Record California Million-Dollar Home Sales

November 25, 2003

La Jolla, CA.----A record number of Golden State homes sold for a million dollars or more during the third quarter, the result of strong demand, steady appreciation and reasonable mortgage interest rates.

A total of 5,857 million-dollar were sold during the July-to- September period, an all-time high. That was up 20.8 percent from 4,847 for the prior quarter and up 58.4 percent from 3,698 for last year's third quarter, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Sales in Southern California were up 67.6 percent from 2,069 a year ago to 3,467. Bay Area sales were up 47.6 percent from 1,388 to 2,049.

"The expectations earlier this year were that sales of prestige homes would taper off as part of a general market slowdown. That hasn't happened. Demand is still strong, and high-income households seem to think that property ownership is a relatively good investment," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

Statewide, there were 27 sales for more than $5 million last quarter, 45 sales were in the $4-$5 million range, 132 in the $3 million range, 474 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 7,507 square-foot 6-bedroom, 8-bathroom Hermosa Beach house which went for $8,100,000 in July. The largest was a 7-bedroom, 10-bathroom 15,272 square-foot house in Rolling Hills which went for $7,000,000 in August.

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 595 of the sales, up 59.5 percent from 373 for 3Q2002. San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles counties were the most active million-dollar new home markets, DataQuick reported.

There were 267 condo sales in the million-dollar category, up 58.0 percent from 169 a year ago. Most were sold in West Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.

The median million-dollar home was 2,877 sq.ft. in size with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The median price per square-foot for all million-dollar homes was $464, up 1.5 percent from $457 a year ago, DataQuick reported.

Around 11 percent of the buyers paid cash. Of those who financed their purchase, the median down payment was $443,500. Lending institutions most willing to provide mortgage financing were Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo and Bank of America.

Top 25 California Zip Codes
Ranked by the number of million-dollar homes sold in 3Q2003

Community	Zip Code	3Q2002 Sales#	3Q2003 Sales#	3Q03's Most Expensive
Manhattan Beach	90266	96	118	$3.60 mill
La Jolla	92037	63	100	$5.53 mill
Newport Beach	92660	56	99	$4.75 mill
Rolling Hills Estates	90274	67	95	$7.00 mill
Pacific Palisades	90272	51	85	$5.33 mill
Del Mar	92130	38	83	$2.45 mill
Hillsborough	94010	61	81	$5.45 mill
Saratoga	95070	42	78	$4.25 mill
Mill Valley	94941	42	77	$3.38 mill
Calabasas	91302	45	75	$4.75 mill
Los Altos	94024	41	67	$2.43 mill
Malibu	90265	36	65	$7.85 mill
Rancho Santa Fe	92067	57	65	$4.80 mill
Brentwood	90049	42	64	$5.15 mill
Laguna Beach	92651	52	63	$6.65 mill
Encinitas	92024	34	62	$2.66 mill
Danville	94506	44	62	$6.00 mill
Beverly Hills	90210	39	60	$6.50 mill
Rancho Palos Verdes	90275	25	57	$2.66 mill
Alamo	94507	36	55	$2.65 mill
La Canada Flintridge	91011	24	54	$3.05 mill
Corona Del Mar	92625	31	54	$3.10 mill
Laguna Beach/Niguel	92677	19	52	$6.20 mill
Trabuco/Coto	92679	39	52	$4.10 mill
Cupertino	95014	35	52	$2.15 mill

Media Inquiries: John Karevoll (909) 867-9534

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