The private enclave of Harbor Island is home to a mix of buyers who have a few things in common: many are billionaires, several have yachts, and not many appear keen on the idea of leaving.
A recent sale in the Newport Beach gated community is one of only a handful of homes to trade in recent years; none of the other 29 homes there are listed for sale.
“Harbor Island is a gated community with large lot sizes and some of the best views in the harbor, making it truly a unique pocket of Orange County,” said Tara Shapiro of Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty.
“There aren’t many places in the world where you can park your yacht behind your house.”
Five homes have sold on the island in the past three years, with two trading this year for a combined total of $51.3 million, property records indicate.
“There’s never a lot of inventory for sale because the community is very difficult to duplicate,” Shapiro said.
New Resident
The largest home on Harbor Island—a 14,200-square-foot estate built on multiple lots—sold last month for nearly $37 million.
Shapiro had the listing for the six-bedroom home, which was first put on the market last year for $60 million.
It was built in 1990, and has traded hands several times since. It was last sold by Alan and Twila True, serial entrepreneurs who run locally based True Family Enterprises.
The couple paid a reported $18 million for the home in 2010 and later invested in a large-scale renovation.
The new ownership is tied to a Chinese entrepreneur: Eric Siliang Tan, CEO and co-founder of mobile content aggregator Qutoutiao, according to news reports.
Though 18 Harbor’s new owner is international, that hasn’t been the case as of late.
Real estate experts have noticed a considerable slowdown in foreign investment locally, specifically from Chinese buyers for high-end homes.
“We have not seen as much international traffic. However, the demand for areas like Newport Beach has always been stronger from California and out-of-state buyers,” Shapiro said.
August Sale
The other Harbor Island home sold this year was a nearly 9,000-square-foot estate at 3 Harbor Island.
An entity affiliated with Michael Hayde, the chairman of Western National Group, one of the region’s top apartment developers and investors, sold the home for $14.3 million to a family trust in August.
Katie Machoskie of Compass represented the seller for that deal, while Tom Williams of Windsor Investments Inc. represented the buyer.
