California: Luxury House Values Climb Slightly

California's luxury home values posted slight gains in Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco in the third quarter.
REALTOR® Magazine Online
California’s luxury home values posted slight gains in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco in the third quarter of 2006, according to the First Republic Prestige Home Index.

The index, which has tracked luxury homes since 1985, found:

Los Angeles values rose 0.6 percent from the second quarter of 2006 to the third quarter and climbed 4.4 percent from a year ago. The average luxury home in Los Angeles is now $2.37 million.

San Diego values increased 1.9 percent from the second quarter of 2006 to the third quarter and gained 5.4 percent from a year ago. The average luxury home in San Diego is now $2.18 million.

San Francisco Bay Area values increased 1.1 percent from the second quarter of 2006 to the third quarter and gained 4.0 percent from a year ago. The average luxury home in San Francisco is now a record $2.96 million.

The modest increases are “due to growing inventory, longer sales time, and greater caution among buyers because of the uncertainty in the market," says Katherine August-deWilde, chief operating officer of First Republic.