Elon Musk Puts Two Homes on Market After Vow to Sell Most Possessions

(Bloomberg) --

Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk listed two of his California homes for sale Sunday, days after announcing that he would get rid of most of his possessions.

He's seeking a combined $39.5 million for the Bel Air properties, including one that was previously owned by the late Gene Wilder, according to the listings on Zillow. Both are for sale by owner.

Musk, 48, posted more than a dozen tweets in less than 75 minutes on Friday, including one in which he said he's selling “almost all” of his physical possessions. In another, he said he believed Tesla's stock price was too high, prompting a 10% plunge on the day.

As for high-end Los Angeles real estate, it's not exactly a seller's market at the moment. Sales of luxury homes already were suffering from a supply glut and weak demand before the coronavirus pandemic stopped most showings. Fewer buyers were coming from China, Russia and the Middle East amid international tensions, and limits on state and local tax deductions dampened the appeal of owning California homes for wealthy U.S. buyers.

With demand slowing, more and more would-be sellers are taking their homes off the market, said Beverly Hills real estate agent Jade Mills. But shrinking inventory means some homes will still find buyers.

“People are still having to move and relocate, even within California,” she said. “I'm seeing people still having to buy and sell. This isn't necessarily bad timing.”

Even with Friday's stock swoon and the pandemic, Musk and Tesla are having a pretty good 2020.

The shares surged 68% this year through Friday, helping to boost his net worth by $8.3 billion, the second-most of anyone in the 500-member Bloomberg Billionaires Index, after Amazon.com Inc.'s Jeff Bezos, the world's richest person. Musk ranks No. 24 on the list, with a $35.9 billion fortune. Tesla rebounded Monday, advancing 4.7% to $734.08 at 1:38 p.m. in New York.

Musk bought the two homes in 2012 and 2013 for a total of about $24 million. They form part of a five-house collection he owns overlooking Bel-Air Country Club.

In 2018 he turned to Morgan Stanley for $61 million of mortgages. The two homes he's now looking to unload account for about $26.3 million of that total.

Bel Air is among the most expensive districts in Los Angeles. The median home value in the 90077 ZIP code is $2.78 million, according to Zillow. Notable Bel Air homeowners include Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Beyonce.

Business Insider reported on the real estate listings earlier Monday.