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The world’s priciest property ever? Yours for a cool US$1B (IMAGES)

If you think Vancouver real estate is expensive, check out The Mountain of Beverly Hills – and you don’t even get a house
The Mountain Beverley Hills aerial
This well-maintained parcel of 157 acres atop a mountain in Beverley Hills is listed for US$1 billion. Listing agent: Aaron Kirman; image via CNBC.com

For those who recognize "90210" as one of the world’s most prestigious zip codes, consider this listing that hit global headlines over the weekend.

A piece of land on a mountain in Beverly Hills, with incredible views overlooking the whole of Los Angeles, has been deemed likely the world’s most-expensive-ever property listing, at US$1 billion. That’s $1,305,030,000 in Canadian dollars at the current exchange rate as of July 30.

And for that price, you don’t even get a giant mansion – just the land.

However, the property is absolutely vast – 157 acres, which is bigger than California’s Disneyland. And it’s within the globally revered 90210 zip code, just 10 minutes up the hill from world-famous shopping on Rodeo Drive.

The Mountain Beverley Hills Forbes Beth Coller
The 157-acre property has private roads, landscaping, trees and sprinklers to keep it all green. Billion-dollar golf course, perhaps? Listing agent: Aaron Kirman, photo by Beth Coller via Forbes.com

Known as The Mountain of Beverly Hills, the property has no house on it, but it has private roads, a security wall and sprinkler-fed lawns and trees. There’s also a paved, floodlit area with fountains designed to be a sculpture garden.

The Mountain Beverley Hills sculpture garden
The property includes a paved, floodlit area with fountains designed as a sculpture garden. Listing agent: Aaron Kirman, photo by Beth Coller via Forbes.com

It makes sense to market the property with no house because, most importantly, the land comes with permission to build nearly 1.5 million square feet of living space across multiple buildings, according to the New York Times. So there’s plenty of scope for a developer to buy and subdivide the land and build, let’s say, 30 mansions, each on five acres.

The Mountain Beverley Hills side
The views from The Mountain spread over the whole of Los Angeles, and on a clear day you can see the Pacific Ocean. Listing agent: Aaron Kirman; image via CNBC.com

Whether any developer thinks that there’s a profit to be made, with that initial $1 billion land cost, remains to be seen.

The Mountain Beverley Hills gate Forbes Beth Coller
There's no mansion, but the property has a security wall and imposing gate. Listing agent: Aaron Kirman, photo by Beth Coller via Forbes.com