As victims of the January wildfires decide between rebuilding or moving on, the luxury markets in certain pockets of Los Angeles as well as neighboring Orange County remain hot.

Initially after the Palisades Fire, those impacted primarily searched for rentals in Brentwood and Santa Monica with some additional interest in Westwood and Manhattan Beach, said Rochelle Atlas Maize, executive director of the Luxury Estates Division at Beverly Hills-based Nourmand & Associates.

Then in March, when it became clearer how long and costly the process for rebuilding would be, she saw interest shift more toward buying.

“The people that had the financial wherewithal started buying instead of leasing, because … buying something and having the appreciation of that property and a financial gain sounded much more attractive (than) three or four years of a build and three years throwing money away in insurance or in lease payments,” Maize said.

Additionally, people had health concerns about staying in Santa Monica and Brentwood due to lasting air-quality issues, resulting in more interest in Beverly Hills and West Los Angeles, Maize said, describing a “huge exodus.” Plus, for those purchasing, Beverly Hills was attractive as the area is exempt from Measure ULA, also known as the Mansion Tax, since it is its own municipality.

Nevertheless, both luxury rentals and purchases are up across the Westside and Beverly Hills, according to Maize’s data comparing activity during the first eight months of this year versus the same period in 2024.

For home sales above $10 million, Brentwood/Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Manhattan Beach saw increases of 188%, 35% and 133%, respectively. Beverly Hills also had an 83% increase for home sales above $20 million.

Based on leases in the $15,000 to $20,000 per month range, Santa Monica rose 21%; Beverly Hills Post Office/Westwood jumped 61%; and Beverly Hills climbed 33%. Leases between $20,000 and $25,000 increased 39% in Santa Monica, 74% in Beverly Hills Post Office/Westwood and a whopping 245% in Beverly Hills. For leases above $25,000 per month, Santa Monica and Beverly Hills both saw a 40% increase, while Beverly Hills Post Office/Westwood’s leasing jumped by 93%. (Beverly Hills Post Office refers to a specific area in L.A. city that has the famous 90210 ZIP code attached.)

Orange County craze

In Orange County, Paul Daftarian, co-founder and principal of luxury real estate agency Daftarian Group, has already seen at least a 50% surge in Angelenos purchasing homes in Orange County since the fires.

Even more are renting, with many considering buying depending on how rebuilding in L.A. continues to shake out, Daftarian said.

Areas seeing the most action include Greater Newport (which includes Newport Beach, Newport Cove, Crystal Cove and Corona del Mar), Laguna Beach and South Orange County (Dana Point, The Strand and Monarch).

Of the Los Angeles transplants, Daftarian estimates that about 80% are coming from Pacific Palisades and 20% from the Altadena area.

When comparing L.A.’s luxury market and Orange County’s, Daftarian said both offer a unique lifestyle – including health and wellness businesses incorporated in the areas, nice restaurants and shopping options – and they offer prestige and “the association with living next to the cream of the crop.”

For Angelenos renting in Orange County, Daftarian was surprised to find a stronger pull toward more friendly interactive neighborhoods like The Port Streets and One Ford Road in Newport Beach and Emerald Bay in Laguna Beach.

“You go into these neighborhoods and be a complete stranger and everyone starts chatting you up,” he said, adding that many displaced Angelenos had been craving community.

While those are still luxury neighborhoods, he had first anticipated higher gravitation toward more private, quiet communities like Crystal Cove.

To rent, Daftarian said luxury lease prices have ranged from $10,000 to $250,000 per month, with the sweet spot being between $15,000 and $30,000. He believes between a quarter and half of the L.A. renters will end up purchasing a home in Orange County, particularly those with younger kids benefiting from a better public school system in his view.

“The (renters) are either going to love the no traffic, very chill, very family oriented, very beachy vibe still with nice shopping and dining or they’re going to go crazy that things shut down at 10 p.m. here,” he said.