Luxury real estate values break records in California

First-quarter prices grow an average $349,000 from a year ago
Inman News
The California cities of Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco all posted double-digit gains and record highs in luxury home values in the first quarter of 2005 compared to a year ago, according to the First Republic Prestige Home Index by First Republic Bank.

Los Angeles values jumped 3.4 percent from the fourth quarter of 2004 to the first quarter of 2005 and rose 23.1 percent from the first quarter a year ago. The average luxury home in Los Angeles is now a record $2 million, up $384,000 from a year ago.

San Diego values increased 7 percent from the fourth quarter of 2004 to the first quarter of 2005, and were up 20.4 percent from the first quarter a year ago. The average luxury home in San Diego is now a record $2 million, up $334,000 from a year ago. Luxury real estate values in San Diego were up 20 percent from last year.

San Francisco Bay Area values rose 6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2004 to the first quarter of 2005 and gained 13.9 percent from a year ago. The average luxury home in San Francisco is now a record $2.7 million, up $329,000 from the first quarter a year ago.

"In the first quarter of 2005, luxury home values set records in California due to low interest rates, limited supply, continued demand, and the traditional increase in activity this time of year," said Katherine August-deWilde, chief operating officer of First Republic Bank. "While 2005 is off to a strong start, driven in part by seasonal buying, it is unlikely values will continue appreciating as rapidly as they have over the past few years."

First Republic Bank, a NYSE-traded commercial bank and wealth management company, produces the Prestige Home Index each quarter with Fiserv CSW Inc., a provider of automated property valuation services and home-price metrics to U.S. financial institutions.