When Kris Jenner made the decision to part ways with her iconic “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” mansion, she did so with much fanfare: a New York Times interview announcing the listing gave way to dozens more articles about the end of a storied reality TV era.
Yet more than a year later, none of that hoopla appears to have moved the needle on the sale of the property. It has sat on the market for the same sky-high listing price—$13.5 million—for 372 days now.
According to Jenner, 70, the six-bedroom, eight-bathroom mansion has been sitting empty during that time. By the time she put the property on the market, the reality TV matriarch confirmed that she had moved out and into another estate she purchased in the same tony community of Hidden Hills.
Jenner took with her all of the personal furniture items and decor pieces that fans of the hit E! network show came to know and love during the years that the property was featured so prominently on “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.” Jenner opted to professionally stage the home before it was listed.
The mother of six had purchased the property in 2010, when her life had been very different. The mother to Kim, Kourtney, Khloe, Kendall, Kylie, and Rob, went in on the home with her former husband, Caitlyn Jenner. They divorced in 2014.
To say the home has seen a lot in the past 15 years is an understatement. Jenner’s life has changed dramatically—as have the lives of her children. But the shiny, black and white, old Hollywood–style glamour of the home remains the same.
It still features the dazzling double staircase and checkered marble flooring in the grand entryway. The massive, mirrored walk-in closets remain, as do all six luxe bedrooms, all en suite. The multicoffered ceilings remain, as do the dark and moody bathrooms, dressing rooms, and bar.
Because the home has been staged, buyers won’t be able to sit at the very kitchen table where the Kardashian clan gossiped over salads, or the poolside lounges where they often sunned themselves.
But they will be able to buy the home turnkey, with pictured furnishings in place—and pay an extra $400,000 for the privilege, the listing noted when it was first posted.
No changes to the listing have been made since it first went live: The asking price remains the same, the photos have not been updated, and the staged furnishings appear to be in place.
Jenner is likely taking a significant financial hit on the property as it languishes on the market. Property taxes on the home are estimated to be more than $60,000 a year, and there is the added cost of ongoing utility and maintenance on the home.
And if the reality TV icon is renting the furniture used for staging, she could be paying up to $20,000 a month.
However, Jenner’s lifestyle indicates that she can well afford the expenses.
In 2017, she bought another mansion in Hidden Hills, just across the street from her daughter Kim, for a little under $10 million. She sold it three years later, after an extensive renovation.
In 2020, it was reported that she paid $20 million for a third Hidden Hills property, right next to her daughter Khloe. Jenner embarked on a gut renovation, the results of which she revealed to the world in a 2022 episode of “The Kardashians,” the new series the family started on Hulu, after they left E!
It is possible that Jenner hasn’t given much thought to the currently listed home, putting it on the back burner. After all, in a 2022 episode of “The Kardashians,” she revealed that she had forgotten about a Beverly Hills condo she owned and primarily used for storing Champagne and wrapping Christmas gifts.
“Here’s the thing. I have a condo, and my mom has one, and my cousin has one, and we all live nearby. I kind of forgot it was there,” Jenner confessed. “That sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?”
Even though Jenner seems able to afford it, it does seem odd that a house that was so prominent on the market when it was first listed has quietly and unobtrusively been languishing there. The big question is, why?
Oppenheim Group President and CEO Jason Oppenheim, of “Selling Sunset” and “Selling The OC” fame, thinks the home’s curious sales record may have a little something to do with “the fact that the Hidden Hills market has softened a bit after exploding right after COVID.”
He could be right. During the peak of the pandemic, celebrities as well as lower-profile people of means were gobbling up Hidden Hills homes like hotcakes. The area saw frenzied bidding wars and fast sales as affluent buyers chased privacy, space, and luxe home amenities.
Post-COVID-19, however, the urgent need for space, privacy, and home offices has faded, bringing home sales activity back down from an unusually frothy peak.
Listings in the Hidden Hills’ ultraluxury market have clearly cooled since the pandemic boom. Homes are taking longer to sell, and buyers are becoming more selective. At the same time, higher interest rates, shifting lifestyle preferences, and a broader reset in Los Angeles’ luxury housing market are all contributing to softer demand.
Luxury agent Nathaniel Pichon-Getzels, who helms The Getzels Group, notes that Jenner’s “strategy is obviously not driven by urgency,” which may well indicate why she has hesitated to lower her asking price.
But Jenner may have to wait a little longer before a buyer emerges.
Pichon-Getzels says he has seen a definite trend toward properties in the area spending more time on the market. The most recent reports show that the median number of days on the market has risen to 133, or about 4.5 months. A more taste-specific or customized home could take a lot longer to sell.
He points to a Hidden Hills home in the same price range ($12.4 million) that has been on the market for a whopping 632 days, despite a gradual reduction from its original $15.9 million asking price.
Cara Ameer, an agent who specializes in luxury homes in California and Florida, notes that, while the home’s signature style certainly makes it memorable for fans of the Kardashians’ TV projects, it may be doing more harm than good in finding a buyer.
“The home is very taste-specific, which may not be helping the property as buyers are drawn to more neutral palates that are transitional vs. taste-specific,” she says. “Buyers have a lot of choices in this price point and in various parts of the Greater Los Angeles area.”
Ameer also believes that fire insurance issues could be partly responsible for slowing sales in the area.
While fire insurance premiums have increased almost everywhere in the state over the past year or so, Hidden Hills is located in an especially high-risk wildfire zone, with some reports indicating 100% of properties are facing risk.
When there are plenty of homes in the same price range that are at lower risk of wildfire, the choice becomes clear to buyers.
Because of these factors and many others, it’s a good thing Jenner doesn’t seem to be in a rush.
“Usually, just keeping a property listed with no changes is not a strategy,” says Ameer. “Typically, a property would be relisted with some changes or repositioning made, perhaps involving price or listing photos to make it appear more neutral. Even slight changes can make all the difference.”