Beverly Hills Real Estate Market 2026: What Joe Roth's $21.45 Million Home Sale Reveals

Joe Roth, producer of Maleficent and F9, former chairman of 20th Century Fox and Walt Disney Studios, just sold his Beverly Hills home at 713 North Hillcrest for $21.45 million after paying $23 million in 2021. That looks like a loss, but the data says otherwise: the home sold in 19 days at 97.5% of asking and nearly double the neighborhood's median price per square foot. The gap wasn't the market. It was the 2021 purchase price. Across 46 Beverly Hills sales above $5 million in the last six months, the sellers who priced to current comps sold fast and near ask, and the ones anchored to their old receipts gave back millions.

The House Did Its Job: 19 Days, 97.5% of Ask

713 North Hillcrest is not a distressed property. It's a single-story 1961 home designed by Daniel Dworsky, the architect behind LAX's Tom Bradley International Terminal and UCLA's Drake Stadium, and renovated top to bottom by Waldo Fernandez. 5,514 square feet, 4 bedrooms, walls of glass, a Baja pool, on a 27,800-square-foot lot.

Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency held the listing. It went out just under $22 million and closed May 18 at $21.45 million, 97.5% of ask, in 19 days, at $3,890 per square foot.

Nineteen days is not a market rejecting a home. That's a home that sold. Roth even cleared a second trophy property in the same stretch, his Holmby Hills mansion for roughly $22.3 million, a house he first floated at $48 million back in 2021.

So Where Did the Money Go? Into the 2021 Price

Follow the trade history on North Hillcrest: $12.25 million in 2017, $23 million in the 2021 off-market frenzy, $21.45 million now. The underlying value of the home barely moved. What moved was what buyers were willing to pay at the absolute peak.

Roth's sale printed $3,890 per square foot, while the median across the 46 Beverly Hills homes above $5 million that closed in the last six months is $12.4 million at roughly $2,160 per foot. Read that again: Roth's home sold at nearly double the per-foot median for its tier and still moved in under three weeks. The product was never the issue. The 2021 receipt was.

What Six Months of Beverly Hills Data Above $5M Actually Says

Nineteen homes over $5 million are sitting active right now, averaging about 100 days on market. The ones that sold moved in roughly 64. That spread, 100 days waiting versus 64 days done, is the market sorting sellers into two piles.

Here's the line that separates them. Only 13 of the 46 sales, about 28%, hit or beat their final ask. Seven closed below 90% of it. As a group, sold homes landed at 96.5% of their final list price but just 94.7% of their original ask. Translation: sellers who launched at an honest number traded near it. The ones who reached gave back real money before a buyer showed. Roughly $619 million in volume changed hands above $5 million this half-year. Buyers are here, they're just done overpaying.

Four Homes, Four Outcomes

The medians hide the story. The addresses tell it.

710 North Camden Drive - $23,000,000, full ask, 29 days. Priced to the market, and a buyer paid every dollar. This is the reward for an honest first number.

807 North Crescent Drive - $22,500,000, off a $24,995,000 ask, 41 days. Similar final price to Roth's, similar close window, but the seller conceded 10% to get there. The reach cost about $2.5 million.

804 North Elm Drive - $30,260,000, sold in 15 days, still 12% under ask. The top sale in the entire set, and even it closed below the opening number.

814 Foothill Road - asked $19,999,900, sold at $15,127,000 after 157 days. About 76 cents on the dollar. The cautionary tale: overshoot, sit, and the market marks you down anyway.

Four homes in the same tier, same six months. The difference between full ask in 29 days and a 24% haircut after five months wasn't the house. It was the first number.

What This Means for the Westside

The same rules run through Brentwood, the Palisades, and Santa Monica. The sellers taking haircuts right now mostly bought at the top and are anchoring to that receipt instead of the comps. Layer in the mansion tax on sales above $5 million, which is thinning the buyer pool, and your first number matters more than it has in years. Overshoot and you're the one sitting at 100+ days like Foothill Road.

If you're selling: your purchase price is not a comp. Price to today's dollar-per-foot and the right home still moves in under three weeks, Roth's 19 days and Camden's full-ask close are the proof.

If you're buying: this is the cleanest window in a while to get real architectural pedigree at a discount to the peak.

FAQ: Beverly Hills Luxury Real Estate in 2026

Did Joe Roth lose money on his Beverly Hills home?

On paper, yes, he paid $23 million in 2021 and sold for $21.45 million in May 2026. But the sale itself was strong: 19 days on market, 97.5% of asking, and $3,890 per square foot, nearly double the current $5M+ tier median. The loss traces to the 2021 peak purchase price, not a weak 2026 market.

Is the Beverly Hills luxury market soft in 2026?

No, it's selective. Roughly $619 million above $5 million traded in the last six months, and well-priced homes are selling in under 30 days, some at full ask. But only about 28% of sales hit or beat final asking price, and overpriced homes are averaging 100+ days before taking significant markdowns.

What is the average price per square foot in Beverly Hills above $5 million?

Across the 46 sales above $5 million in the past six months, the median is roughly $2,160 per square foot, with a median sale price of $12.4 million. Architecturally significant, fully renovated properties command far more, Roth's Dworsky-designed home sold at $3,890 per foot.

How long does it take to sell a luxury home in Beverly Hills right now?

Homes that sold over the past six months averaged about 64 days on market. The 19 currently active listings have averaged about 100 days. Well-priced homes are moving in 15 to 29 days.

Should I use my purchase price to set my asking price?

No. Your purchase price is not a comp. Buyers in 2026 are pricing off current dollar-per-square-foot data in your tier, not what you paid in 2021. Sellers who price to current comps are closing near ask in under a month; sellers anchored to peak-era prices are averaging 100+ days and deeper discounts.