buyer for $200 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. If the sale goes through, it would obliterate the former record for an L.A. condo: the $39.2 million closed at The Century in Century City.

The residence takes up the top two floors of a 28-story tower, which will run alongside the 78-room Aman Hotel. It spans 16,810 square feet indoors, with an additional 14,265 square feet of outdoor space, a private pool, and a rooftop terrace.

Then there is the $36 million 7,400-square-foot, three-bedroom penthouse at Sierra Towers, reportedly bought by Canadian media and publishing heiress Taylor Thomson in July. The tower has been the residence of many bold-faced names, including Sandra Bullock, Courteney Cox, and Katy Perry.

Other high-end condo complexes marketing $10 million-plus penthouses include Rosewood Residences Beverly Hills, 8899 Beverly Boulevard, and Mandarin Oriental, Beverly Hills.

Earlier this year, PH1W at Mandarin Oriental Residences, Beverly Hills, was sold for $13,252,500, setting the highest price per square foot for a condominium sale in Los Angeles County for 2026. (Mandarin Oriental Residences, Beverly Hills)

Rosewood, a hotel-branded residential complex with only 17 high-end units at 9900 S Santa Monica Blvd., closed a $14,800,000 three-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom unit in February, despite smoke from the wildfires still lingering in the air.

In April, a three-bedroom, 3.5-bath, 3,932-square-foot Residence 3A closed as one of the top five condo deals in L.A. for 2026, sold at $12,350,000. Penthouse E is still listed for $35 million.

Also earlier this year, Penthouse 1W at Mandarin Oriental Residences, Beverly Hills, was sold for $13,252,500, setting the highest price per square foot for a condominium sale in Los Angeles County in 2026 at the time, at $3,852 per square foot.

"In L.A., condo living has not been the primary housing people think of," says Go. "They think, 'I’m going to move into a house with a pool, and that's my L.A. life.'

"But now they are recognizing the convenience, safety, and the lock-and-leave, no fuss lifestyle."