California Million-Dollar Home Sales Surge

February 27, 2004

Million-dollar home sales in the Golden State surged to record levels last year, the result of strong appreciation rates and a robust real estate market, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 19,080 homes sold for a million dollars or more last year. That was up 37.6 percent from 13,871 in 2002, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Sales in Southern California were up 48.7 percent from 7,611 in 2002 to 11,316 last year. Bay Area sales were up 21.1 percent from 5,477 to 6,598.

"Home sales overall were up last year by 7.6 percent. Additionally, the market as a whole saw a 16.2 percent rise in value and a lot of homes that were near the million-dollar price point have appreciated up past that threshold," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

Statewide, there were 107 sales for more than $5 million last year, 126 sales were in the $4-$5 million range, 414 in the $3 million range, 1,517 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 2,760 square-foot 8-bedroom, 4-bathroom Atherton house on a large lot which went for $12,900,000 in November. 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 communities where virtually all home sales were in the million- dollar category.

Newly-built homes accounted for 2,159 of the sales, up 34.5 percent from 1,605 for 2002. San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles counties were the most active million-dollar new home markets, DataQuick reported.

There were 879 condo sales in the million-dollar category, up 42.5 percent from 617 a year ago. Most were sold in West Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.

The median million-dollar home was 2,860 sq.ft. in size with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The median price per square-foot for all million-dollar homes was $464, virtually unchanged from $463 a year ago, DataQuick reported.

Around 12 percent of the buyers paid cash, down from 17 percent in 2002. Of those who financed their purchase, the median down payment was 30 percent of the purchase price. Lending institutions most willing to provide mortgage financing were Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo and Countrywide Home Loans.

Top 25 California Zip Codes
Ranked by the number of million-dollar homes sold in 2003

Community	Zip Code	2002 Sales#	2003 Sales#	2003's Most Expensive
Manhattan Beach	90266	313	381	$5.80 mill.
La Jolla	92037	258	307	$5.83 mill.
Newport Beach	92660	218	293	$4.75 mill.
Rolling Hills Estate	90274	217	279	$7.00 mill.
Hillsborough	94010	229	277	$5.55 mill.
Pacific Palisades	90272	210	251	$6.75 mill.
Saratoga	95070	200	243	$5.96 mill.
Laguna Beach	92651	171	232	$6.65 mill.
Del Mar	92130	172	221	$4.23 mill.
Los Altos	94024	180	221	$10.12 mill.
Brentwood	90049	183	219	$6.90 mill.
Calabasas	91302	173	217	$5.25 mill.
Rancho Santa Fe	92067	208	208	$8.60 mill.
Beverly Hills	90210	186	207	$9.00 mill.
Malibu	90265	158	203	$9.92 mill.
Mill Valley	94941	146	195	$5.45 mill.
Newport Beach	92657	132	194	$7.83 mill.
Los Altos	94022	121	194	$6.00 mill.
Encinitas	92024	95	193	$2.66 mill.
Alamo	94507	159	193	$2.85 mill.
Danville	94506	169	187	$6.00 mill.
Trabuco/Coto	92679	148	182	$4.10 mill.
Rancho Palos Verdes	90275	89	173	$2.66 mill.
Corona Del Mar	92625	112	157	$4.75 mill.
Belvedere Tiburon	94920	138	154	$5.98 mill.

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