How We Research Beverly Hills Home Data

Key takeaway

Prices come from Zillow's typical home value, Redfin's monthly sales data and reported sales from named outlets; rules come from the city, county, state and federal bodies that set them. Every figure names its source and month or effective date, and anything we can't confirm is left out.

Who this guide is for

You want to know where a figure on this site comes from and how much weight it can bear before you rely on it.

The sources behind our figures

Every market figure on this site comes from one of three public data series, and every rule from the body that sets it. Each figure is labelled with its source and month where it appears.

Zillow Home Value Index: what "typical value" means

Zillow's index estimates the typical value of homes in the middle third of a market, smoothed and seasonally adjusted. We use it for the City of Beverly Hills, for ZIP codes and for Zillow's own neighborhoods, such as the Flats and Trousdale Estates, whose boundaries are Zillow's. It is a value estimate, not a sale price, and it leaves out the top third of the market, where estates sit. Zillow has no series for Beverly Park, Holmby Hills or Mulholland Estates, so those pages show the ZIP and say it is a ZIP figure.

Redfin monthly data: sales, not estimates

From Redfin's Data Center we take the monthly median sale price, the number of homes sold, median days on market and the sale-to-list ratio, for cities and ZIP codes. We always print the number of sales next to the median. Where a month has only a few sales, as in Hidden Hills, we say so, because one closing can move the median by millions.

Freddie Mac rates and federal loan limits

Mortgage rates come from Freddie Mac's weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey, with the week named. The survey covers conforming loans, so jumbo pricing can differ; our jumbo loan guide explains the gap. Loan limits come from the FHFA's county list for the year.

County, city and state primary sources

Building rules come from the Beverly Hills Municipal Code and Los Angeles City Planning. Transfer taxes come from the Los Angeles Office of Finance and the County Recorder; property tax rates from the County Auditor-Controller; boundaries from the Census Bureau; withholding rules from the IRS and the Franchise Tax Board; and license records from the California Department of Real Estate. Where we could reach only a copy of an official text, the source line says so.

Reported sales from named outlets

Prices above about $20 million come from sales that news outlets reported, written as "reported by" the outlet with the month and the area. We use asking prices only as asks. We never print a street address or house number, and a widely reported estate name, such as the Spelling Manor, is the most we'll name.

How figures are dated and refreshed

Each page shows the date it was last updated, and each figure inside it carries its own date. Zillow and Redfin figures name their month; the mortgage rate names its week; tax rates, thresholds and loan limits name the year or effective date they apply to. Measure ULA's thresholds, for example, change every July with inflation, so our mansion tax guide states the July 1, 2026 figures and the year they replaced.

When a source publishes a new month or a new year's rate, we update the figure and the page date together, in English and Chinese. Calculators read the same rate file as the text, so the numbers on a page and in its calculator match.

What we don't publish

Some things are left out on every page, by rule:

Street addresses and house numbers for any sale, listing or celebrity purchase.
Descriptions of who lives in a neighborhood, by any measure.
Safe or unsafe verdicts about any area. Gates and patrols are described only as the homeowners association describes them.
Claims that a home is zoned for a school. We name the district and link its own lookup, the BHUSD School Finder or the LAUSD Resident School Identifier.
Figures we couldn't confirm from a source. If a fact can't be checked, it becomes a question for you to ask instead.

Our Fair Housing commitment

We write every page to comply with the federal Fair Housing Act and California's Fair Employment and Housing Act and Unruh Civil Rights Act, which protect more classes than federal law. We describe homes, lots, prices, costs, rules, services and locations. We don't describe or rank places by the people who live in them, and we don't suggest that any place suits or doesn't suit any group of buyers. The same rule applies to the Chinese pages.

If you think a page falls short of that, write to us through the contact page and we'll review it.

When sources disagree

Sources sometimes disagree. When they do, we use the primary record over a secondary one, and the later official figure over an earlier one, and we say which we used. For the featured agent, his license record comes from the Department of Real Estate, and figures that his own site shows for a team or brokerage are not used as his record; what we verified is on his profile page.

How we research: FAQs

What does Zillow's "typical home value" measure?

It is Zillow's estimate of the typical value of homes in the middle third of a market, smoothed and seasonally adjusted. It shows the direction of prices well, but it isn't a sale price and it leaves out the top of the market, so it understates what estates in Beverly Hills and Bel Air sell for.

Why don't some enclaves have their own price figures?

Zillow publishes no series for Beverly Park, Holmby Hills or Mulholland Estates. On those pages we show the ZIP code that contains the enclave and label it as a ZIP figure, along with sales that news outlets reported there. A ZIP value is never presented as the enclave's value.

How often are the figures updated?

Zillow and Redfin publish monthly, Freddie Mac weekly, and tax rates and thresholds yearly. Each figure on a page names its own month, week or effective date, and the page date changes whenever we update a figure. The English and Chinese pages are updated together.

Why are there no addresses on this site?

Reported sales are written with the price, the area, the outlet and the month, and never with a street address or house number. Naming the area is enough to show what homes there sell for, and leaving out addresses respects the privacy of owners, including public figures.

Does the guide say whether a neighborhood is safe?

No. We don't give safety verdicts about any area, and we don't describe who lives anywhere. We describe the services that apply, such as which city's police and fire departments cover an address, and gates or patrols only as a homeowners association describes them.