For more than four decades, Joyce Rey, who heads the Global Luxury Division for Coldwell Banker, has proven herself indispensable in the refined world of international luxury real estate. She is nothing short of a legend—among her celebrity clients, her professional colleagues, and the community she serves. One of the most respected names in top-tier real estate worldwide, Rey has amassed nearly $6 billion in career sales. With a dazzling list of accolades, awards, and sales records, she is known, most of all, for her incomparable knowledge of the luxury marketplace, her acute ability to negotiate even the most complex transactions, and her particular talent for putting clients at ease.
Recently, Joyce talked with Haute Residence about the Beverly Hills market and where she sees real estate trends going in the future.
Haute Residence: What is unique about your market?
Joyce Rey: What makes Beverly Hills unique is that it almost exclusively deals with luxury homes, and I have been involved in this luxury segment of Beverly Hills my entire career. I have, on several occasions, sold the most expensive house in the United States, and in 1979, I started the first division in the world to only handle million-dollar houses. In today's market that doesn't seem that impressive but back then no one could believe there was a company only handling million-dollar houses. It was very exciting and made news around the world. I would say that's the single most unique part of the market I deal with, that the geographic area lends itself to these beautiful estate properties.
670 Hot Springs Road, Montecito, CA 93108
HR: What kind of trends have you been seeing recently in the market? Has COVID affected the market?
JR: The first trend improved our market. All of a sudden the household became the focus of people’s lives because they were living in their homes all day long and doing their work from home. I actually predicted that when COVID first hit and we had the first lockdown. I would say the prevailing thought among realtors was that we were going to have a tough time and that we wouldn't be able to sell houses during the pandemic but I tried to look for the silver linings. The first was that there was no traffic on the roads. I thought that was fantastic! I could always get to my appointments on time! Secondly, I looked at my own situation and I never used to spend any time in my house during the day unless I was sick. I was out and about all day long and then I would go out in the evenings, so I was largely in my house sleeping. All of a sudden I was locked up in my house for three weeks and I’m thinking it’s not just me who's looking around their house and realizing how important it is and the things I could be doing with it… this is going to be prevalent amongst everyone. They're going to want to have a larger place to live, a home office, a gym, an outdoor area, etc.
HR: Are there any other trends that have been happening recently now that we’re beginning to come out of COVID?
JR: Well we’re coming out of COVID but we’re coming into a difficult time in the economy with inflation hanging over our heads. Typically, real estate does well in times of inflation, though one concern, of course, is interest rates. Usually, the federal government will raise interest rates to tamper down inflation, so it’s kind of a catch-22. Another thing is the luxury market is the strongest it's ever been, presumably because people are searching for safe places to put their money and traditionally real estate is one of the safest. Especially if you’re spending more time in your home, what better place is there to have part of your savings than in your personal residence?
9152 Janice Pl, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
HR: What do you see happening in the future for your market?
JR: Most people would say that there has to be hills and valleys and since we’ve been on a 10-year up-trend there could be cloudy skies ahead, but I just don't see any indication of that in the marketplace. People are generally optimistic right now, though it has been harder for developers to find projects because the prices are high. We are in a seller’s market, so it’s hard for them to find projects where they can see a profit at the end. That certainly is problematic, though ultimately that means less supply, and less supply means rising prices, so right now most people are thinking that 2022 is going to be a favorable year for real estate—especially for luxury real estate.
Joyce Rey is the exclusive agent representing the Beverly Hills, California real estate market as a member of the Haute Residence Real Estate Network. View all of her listings here. For more information, please contact Joyce Rey at 310-291-6646 or joyce@joycerey.com.
