Berkshire Hathaway moves into South Coast real estate
In a sharp turnaround for its legendary CEO’s view of California real estate, Berkshire Hathaway has put its name on the former Prudential California Real Estate operations on the Central Coast.
The change became official Oct. 1 when the first Berkshire Hathaway signs were unveiled at a private home in Montecito that carries a $16.9 million listing.
David M. Cabot, president for Berkshire Hathaway Home Services in California, said the name change reflects Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett’s view that the Golden State’s property market is attractive again after years in which he shunned California property due to concerns it was overvalued. “The American dream is really on an upswing,” he said, adding that few markets in the world can command the pricing of the South Coast’s famed 93108 zip code.
The property for sale in Montecito, completed in 1917, boasts a bent grass putting green, an 80-foot pool and horse stables with three stalls.
The former Prudential California territory includes some 65 offices with 3200 agents located between Santa Maria and San Diego. The offices closed about 15,000 transactions worth about $11 billion worth of deals last year. Cabot said that the Berkshire Hathaway Home Services will be reserved for upscale markets that shed the Prudential name as rights to use that name expire.
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services is a wholly-owned unit of Mid-American Energy, one of the larger units of Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway. Mid-American’s made the first of a series of large moves into solar energy when it purchased 550-megawatt Topaz energy project in San Luis Obispo County in December 2011.
