Every house in the market in Pacific Palisades at the end of the summer was listed for more than $1 million, making it one of only four zip codes in greater Los Angeles to join the Ridiculously Effing Expensive club (the others are in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills, which has two). (Although, The Hollywood Reporter says, "By Sept. 21, two properties were priced at less than $1 million, though the remaining 116 houses for sale were above that benchmark price.") The Palisades was first used as a backlot by Thomas Ince starting in 1911; it was settled in the 1920s as "a Methodist Episcopal enclave," then was known for its European emigres (like Thomas Mann) in the interwar period. Now it's all Hollywood, natch--THR rattles off the A-listers who live in the neighborhood: Diane Keaton, Matt Damon, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Two and a Half Men showrunner Chuck Lorre, director JJ Abrams, and so on and so forth. Furthermore, 101 properties sold in the Palisades in August, a 10 percent jump from August 2011. What's the deal? Some locals explain:
-- Partners Trust agent Melanie Sommers: "Inventory is low, there are a lot of buyers out there, and people are pulling the trigger."
-- Lawyer and resident Michael Gendler: "The key thing is that it's charming." And there's the exercising stairs: "They take you all over -- down to the beach, into town. It's this wrinkle in time."
-- Boutique owner Elyse Walker: "From a shopping perspective, we rarely have paparazzi -- unlike on Robertson ? It's very much under the radar."
-- THR: "Observers say prices have been on the rise partly because the Palisades is a haven for tear-downs replaced by bigger, more expensive build-outs. The community has an abundance of post-World War II bungalows situated on lots in the 7,000-square-foot range -- making them ideal candidates for razing."
-- On the downside, it's faaaaar from the action and there are (practically) no good restaurants. But if you have a helicopter and a personal chef, who cares, right?
· Pacific Palisades Joins L.A.'s 'Million-Dollar Listing' Club [The Hollywood Reporter]
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