“So expensive?” tracks measurements of California’s completely unaffordable housing market.
Pain: The number of million-dollar towns in five expensive California regions has increased 76% since the pandemic upended the economy.
The source: My trusty spreadsheet looked at Zillow tabs of cities with median home values above $1 million in February compared to a year ago and November 2019 before the coronavirus.
The pinch
Five of California’s costliest metro areas for housing this year had a total of $169 million, an increase of 10 over 12 months – or 6 percent. Since 2019, the number of million-dollar cities has increased by 73, an increase of 76%.
Yet cities where a typical home is worth seven figures have seen even faster growth across the country.
There were a total of 550 million-dollar cities in February, up 59 from a year ago – a growth of 12%. This also represents an increase of 332 cities since 2019 – a jump of 152%.
Think about these five California metros and their million-dollar cities…
San Francisco: 69 cities in February – unchanged in a year and up 23 from 2019. This represents a 50% increase in five years.
Los Angeles-Orange County: 63 – up 7 in one year and up 33 from 2019. This represents a gain of 110% in five years.
San Jose: 18 – unchanged over one year and up 8 compared to 2019. Or 80% more over five years.
San Diego: 10 – up 3 in one year and up 5 from 2019. That’s double in five years.
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara: 9 – unchanged over one year and up 4 compared to 2019. Or 80% more over five years.
Pressure points
Overall, California leads the nation this year with 210 million-dollar cities, an increase of 12 from a year ago. No data for 2019 was available.
It’s worth noting that California has 38% of the nation’s “million dollar cities” but only 10% of the U.S. housing supply.
Other states where housing is very expensive include…
New York: 66 cities, or 12 more in one year.
New Jersey: 49 – up 14 in a year.
Florida: 32 – 2 reduction per year.
Massachusetts: 31 – up 4 in a year.
Colorado: 21 – unchanged for a year.
Washington: 18 – up to 2 in a year.
Hawaii: 17 – up 1 in a year.
Texas: 14 – 1 reduction per year.
Maryland: 10 – up to 2 in a year.
The report shows that as of February, 34 states had at least one city with a typical home value above $1 million.
Quotable
“The real estate market is tight, with few homes available, and competition is still strong for attractive homes. This competitive pressure is driving up home values in the United States,” the report said. “The value of a typical American home is 4.2% higher than a year ago. In today’s million-dollar cities, the median year-over-year home value growth is 4.6%.
Jonathan Lansner is the Southern California News Group’s business columnist. He can be contacted at jlansner@scng.com
California Daily Newspapers
