Europeans also like Los Angeles mansions, says Forster Jones, who shared the listing of Spelling's 56,000-square-foot estate. The buyer is the daughter of British billionaire Bernie Ecclestone, the president and chief executive officer of London- based Formula One Management Ltd.
Russian Interest
Russians are among the best customers for luxury homes in the Los Angeles area, says Jeff Hyland, president of Hilton & Hyland Real Estate Inc. in Beverly Hills, who shared the Spelling mansion listing with his partner, Rick Hilton, and Forster Jones.
One example is the 2010 purchase and resale this year of a $19.5 million mansion by Dasha Zhukova, art collector and partner of Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovich, says Hyland, who wasn't involved in those transactions.
"You have the new wave of the oligarchs with their big yachts they dock off the beach at Malibu when they're here," he says. "It's all about the weather here. It's about the ease with which people can move back and forth in Los Angeles. They can get in their Ferrari or their Rolls Royce Ghost and drive where they want without need of security."