Here Are The 30 Most Expensive Home Sales Of 2022

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The luxury real estate sector faced its ups and downs during 2022 as the market as a whole entered into a period of significant transition.

The global economy was shaken by the war in Ukraine, inflation soared, the Fed continued to hike up interest rates, and although luxury buyers are often unaffected by market factors, they’re not completely indifferent to them either. In August, Manhattan, a bastion of high-end real estate, saw its worst week in luxury since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic back in August 2020. Signed luxury contracts hit a new low, and agents told Inman that luxury buyers were taking a breath.

But the market slowdown didn’t prevent luxury clients from selling and buying some breathtaking properties. In fact, the number of properties sold for $100 million or more was just two fewer than the number seen in 2021, with at least six luxury properties selling at or above that figure.

Palm Beach took the lead this year with a mind-boggling $173 million sale of a 15-acre estate with a whopping 1,200 feet of ocean frontage.

One deal not in this list, which was included in an earlier preview of the biggest deals of the year so far, was the $188 million sale of billionaire investor Daniel Och’s penthouse at 220 Central Park South. The deal technically closed on Dec. 28, 2021, but didn’t go public until 2022, so Inman decided not to include it in this final roundup.

Unlike recent years, Palm Beach only made this list of top deals twice — in 2021, nine out of 30 top deals for the year were sourced in Palm Beach. At the other end of the spectrum, New York City and areas in and around Los Angeles were neck and neck this year for the greatest number of pricey deals closed with both cities landing eight of the top deals.

And as always, given the privacy with which many transactions are conducted at this level of the market, it’s unlikely that this list is completely comprehensive. But it offers a good snapshot of what the biggest deals in 2022 looked like.

$173 million

Palm Beach, Florida

In an encore appearance, one of the Palm Beach properties that made Inman’s most recent top beach deals list has shown up again just over one year later. Billionaire internet entrepreneur Jim Clark purchased the sweeping 15-acre property in March 2021 from the Ziff publishing family for $94.2 million, only to turn around and get it under contract in mid-June 2022 for $173 million, The Wall Street Journal first reported.

Lawrence Moens, of Lawrence A. Moens Associates, represented both sides of the deal.

Clark told The Journal the purchase of the property, with roughly 1,200 feet of ocean frontage, was a spontaneous one he and his wife Kristy made when they believed they’d transition to living in Florida more often. But as 2021 drew on turning into 2022 the couple decided to stay in New York and remembered there was another interested buyer at the time they purchased the property, realizing they could sell. The buyer was later revealed as Oracle CEO Larry Ellison.

$126 million

Los Angeles, California

After 10 years of construction and mounting debts Nile Niami’s “The One” finally sold at a no-reserve auction for $126 million in March. The mammoth 21-bedroom, 49-bathroom Bel Air home had been plagued by construction delays and skyrocketing costs to satiate Niami’s dreams of creating the largest, most expensive home in the world. Before it could be sold, however, chapter 11 bankruptcy found Niami and his development company.

Still, the property did set one record (though it fell far short of aspirations) — it became the most expensive U.S. home to sell at auction, Concierge Auctions which handled the sale was proud to report. Aaron Kirman, of Compass, and Brandon and Rayni Williams, of The Beverly Hills Estates, represented the listing. Fashion Nova CEO Richard Saghian was subsequently revealed as the buyer.

$106.88 million

Miami, Florida

The two-home, four-acre Arsht Estate sold for $106.875 million in September, marking a new record for Miami-Dade County. Ashley Cusack, of the Ashley Cusack Team at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices EWM Realty, represented the sale for businesswoman and philanthropist Adrienne Arsht. The buyer, later revealed as Citadel CEO Ken Griffin was represented by Jill Hertzberg, of the Jills Zeder Group at Coldwell Banker.

The historic property includes one home built in 1913 for former U.S. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan (which eventually underwent millions of dollars in renovations by Arsht) and another house built by Arsht in 1999 on a plot of land owned at one time by Ziegfeld Follies’ star Peggy Hopkins Joyce and her husband, lumber magnate James Stanley Joyce.

$101 million

New York, New York

This off-market deal for two properties at 4 East 66th St. — a penthouse and an additional unit on a lower floor — marked one of the priciest co-op sales to ever hit New York City. The units were previously owned by the estate of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Allen purchased the penthouse in 2011 for $25 million, but it was unknown how much he paid for the other unit, purchased prior to 2011. The buyer of the properties was not identified.

The co-op housing the apartments, which holds just 16 units in total, was built in 1920 by James E.R. Carpenter and is known as “one of New York’s most distinguished white-glove cooperatives,” according to StreetEasy.

$100 million

Malibu, California

Media Mogul Byron Allen made real estate headlines this year when he laid out $100 million in October for an 11,000-square-foot Malibu estate previously owned by self-storage magnate Tammy Hughes Gustavson. The transaction marked the most an African American buyer has ever paid for a home in the U.S.

The property first listed in May for $127.5 million and is immediately next to WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum’s $190 million estate. Jade Mills, of Coldwell Banker, represented the seller and Terence Hill, of BT Equities, an in-house agent with Allen’s family office, represented the buyer.

Allen began his career as a comedian and then founded Entertainment Studios/Allen Media Group, one of the largest privately held media companies in the U.S. His company owns the Weather Channel.

$100 million

Darien, Connecticut

After unsuccessful results on the market multiple times starting in 2016, Great Island failed to sell until Douglas Elliman’s Jennifer Leahy snagged the listing late in 2021. She closed the deal with the town of Darien, Connecticut, for $100 million by late May 2022.

The 60-acre property located on the Long Island Sound that was once owned by baking powder entrepreneur William Ziegler includes a Gilded Age mansion, a colonial farmhouse and an equestrian building with an arched tile ceiling designed by Rafael Guastavino, the engineer who created Grand Central Terminal.

$93 million

Golden Beach, Florida

Tech company InterSystems founder Phillip Ragon swept up three properties in a single $93 million transaction in Golden Beach, Florida, at the beginning of June setting a price record for the area. According to one pair of seller’s agents involved in the transaction — Danny Hertzberg and Jon Mann of the Jills Zeder Group at Coldwell Banker Realty — Ragon has plans to demolish the modest homes located on just under two acres with 275 feet of ocean frontage and construct one single-family home on the combined properties.

Pablo Alfaro, of Douglas Elliman, and Silverlane Realty Inc. also represented separate sellers involved in the transaction. Eloy Carmenate and Mick Duchon, of the Corcoran Group, collaborated with Hertzberg and Mann on the deal as well.

Previously the highest-priced home sold in Miami-Dade County was $75 million, a home on Star Island purchased by hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin in 2021.

$91 million

Malibu, California

This sweeping 17,000-square-foot Malibu mansion, first listed for $125 million in February, went under contract at the end of December for $91 million, clinching its place within the top 10 priciest deals of the year. The home located on 6.6 acres belonged to Jonathan Burton, a British videogame designer and film producer, and his ex-wife Helen Musk, The Wall Street Journal reported. According to records, the couple purchased the property for $36.5 million in 2012 and conducted extensive renovations costing several millions.

The buyer’s identity was not immediately known, but with the home purchase they’ll have access to a private tennis court, a small cinema, pool and expansive views of the Pacific Ocean.

Burton is known for his work as a director and designer for various Lego movies, according to IMDb. He also co-founded the video game design company Traveller’s Tales in 1989, which worked with major companies on games spun off from Disney and Pixar classics.

Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency and Lisa Laughlin of Sotheby’s International Realty represented Burton and Musk. The buyer was represented by Paul Lester and Aileen Comora, both with The Agency.

$85.98 million

Palm Beach, Florida

Just nine months after selling for $64 million, a Palm Beach estate sold for about $86 million in June.

The deal on the 18,000-square-foot oceanfront home was a bit secretive, with a trust managed by attorney Paul Krasker and linked to Jeffrey Feinman, a partner at accounting firm DDK & Co., serving as the seller. Lawrence Moens, of Lawrence A. Moens Associates, represented the seller, while Dana and Paulette Koch, at The Corcoran Group, represented the buyer who was not identified.

The property, which sits on about one acre, includes a pool, wine cellar gym, media room and guest house.

Real estate investor and spec home developer Clark Beatty finished the property in 2021 and listed it for $84 million before lowering the price and then selling it to Beachgreen LLC for $64 million in August 2021.

$84 million

East Hampton, New York

In an effort at simplifying his life, New York financier Ronald Perelman offloaded his Hamptons beachfront mansion in February for $84 million after first listing it for $115 million in September 2021. The 11,000-square-foot-plus home sits on just over nine acres and offers 385 feet of ocean frontage. Harald Grant, of Sotheby’s International Realty, held the listing.

The sale came amidst Perelman’s declining net worth in recent years in tandem with factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic and his company, makeup giant Revlon, facing serious financial difficulties.

$75 million

Beverly Hills, California

Canadian rapper Drake made real estate headlines this year for doling out a cool $75 million for the Tuscan-style Beverly Hills estate of British pop singer Robbie Williams.

Drake may have thought he snagged a deal since the 24,000-square-foot property was listed for $85 million. But Williams earned a nice profit having bought the home in 2015 for just $32.7 million. The secluded property sits behind a long, private driveway on over 20 acres of land that features canyon and city views.

Kurt Rappaport, of Westside Estate Agency, represented the listing and Marc Bretter, of Maywood Property Group, represented the buyer.

$74.34 million

New York, New York

The Jala Penthouse at Aman New York went under contract for a hefty $74.34 million at the beginning of July in a deal brokered by Amie Buchanan, global director of residences at Aman, and Douglas Elliman’s Patricia Vance who represented the buyer.

For now, the buyer remains anonymous, but a representative from Douglas Elliman was able to tell Inman that the purchaser is a foreign buyer.

The penthouse encompasses the entire 20th floor of the building complete with a private 49-by-15-foot saltwater pool and two jacuzzis — one in the pool area and one in the primary suite bathroom. The sweeping residence has four bedrooms and multiple terraces with views of Central Park and the Upper East Side. Other outstanding features include herringbone patterned floors, custom-designed oiled walnut double doors, nearly 11-foot ceilings and Gaggenau appliances.

$72 million

New York, New York

The full-floor penthouse at 220 Central Park South was yet another off-market deal in 2022 that made headlines. The unidentified buyer also purchased a smaller unit in the building for $3 million.

The coveted building has been the location of a number of flashy deals in recent years, including the U.S.’s priciest residential sale to date — a $238 million penthouse purchased in 2019 by hedge funder Ken Griffin. As mentioned at the beginning of this story, Ali Baba founder and Brooklyn Nets owner Joseph Tsai also purchased a unit from billionaire investor Dan Och at the tail end of 2021 for $188 million.

$70.4 million

Malibu, California

Following the finalization of her divorce from Kanye West earlier this year, Kim Kardashian listed a condo in Calabasas for $3.5 million, bought out Kanye’s share of their Calabasas mansion for $23 million, and then purchased a sprawling Malibu estate formerly owned by supermodel Cindy Crawford for $70.4 million.

The home, located on the Encinal Bluffs with stunning ocean views, was originally listed by Jade Mills, of Coldwell Banker, for $99 million in March. Then, the list price was dropped to $89.75 million in July and the property went under contract in August with a final sale price of more than $19 million less than the reduced asking price.

$70 million

Los Angeles, California

A former West Hollywood home of the late President Ronald Reagan sold in an off-market deal in September for $70 million. Although a buyer for the property could not be determined, a company with ties to Canadian businessman and Chairman of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks Francesco Aquilini had owned the property for the last ten years, according to records.

Branden and Rayni Williams, of the Beverly Hills Estates, represented the sale. Kurt Rappaport, of the Westside Estate Agency, represented the buyer.

$70 million

East Hampton, New York

Designer and artist Helmut Lang sold his oceanfront Hamptons property in separate parcels to his neighbors for a total of about $70 million in May. Two years prior Lang had sold part of the property to his neighbor John B. Hess, CEO of Hess Corp, for $9 million. This time around Hess paid about $30 million for 1.1 acres of the property, while Lang’s other neighbor investor Howard Marks paid about $40 million for approximately 1.6 acres.

Lang originally purchased the 3.5-acre property in 1999 for about $15.5 million. It includes the main house, swimming pool, guest house, garage and an artist’s studio. The deal was conducted off-market and the terms of the deal stipulated that Lang could stay in his home for two more years.

$70 million

New York, New York

Yossi Benchetrit, of cable TV company Altice USA, and his wife Gaëlle Pereira Benchetrit, of cosmetics clinic Clinique des Champs Elysées New York, were apparently so pleased with their apartment in 432 Park Ave. purchased in 2016, they went ahead and bought another one in April.

The purchase is somewhat baffling since the building, though originally hyped as a sleek luxury tower in a prime location of the city, ultimately faced a series of complaints from residents who coughed up some serious money to live the high life only to learn as time went on that the tower had significant construction defects. The astronomical height of the tower contributed to intense swaying that left elevators inoperable, broken pipes, flooding and loud creaking noises. As a result, the condo board has an outstanding lawsuit against the developer CIM Group and Macklowe Properties.

Ryan Stenta, of Douglas Elliman, and Carrie Chiang, of the Corcoran Group, represented the seller, a limited partnership called Blessings Investments which is linked to the British pharmaceutical magnate Meeta Patel. Jason Haber, of Compass, represented the buyers.

$70 million

Beverly Hills, California

In an off-market deal at the end of March, billionaire businessman Alec Gores offloaded his Beverly Park Circle estate for $70 million to Titan Golden Capital, an Irvine, California, based limited liability company tied to Chi Fai Ben Wong and Hao Tang, according to records.

The massive 40,000-square-foot, French Normandy-style home has 11 bedrooms and sits on over two acres of land. The exclusive gated community of Beverly Park is well-known as a coveted one that has drawn celebrities, such as Denzel Washington and Sylvester Stallone.

Jade Mills, of Coldwell Banker Realty; and Samira Gores, Christine Martin and Tiffany Martin, of The Agency, represented the sale.

$70 million

Southampton, New York

After being off and on the market for more than 10 years, the nine-acre Linden Estate in Southampton finally sold this year for a stellar $70 million.

Corcoran’s Tim Davis and Sotheby’s Harald Grant co-represented the listing for sellers Jürgen Friedrich and Anke Beck-Friedrich. Mr. Friedrich is a billionaire fashion mogul who founded the European branch of Esprit Holdings. The couple paid just $8.5 million when they bought the property 20 years ago, but since then had put tens of millions of dollars into renovating it.

The transaction marked the highest price ever paid for a non-waterfront property in the Hamptons.

$69.9 million

Carpinteria, California

Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi purchased two side-by-side properties in December that amounted to a total of $69.947 million, Siteline reported. One property, for which the couple laid down $41.7 million, includes a Tuscan farmhouse-style mansion and 3.4 acres of land. The other property, purchased at $28.2 million, is a vacant lot of 6.6 acres and features a lake.

The combined deal marks the priciest ever in the Santa Barbara region, surpassing a $63 million Montecito ranch that billionaire Riley Bechtel and his wife, Susan, purchased in 2020.

$69 million

Aspen, Colorado

In one of the biggest deals to ever hit Aspen, the 18,000-square-foot property known as Silver Lining Ranch sold in September for $69 million.

The six-acre property situated along the Roaring Fork River was sold by John and Elizabeth Burgess, according to records. John Burgess is co-founder of the British private equity firm BC Partners.

Colorado-based Meriwether Companies and Texas-based Revere Capital were the mansion’s buyers. The real estate companies also recently purchased the Aspen Club, a tennis and fitness club, and plan to transform that property into a hospitality, health and wellness and culinary center, the spokeswoman said. At the time of the sale, the companies said they intended to rent out the mansion on a nightly basis as a short-term rental to help boost business at the nearby Aspen Club.

The priciest deal to date in Aspen was the 2021 sale of a mansion overlooking downtown Aspen, purchased by retired Canadian hockey player Patrick Dovigi for $72.5 million.

$66.25 million

Southampton, New York

Two adjacent waterfront lots were sold to one unidentified buyer for a total of $66.25 million in this rare Southampton deal that went public in November. President of Alibaba Group Michael Evans and his wife, Lisa Evans, were the sellers and were represented by Harald Grant, of Sotheby’s International Realty, and Hedgerow Exclusive Properties.

The Evans’ bought the properties as part of a package from entertainment mogul Robert F.X. Sillerman across a number of transactions in 2014 and 2016 that added up to about $114 million, The Wall Street Journal reported. Originally the couple had planned to raze the existing structures and build a new property but decided instead to list the estate in parcels starting in 2017.

$62 million

Naples, Florida

A waterfront home in Naples, Florida, broke price records in the area when it went under contract for $62 million at the end of June. The buyer was the industrialist Randal Bellestri who was sentenced to one year in prison in 2014 for filing false tax returns and conspiracy to file false tax returns with the IRS, after not reporting proceeds from the sale of scrap metal associated with his aviation business.

The sellers were Domenic and Molly Ferrante, according to records. Domenic Ferrante previously was the managing director of Bain Capital and today is managing partner of a family investment office called The Ferrante Group. Both the buyer and the sellers were represented by Paul Arpin, of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty.

The 16,000-square-foot home has six bedrooms and sits on 1.5 acres of land overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. The home includes a built-in glass wine room, a game room, a club room and two outdoor pools. Previously, the priciest home ever sold in Naples went for $52 million.

$60 million

Aspen, Colorado

Without previously thinking about putting her home on the market, Christy Thompson, daughter of late Texas oil exec J. Cleo Thompson, sold her mansion in Aspen for $60 million marking one of the most expensive mountain sales of the year. Liz Leeds, of Slifer, Smith and Frampton & REALM, represented Thompson in the deal which took place at the end of May and told The Wall Street Journal that the sellers simply received an unsolicited offer that they couldn’t turn down.

Todd Lemkin, chief investment officer at Dallas-based investment firm Canyon Partners, and his wife Kasey Lemkin purchased the property following the $32.25 million sale of a historic home the couple owned in Aspen earlier that same month.

The nearly 17,000-square-foot property that sits at the base of Aspen mountain features seven bedrooms, an indoor swimming pool, a spa, a wine cellar, a garage with a car turntable and a 40-foot high foyer that displays a 30-foot waterfall wall. The property is also known for serving as a rental to celebrities, including singer Rihanna.

$58 million

Beverly Hills, California

“Easy on Me” singer Adele made her mark on the top recent real estate deals with the purchase of actor Sylvester Stallone’s custom-built Beverly Hills estate for $58 million. Unfortunately for Stallone, he didn’t make out as well as he had hoped. The actor originally listed the property for $110 million in January 2021, then again for $80 million in October — but $58 million isn’t too bad either.

Stallone purchased the land for $2.35 million in 1994 and built the Mediterranean-style estate from the ground up. It’s one of the more secluded homes in sought-after Beverly Park located at the end of a cul-de-sac and down a long, gated driveway.

Tomer Fridman, of Compass; Jade Mills, of Coldwell Banker; and Kurt Rappaport, of Westside Estate Agency; represented the listing.

$57 million

New York, New York

In yet another remarkable off-market deal conducted this year, a prewar townhouse on the Upper East Side was sold fully furnished to an unidentified buyer based in South Africa for $57 million.

The deal was completely sourced virtually over FaceTime, Loy Carlos of SERHANT. told The Wall Street Journal, and the buyer saw it in person only just before closing. Carlos and Ryan Serhant represented the seller, an entity associated with Italian organic grocery store industry executive Felice Lasalvia di Clemente, while Adam Solomon and Assad Masri, of Douglas Elliman, represented the buyer.

$56 million

New York, New York

A seven-story townhouse located in New York’s Upper East Side closed early in the year for a cool $56 million, Mansion Global reported. The limestone mansion wasn’t sold overnight, though — the property was first listed for $77 million back in 2015 and has been on and off the market since then.

The 13,000-square-foot home was built in 1910 and is just off of Central Park. The elegant townhouse includes seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms, a media room, a library, a three-story glass atrium and four private terraces. The seller, Greenwood Properties, was represented by Carrie Chiang, of The Corcoran Group, and the LLC that purchased the property was represented by Matthew Lesser, of Leslie J. Garfield.

$55 million

New York, New York

An apartment covering the entire 22nd floor of the Aman New York Crown Building sold for $55 million at the end of May, The Wall Street Journal reported, marking another significant sale in New York in recent months. The 6,300-square-foot condo with four bedrooms and views overlooking Central Park originally asked $62.5 million.

Tal Alexander, of the Alexander Team at Douglas Elliman, represented the anonymous buyer. Construction of Aman New York began in 2017. The building was developed by the Miami-based OKO Group and London-based developer and real estate investor Cain International.

$52.5 million

New York, New York

Just last week a Vanderbilt family mansion in Manhattan went under contract for $52.5 million in an off-market deal, The Wall Street Journal reported. The 57-foot-wide, 23,000-square-foot limestone townhouse was built around 1930 for Virginia Graham Fair Vanderbilt, wife of William Kissam Vanderbilt II, according to the National Register of Historic Places.

The seller, English antique dealer Carlton Hobbs, purchased the property in 2002 for $10.6 million from Lycée Francais de New York, a French-English school. Before that, the building served as the Permanent Mission of Romania to the United Nations. Most recently, Hobbs reportedly occupied about 30 percent of the townhouse for his living space and used the remainder for commercial space; however, the property has the potential to be converted back into a single-family home.

Adam Modlin, of Modlin Group, represented the seller and the buyer, who remain anonymous.

$52 million

Montecito, California

Maroon 5’s lead vocalist Adam Levine and his wife, model Behati Prinsloo, purchased a $52 million mansion in the celebrity hot spot of Montecito, California, beneath the Santa Ynez mountains at the end of March. The 10,000-square-foot mansion in the Virginia countryside style was previously owned by actor Rob Lowe and his wife, makeup artist and jewelry designer Sheryl, who purchased the land for the home in 2005 and constructed the property.

Levine and Prinsloo bought the estate known as “Oakview” from healthcare private equity executive Jack McGinley and his wife Julie, who took ownership of the property in 2020. The deal was conducted off-market so limited details were available including what, if any, kinds of upgrades were made to the home in the brief time it was owned by the McGinleys.

The purchase by Levine and Prinsloo was just another in the couple’s pattern of buying high-end homes and flipping them for a profit in a relatively short period. In 2018 they bought a Beverly Hills mansion for $33.9 million then sold it one year later for $42.5 million, in 2021 they purchased a Montecito estate for $22.7 million then sold it three months later for $28.5 million, and then in May, the couple sold their Pacific Palisades estate for $51 million, up from the $31.95 million they paid for it in 2018.

Email Lillian Dickerson