Record California Million-Dollar Home Sales

August 2, 2002

Million-dollar home sales in the Golden State surged to record levels during the second quarter, the result of a robust real estate market and a resurgence of discretionary spending on homes, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 4,167 homes were sold for a million dollars or more in California during the April-to-June period. That was up 66.3 percent from 2,505 for the first quarter and up 58.1 percent from 2,635 for last year's second quarter.

The prior peak was 2nd quarter 2000 at 3,293 when there was a flurry of Bay Area prestige home buying.

"Home sales overall were at record levels last quarter. Additionally, homes values overall are going up at an annual 18 percent rate. That means a lot of homes that were worth less than a million dollars last year, are selling for more than a million dollars this year," said Mike Ela, DataQuick president.

Bay Area second-quarter sales increased 60.6 percent from 1,094 last year to 1,757 this year, while Southern California sales were up 59.8 percent from 1,379 to 2,203. Bay Area sales counts exceeded Southern California's in 2000, then declined last year.

Statewide, there were 21 sales for more than $5 million last quarter, 22 sales in the $4-$5 million range, 96 in the $3 million range, 351 sales in the $2 million range, and the rest between $1 million and $2 million.

DataQuick, a subsidiary of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates, monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.

The numbers include home sales where it could be determined from public records that there was a buyer, a seller, that money changed hands, and that there was a legal transfer of property ownership. Not included were property swaps, sales of multiple lots, teardowns, and large farm or ranch properties. Home sales to companies were included, as were sales to trusts.

The most expensive confirmed purchase was a 6,743 square- foot 9-bedroom, 8-bathroom Rancho Santa Fe house which went for $7,750,000 in June. The largest was a 13,094 square-foot 5- bedroom, 7-bathroom Beverly Hills house which went for $4,200,000.

Ross in Marin County and Rancho Santa Fe in San Diego County were the communities where virtually all home sales were in the million-dollar category.

Newly-built homes accounted for 385 of the sales, up from 342 for last year's second quarter. Orange, San Diego and Los Angeles counties are the most active million-dollar new home markets, DataQuick reported.

There were 162 condo sales in the million-dollar category, up from 130 a year ago. Most were sold in West Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego.

The median size of a million-dollar home was 2,864 sq.ft. with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The median price per square-foot for all million-dollar homes was $473, down 2.3 percent from $484 a year ago, DataQuick reported.

Around 20 percent of the buyers paid cash. Of those who financed their purchase, the median down payment was $437,000. Lending institutions most willing to provide financing were Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo and Bank of America.

Community	Zip Code	2Q01 Sales#	2Q02 Sales#	2Q02's Most Expensive
Manhattan Beach	90266	53	91	$4.90 mill.
La Jolla	92037	57	87	$4.58 mill.
Saratoga	95070	51	73	$7.60 mill.
Rolling Hills Est.	90274	47	70	$2.66 mill.
Newport Beach	92660	36	70	$3.10 mill.
Hillsborough	94010	40	68	$7.00 mill.
Los Altos	94024	41	64	$3.95 mill.
Brentwood	90049	28	63	$4.30 mill.
Rancho Santa Fe	92067	32	63	$7.75 mill.
Alamo	94507	21	62	$2.36 mill.
Pacific Palisades	90272	27	59	$4.70 mill.
Danville	94506	29	59	$2.48 mill.
Beverly Hills	90210	49	58	$5.70 mill.
Laguna Beach	92651	35	57	$5.20 mill.
Malibu	90265	27	55	$3.75 mill.
Calabasas	91302	32	53	$3.00 mill.
Mill Valley	94941	35	52	$3.50 mill.
Trabuco/Coto	92679	14	48	$3.35 mill.
Cupertino	95014	26	47	$2.60 mill.
Woodside	94062	20	46	$4.65 mill.
Del Mar	92130	30	43	$3.80 mill.
Belvedere Tiburon	94920	33	41	$5.90 mill.
Los Gatos	95030	18	41	$3.68 mill.
Corona Del Mar	92625	28	39	$2.69 mill.
Los Altos	94022	19	38	$2.50 mill.

Media Inquiries: John Karevoll (909) 867-9534

Copyright © 2002 DataQuick Information Systems.
All rights reserved.