A $24 Million Beverly Hills Sale in Under a Month: What It Signals for 90210 Sellers in 2026

How fast is the Beverly Hills luxury market actually moving right now? A five-bedroom Mediterranean estate on Arden Drive just gave a clean answer: listed at $25 million, in contract within a week, and closed at $24 million in under a month, all with zero Measure ULA exposure. That last part matters as much as the price.

The sale

The property at 703 North Arden Drive sits in the Beverly Hills Flats, on a roughly 23,000-square-foot lot in the 90210 zip code. Built in the Mediterranean style, the five-bedroom, 12-bathroom estate runs more than 10,000 square feet and includes a chef's kitchen, a paneled library, a home theater, a gym, a guest house, a pool, and a staff suite. Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency held the listing and represented both sides of the transaction. It went into contract the week of May 18 and officially closed on May 27, 2026, at $24 million, or $2,345 per square foot, after less than a month on the market (The Real Deal).

That deal wasn't an outlier. The same week, a 1961 mid-century modern on Hillcrest Road, also in Beverly Hills, closed at $21.5 million, or $3,890 per square foot, after asking just under $22 million (The Real Deal). Two Beverly Hills estates, two quick closes, both within a few points of asking price, in the same seven-day stretch.

Why the Flats trade differently than the hills

Arden Drive sits in the section of Beverly Hills known locally as the Flats, the grid of streets between Sunset Boulevard and Wilshire where lots run flat and rectangular rather than carved into a hillside. That geography shows up directly in the architecture: Mediterranean, Colonial, and traditional styles dominate, built for a wide street-facing lot rather than a view pad. It's a different product than what sells a mile north in Trousdale Estates or up toward Beverly Park, where the lots climb and the draw is elevation and privacy rather than proximity to Rodeo Drive and the flat, walkable core of the city. Both micro-markets sit inside the same city limits and the same price tier, but a buyer choosing between them is choosing between two genuinely different ways of living in Beverly Hills. For current inventory across the broader market, browse active Los Angeles listings.

The ULA angle sellers on this deal didn't have to think about

Here's the detail that matters most for anyone comparing Beverly Hills to the neighborhoods around it: Measure ULA, the City of Los Angeles transfer tax that adds 4% on sales above $5.4 million and 5.5% above $10.9 million, does not apply here at all. Beverly Hills is its own incorporated city with its own tax structure, entirely separate from the City of Los Angeles, so a sale on Arden Drive or Hillcrest Road never touches the ULA calculation (Hanson Bridgett; Los Angeles Office of Finance).

Run the math on the Arden Drive sale: at $24 million, a Los Angeles city sale in that range would land in the 5.5% tier, a transfer tax bill north of $1.3 million on top of the standard county documentary transfer tax. None of that applied here. That's not a small line item, and it's a real reason sellers who own on both sides of the Beverly Hills city line (Trousdale versus Bel Air, or the Flats versus a Holmby Hills address just blocks away) are paying close attention to which municipality their address actually sits in. We've walked through how that tax hits sellers inside city limits in our Hollywood Hills and Laurel Canyon guides, both of which are subject to it, and in our breakdown of what LA sellers pay at closing.

Considering listing a Beverly Hills property this year? Request a confidential valuation to see what the current pace of sales in the Flats or the hillside neighborhoods means for your specific address and timeline.

What the pace signals right now

Broader market data backs up what these two deals show. Beverly Hills' median sale price sits at $6.1 million over the trailing three months, up sharply year over year, with homes averaging 51 days on market and typically drawing at least one offer (Redfin). Both Arden Drive and Hillcrest Road moved well inside that average, which points to real depth of demand at the very top of the market rather than a market that's simply chasing lower price points.

For a seller weighing whether to list now, that combination, a sub-two-month median time on market plus two eight-figure closes in the same week, describes a market with active, ready buyers rather than one waiting on a discount. For a buyer, it means competitive offers on well-presented Flats and hillside estates are still landing near or at asking, and a property that's priced correctly for its micro-area isn't likely to sit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Measure ULA apply to Beverly Hills home sales? No. Measure ULA is a City of Los Angeles transfer tax, and Beverly Hills is a separate incorporated city with its own tax structure. Sales in Beverly Hills, including the Flats, Trousdale Estates, and Beverly Park, are not subject to the 4% and 5.5% ULA tiers that apply inside Los Angeles city limits (Hanson Bridgett).

What did 703 North Arden Drive sell for? The five-bedroom, 12-bathroom Mediterranean estate sold for $24 million, or $2,345 per square foot, closing on May 27, 2026, after less than a month on the market and an original asking price of $25 million (The Real Deal).

What's the difference between the Beverly Hills Flats and Trousdale Estates? The Flats is the flat, gridded section of Beverly Hills between Sunset Boulevard and Wilshire, built out mostly in Mediterranean, Colonial, and traditional architecture on rectangular lots. Trousdale Estates and Beverly Park sit in the hills above, on view-oriented lots with a different architectural character. Both fall inside the same Beverly Hills city limits and the same general price tier.

How does the current Beverly Hills market compare to a year ago? The median sale price over the trailing three months sits at $6.1 million, a sharp increase from the same period last year, with homes averaging 51 days on market (Redfin).

Is Beverly Hills a good comparison point for a Hollywood Hills or Bel Air listing? It's a useful one, mainly because the tax treatment differs so much. A Los Angeles city address (Hollywood Hills, Bel Air, most of the Westside) carries Measure ULA exposure above $5.4 million; a Beverly Hills address does not. That difference alone is worth running the numbers on before setting a list price near either threshold.

Schedule a private consultation to talk through pricing, timing, and tax exposure for a specific Beverly Hills, Bel Air, or Hollywood Hills address.

About the author

I represent buyers and sellers across the Westside, including Beverly Hills, and a close like Arden Drive, at nearly full price inside a month, is exactly the kind of data point I bring into a pricing conversation before a listing goes live.

Paul Blair is the founder and broker of Grey Square, a virtual real estate brokerage representing buyers and sellers across Dallas and Los Angeles. With 22 years in the business and more than $200 million in closed transactions, Paul works the full range of the market, from luxury homes in the Park Cities and Preston Hollow to estates in the Hollywood Hills and across the Westside. Connect with Paul and the Grey Square team at greysq.com. TX TREC #9011505 · CA DRE #01792671.