Q3 2026 details.
INSIDE Q3 NEIGHBORHOOD STATS
SBP BY THE NUMBERS
IS THE FUTURE OF DEVELOPMENT A TURNKEY HOME?
TACOS & TEQUILA TOP STORIES
BITE-SIZED INSIGHTS BY NEIGHBORHOOD BRENTWOOD MEDIAN $$$$ MEDIAN SALESALE PRICE:PRICE: $5,825,000 NUMBER OF SALES: ###
TOTAL SALES: 52
AVERAGE PRICE PER SF: $$$
AVG SOLD PRICE/SQFT: $1,575/SQFT
HOT TAKE: While Brentwood saw fewer home sales this quarter compared to last, there was a nearly 13% increase in the average Sold Price Per SQFT among homes sold.
PACIFIC PALISADES MEDIAN PRICE: $$$$| LND: $1,850,000 MEDIAN SALESELLING PRICE: SFR: $4,532,625 TOTAL SALES: OF SFR: 26 | LND: 57 NUMBER SALES: ### AVG SOLD PRICE/SQFT: SFR:SF: $1,287/SQFT | LND: $258/SQFT AVERAGE PRICE PER $$$ HOT TAKE: SBP saw two standout sales in Pacific Palisades in Q3, representing the seller of the first post-fire new construction home to sell on market, as well as a Riviera Traditional where the seller landed $2.5M+ over-asking after 13 days on market.
SANTA MONICA MEDIAN PRICE: $$$$ MEDIAN SALESELLING PRICE: $3,407,500 NUMBER OF SALES: ###
TOTAL SALES: 82
AVERAGE PRICE PER SF: $$$
AVG SOLD PRICE/SQFT: $1,753/SQFT
HOT TAKE: Sales in Santa Monica are up in Q3 with 14 more homes sold this quarter than in Q2, and 6 more homes sold compared to Q3 2025.
*Data sourced from The MLS on 10/6/26. Compiled on a neighborhood level for the date range of 7/1/26–9/30/26
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2026 QUARTERLY REPORT
VENICE MEDIAN PRICE: $$$$ MEDIAN SALESELLING PRICE: $2,365,000 NUMBER OF SALES: ###
TOTAL SALES: 62
AVERAGE PRICE PER SF: $$$
AVG SOLD PRICE / SQFT: $1,483/SQFT
HOT TAKE: Venice is up across all categories in Q3 compared to Q2, with the highest differentiator being total number of homes sold, up by 8.4%.
WESTWOOD MEDIAN SELLING PRICE: $$$$
MEDIAN SALE PRICE: $3,600,000
NUMBER TOTAL SALES: OF 19 SALES: ### AVERAGE PRICE PER SF: $$$ AVG SOLD PRICE / SQFT: $1,193/SQFT
HOT TAKE: While Westwood saw fewer home sales this quarter compared to Q2, the Median Sale Price increased by 27%.
BEVERLY HILLS MEDIAN PRICE: $$$$ MEDIAN SALESELLING PRICE: $8,000,000 NUMBER OF SALES: ###
TOTAL SALES: 41
AVERAGE PRICE PER SF: $$$
AVG SOLD PRICE / SQFT: $1,739/SQFT
HOT TAKE: Beverly Hills had a strong Q3 with fifteen $10M+ sales, the highest selling for $47,750,000.
Looking for a deeper dive into a specific neighborhood—or curious about one not featured here? Reach out to us at team@smithandberg.com and we’ll provide a tailored, in-depth report for the area of your choice.
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2026 QUARTERLY REPORT
SBP STATS, STORIES & STANDOUTS
$392,565,225 Y T D S A L E S VO L U M E ( C LO S E D & P E N D I N G )
$3,824,221 AV E R AG E Q 3 S A L E S P R I C E
30 $12.4M
HOMES SOLD IN Q3
P OW E R B R O K E R L I S T 2026
HIGHEST PRICE SALE OF Q3
#1 MEDIUM-SIZED TEAM IN LA # 7 N AT I O N A L LY 2026
TO P R E S I D E N T I A L B R O K E R S ( # 4 ) 2026
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2026 QUARTERLY REPORT
AND WE’RE UP In a year that continues to test the entire real estate market, The Real Deal announced that SBP was the only team on their 2026 Top Residential Brokers list to show year-over-year sales growth, rising from No. 8 to No. 4 on a list that includes teams significantly larger in size. How? The reason comes down to how we’re built.
THE ONLY TEAM FROM THE REAL DEAL’S TOP 10 TO SHOW SALES VOLUME GROWTH IN 2026
HOW WE DO IT Four things immediately set SBP apart, and all four were built on one purpose: our clients.
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A FLAGSHIP OFFICE IN BRENTWOOD Most teams work out of their brokerage. We have our own offices, located in the epicenter of the Westside: at San Vicente and Montana. Clients meet us there, deals get worked there, and the whole team is under one roof every day.
A TEAM KEPT TIGHT Some of the teams ranked alongside us are several times our size. We’ve stayed intentionally close-knit, so every client gets the same level of attention whether the home is $2M or $20M.
STAFF BEHIND EVERY AGENT A large, experienced support staff handles marketing, and complete transaction management, working closely with our clients and vendors to provide white-glove, concierge-style service. This frees our agents to do what they do best: sell.
ROOTED IN THE COMMUNITY We live and work where we sell. With our community-focused weekly blog, Tacos & Tequila, our deep commitment to the philanthropy we believe in and the neighborhood events we attend, we have an up-to-the-minute read on what is moving the market and what draws buyers to each part of the Westside.
The Real Deal ranking reflects Los Angeles on market residential sales over $1M closed between July 1, 2025 - July 1, 2026. SBP’s total sales volume is even higher when land sales, multi-unit transactions, out of area transactions, referrals, and leases are included.
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2026 QUARTERLY REPORT
IS THE FUTURE OF DEVELOPMENT A TURNKEY HOME? More and more, we’re seeing buyers close on a new build and move right in. Like magic, the sofa, the rugs, and the dining table you imagined filled with friends and family are already there. You unpack a toothbrush and you’re home. The SBP team has represented $384M+ in new and pre-construction homes in 2026 alone. Across these projects, we see builders moving away from the traditional spechome playbook by bringing interior designers into the project from day one. These homes are arriving with custom design, ready to walk in and start living. We sat down with the designers and stagers shaping these homes to find out why, and how.
“YOU WANT TO GIVE THE HOUSE A POINT OF VIEW WITHOUT OVER-DESIGNING IT FOR AN IMAGINARY PERSON.” - CAROLE CARR, PREMIER LA INTERIOR DESIGNER
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2026 QUARTERLY REPORT
Premier LA interior designer Carole Carr is currently working alongside SBP and the builder on Mandeville Lane, shaping the home long before it is listed. Her work continues on SBP’s recent Homewood sale, where our introduction of Carole and her impressive resume of design work translated beautifully to the style of the buyers and they hired her to bring it to life.
SBP: What’s the difference between designing for a developer versus a homeowner?
What changes do you make in your design process to achieve their desired results?
CAROLE: Ten years ago, one of the worst things you could say when you walked into a new house was, “it looks like a spec home.” You knew exactly what that meant. It was beautiful, but somewhat generic. The same materials, the same finishes, the same formula being repeated from house to house. I think that has changed dramatically. Especially at the higher end of the market, the goal isn’t necessarily to create a house that appeals to absolutely everyone. It’s to create a house with enough identity that someone walks in and falls in love with it. Developers want differentiation. With a developer, we’re designing for someone we haven’t met yet. That’s the interesting part. You want to give the house a point of view without over-designing it for an imaginary person. There needs to be enough personality to make it memorable, but enough restraint for the future owner to make it theirs. When I’m working with a homeowner, I know exactly who I’m designing for. I can get incredibly personal. I can learn how they live, what they love, how they entertain and what makes them comfortable. What’s also interesting is that our involvement increasingly continues after construction. We’re collaborating much more closely with staging companies to make sure the final presentation feels connected to what was originally designed. And buyers notice. When they walk into a house where the architecture, interiors and furniture all feel like they belong together, increasingly they want to buy it that way.
SBP: Can you briefly describe some popular interior design trends you’re incorporating
into current projects, especially in new construction homes?
CAROLE: I’m actually a little hesitant to call them trends, because if something feels obviously “2026” when we finish a house, I’m not sure we’ve done our job. But there has been a real shift in what people are responding to. For a long time, new construction was very clean, very white and very minimal. Now people want warmth. They want texture. They want things that feel collected and considered rather than perfectly matched. We’re still designing contemporary homes, but we’re softening them. Natural stones have more movement. Woods are warmer. We’re using plaster, textured wallcoverings, interesting millwork and more organic forms. Even within a very neutral house, there can be tremendous depth. I think we’ve reached a point where luxury doesn’t need to announce itself quite so loudly. Some of the most luxurious details in a house are things you may not consciously notice at all. It’s how two materials meet. It’s the proportion of a doorway. It’s where the lighting comes from. It’s the way cabinetry has been detailed or how the stone continues around a corner. And buyers are much more aware of those details today. They absolutely feel the difference. Luxury is becoming less about adding more and more, and much more about getting the details right. 6
2026 QUARTERLY REPORT
BRETT BAER, OWNER & CEO OF VESTA HOME
In the past, home staging was temporary: neutral palettes, furniture for a sense of space (and for the listing photos), all out before keys were exchanged. Today’s buyers are asking to keep it. Brett Baer, Owner & CEO of Vesta Home, a leading luxury staging, interior design, and furniture company, works closely with SBP to set the look and feel of each home interior before it hits the market. More and more, these beautifully designed pieces are purchased by buyers, creating the (instant) home of their dreams.
SBP: How common is it for buyers of Vesta-staged homes to purchase furniture? BRETT: Common, and increasing every year. What’s interesting is why people are buying. When we launched a decade ago, people purchased the furniture primarily for convenience. They wanted to move in and get on with their life. The product has changed dramatically. Vesta puts an incredible amount of energy into designing, developing, and manufacturing our furniture. We’re now at a point where I think much of what we’re producing is better quality — and more interesting — than what you’ll find at most domestic retailers. The pieces have more character. The fabrics are more distinctive. And the furniture is tailored to the homes we’re furnishing. Our team does hundreds of homes a year. Our designers are incredibly talented, creative people who understand scale, proportion, and how to make a house feel extraordinary. In many ways, we’re a combination of an ultra-high-end furniture brand and an interior designer. For someone who wants a beautiful home with exceptional furniture, the decision becomes pretty easy.
SBP: Are they purchasing single pieces or entire “looks/rooms”? BRETT: It really happens both ways. Something we’re seeing is a buyer saying, “I have pieces I don’t want to part with. Can the designer help me bring it all together?” Maybe they’re family pieces. Maybe it’s a chair they’ve had forever that’s incredibly comfortable. These pieces mean something to them. They don’t want to start over; they want to make those things work within the design they’ve already fallen in love with. Sometimes the answer isn’t simply integrating an existing piece — it’s transforming it. We’ll take something the owner loves into our workroom and rethink it: change the wood finish, reupholster it, introduce a different fabric or adjust the details so it works with the new space. There’s something satisfying about taking a piece that already has meaning to someone and giving it an entirely new life. Furniture placement for sale is inherently more aspirational. We’re thinking about how the home photographs, how someone moves through it, and how they experience it for the first time. Once someone lives there, everyday comfort and function become much more important. 7
2026 QUARTERLY REPORT
SBP: How do you and your designers best collaborate with SBP to create the look, feel,
and texture in the rooms of a newly constructed home?
BRETT: The experience we’ve developed with Smith and Berg has given us a real shorthand, which is invaluable. We’ve worked on so many projects together that we begin from a place of trust and clear communication. We’re aligned on what needs to happen: the highest level of design, a seamless experience, and a thoughtful understanding of who the buyer is likely to be. What’s so valuable about Smith and Berg is the depth of experience they bring. They already have a strong vision for the buyer. That doesn’t mean the design is so specific that it excludes everyone else. It means the home is designed with enough clarity and intention to connect especially well. Smith and Berg understand that better than anyone else in the space. And the sales results are incontestable.
Take the turnkey idea to the mountains and you get Limelight Residences Mammoth. Every home comes fully furnished with interiors by RH, so owners arrive to a finished home, right down to the linens. As the Los Angeles ambassador for Limelight, SBP connects Westside buyers with a move-in-ready escape a few hours up the 395. Whether a buyer wants a custom design, a finished home, or something in between, the new-construction playbook keeps expanding to accommodate a bespoke experience. SBP’s long-standing relationships with builders, designers and stagers put our clients first in line for all of it. Ready to see what’s coming next? Connect with the SBP team for early access to new construction. 8
2026 QUARTERLY REPORT
3 MOST-READ STORIES
1
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR THE SANTA MONICA AIRPORT?
2
A LASTING LEGACY: WHAT WOULD DOLLY DO?
3
WHAT YOUR KITCHEN ISLAND SAYS ABOUT YOU
OPEN HOUSE FUEL
STANDING RESERVATION
Cappuccino & breakfast burrito, please
Yuzu margarita & tuna tostada, here we come
Parakeet Café
Photo: instagram.com/parakeetcafe
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San Damian
Photo: damianrestaurants.com
2026 QUARTERLY REPORT
QUICK FIRE, HOME EDITION
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HOME OFFICE
OR
GUEST SUITE?
F. RON: Home office. Stay organized. DAVID: Guest suite. I have a great office five minutes from my house.
POOL
OR
ADU?
F. RON & DAVID: Pool.
ROOFTOP DECK
OR
BIG BACKYARD?
F. RON & DAVID: Big backyard.
WINE CELLAR
OR
HOME GYM?
F. RON & DAVID: Home gym. Health is wealth.
2026 QUARTERLY REPORT
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