The Malibu Market

It all seems impossible, when real estate is wilting just about everywhere else. But Malibu in the summer isn’t like everywhere else. The latest local record high is a summer lease for a gorgeous four-bedroom, eight bathroom, beachfront property on Cliffside Drive going for $150,000 per month. That’s a jaw dropper, even for Malibu.

The housing market’s troubles haven’t touched homes valued at $10 million or above, which pretty much defines Malibu’s beachfront, and rents reflect that. It’s the same story on the East Coast, where a house on Long Island’s Southampton Village is listed at $450,000 for the month of August.

But it’s just the latest pinnacle in a summer rental market that seems to have no high-water mark. Even mundane Malibu beachfront houses in are renting for as much as $70,000 a month, and they’re still expected to be snapped up by mid-April. A big chunk of the summer crowd is from the entertainment industry, and hobnobbing never comes cheap. Plenty of deals are made at the beach – and if you aren’t there, someone else will be.

And of course, there’s also the opportunity to bump into Pamela Anderson buying organic carrot juice at Ralphs or to sip a latte next to Pierce Brosnan at Starbucks. Corporate money is pumping up Malibu prices as large publicity firms and companies with products to sell use summer rentals to host celebrity-studded bashes that are chock-full of product placements that wind up in photos in magazines and online. But Chris Cortazzo, listing agent for Malibu’s new top seed, touts the property’s completely private location (that’s Realtorspeak for paparazzi-proof).

Via LATimes