The Malibu Real Estate Report / By Rick Wallace

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No record Malibu sale in 2011

What do the years 1997, 1999, 2001, 2006, 2007 and 2010 have in common? In each of those years, a new record home sale price was established in Malibu real estate. During those years, as detailed below, the new high for a home sale increased gradually from $14 million to $37 million.

2011 is not joining the list. No new records were established this year. In fact, the high end, which took the longest to absorb the real estate downturn, is generally in the worst throes of a market melee. For example, only one sale topped $20 million this year, compared to five last year.

The deficiency of sales this year compared to 2010 really tells the story. It has been a viciously rough year among elite properties (even with a few more shopping days remaining). Last year, 36 homes sold for at least $5 million; this year, only 20. Last year, 19 homes topped $10 million; this year, only five.

The top one percent of real estate customers in Malibu (where already only the top one percent nationwide can afford to live) has turned quite stingy. Even the miserable collapse of 2009 produced better high-end numbers than this year, with 23 sales over $5 million, nine exceeding $10 million and one over $20 million.

In 2008, the last year that Malibu saw a rise in its overall median value, the numbers were virtually identical to 2010 in the $5 million and $10 million groupings. That was a time the upper end seemed immune to the real estate failings of the real world. It has taken three years to feel the impact. The so-called lower end in Malibu, contrarily, seems to be approaching recovery. Malibu’s lowest-priced homes and condos appear primed to have slight increases in value during 2012.

What are the six sales that each raised the bar during the past generation?

The first home ever to top $10 million did not hold the record long. A six-acre estate on Encinal Bluffs was not officially listed for sale when it sold for $14 million in 1997. The full-fledged gated estate with extensive frontage on the bluffs and private sandy beach below included a guest house and pool. Its record lasted barely two years.

Just a couple doors away, a whole new level of opulence had been built a few years before by the heiress of a gambling fortune: a palace of nearly 20,000 square feet on more than seven flat, manicured acres, with tennis court, garages, putting green, guest houses and virtually every amenity possible in today’s world. Most stunning was the 300 feet of private Encinal Bluffs ocean view. In 1999, the property sold for $27 million, establishing the most noteworthy leap of record value since the 1980s.

The same estate sold again two years later in 2001, and set another record. Having been bought by a health supplement magnate who then died, the second estate sale brought $31 million, according to information provided to the multiple listings. However, it was rumored that a number of personal property and art items were included in the sale, and the net real estate transaction was more in the $27.5 million range.

Whatever the actual figure was, that record lasted five years until it was topped by the dramatic sale of a property not even on the water! On a flat knoll directly above the Malibu Pier and lagoon sits a mansion behind gates, heavily fortified with two gate houses and elaborate security systems, that reckons in the 15,000 square foot range in size. According to public records, the property sold for $30,300,000 in 2006. There are 16 acres on the knoll, even room for a mini golf course, which it includes. The pool is an infinity model, there is a large media room in the main house and the master bedroom suite alone is 5,000 square feet. The sale was shrouded in secrecy. It has been widely reported that the son of the president of Equatorial Guinea is the owner, and the subject of United States government investigations for suspicion of plundering the African nation and bringing the riches to the U.S.

One year later, the sleek, contemporary estate of the late Johnny Carson sold on the bluffs of Point Dume. The same home had practically doubled the Malibu record when Carson bought it in 1984 for nearly $9 million. This time it went for about $35 million, according to public records. The estate was never listed in the MLS, but was widely known to be on the market and then sold. Carson was perhaps the first to bring attention and value to the Point Dume Riviera bluffs where now many celebrities own homes, or at least reside in locations with access very close to the beach.

Finally, last year the estate of the deceased Nancy Daly sold on Carbon Beach for $37 million, the current record. Perhaps the most spectacular of the large mansions that now front PCH along what is now regarded as “Billionaire’s Beach,” the home has eight bedrooms and 12 bathrooms. It also has a sports court and pool on the sand. Even though it is the only genuine beach house on this list, it has about three-fourths of an acre and a whopping 180 feet of beach front. (That breaks down to a value of about $100,000 for every half-foot of beach frontage.) There are also nine wood-burning fireplaces.

Based on the frequent change of the records, it may not be long before the next mammoth sale hits Malibu. Where next?

Rick Wallace has been a Realtor in Malibu for 24 years.