Realty Downturn Affecting the Million-Dollar Market
The current slowdown in California home sales is having an effect on high-end sales as well as on the middle of the market, according to a real estate information company.
A total of 564 homes were sold for more than $1 million statewide during the second quarter of this year. That was down from 648 for the April-to-June period last year, and way down from 1989’s second-quarter of 842, the highest second-quarter level measured, La Jolla-based Dataquick Information Systems reported.
While most of California’s very expensive homes are sold in Malibu, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and West Los Angeles, that region saw some of the steepest dropoffs in sales. On the other hand, a number of San Francisco Bay-area communities saw significant sales increases.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty out there right now, with the riots nearby and soft prices. Many potential sellers in that high-end part of the market can afford to wait and see what happens during the next three months,” said Dataquick CEO Donald L. Cohn.
At $7.5 million, the most expensive recorded sale was a 9,100-square-foot, six-bedroom, nine-bathroom house in Bel-Air, Dataquick reported.
The largest million-dollar home was bought in Santa Monica by the founder of a software company. That house is 14,236 square feet and has seven bedrooms and 10 bathrooms.
The median-sized million-dollar home was 3,566 square foot with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The median square-foot price was $379.24, roughly three times California’s overall square-foot median.
Dataquick monitors all real estate buying and financing statewide and provides real estate data to lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.
The information covers all recorded transactions. Several modest homes on valuable lots are included. These are often bought to be torn down and replaced with a new residence.
Beverly Hills’ ZIP code 90210 had the most million-dollar sales at 37 during the second quarter. It was followed by nearby 90049, with 22; Santa Monica’s 90402, with 17, and Atherton’s 94027, also with 17.
Ninety-two of the buyers paid cash when they bought their home. The median mortgage size for the rest was $805,000, according to Dataquick.
The lender most willing to finance million-dollar home purchases was Bank of America, followed by Home Savings, Chase, Sears Mortgage and Boston Safe Deposit.
Most of the homes, 470, were bought for between $1 million and $2 million. Sixty were bought for $2 million to $3 million. Fifteen went for $3 million to $4 million, seven in the $4-million to $5-million range and for more than $5 million.
While most of the homes were single-family residences, 21 were condos, most of which were sold in the West Los Angeles area.
Million-Dollar Homes
Homes sold for more than $1 million in Second Quarter
Areas Number Number 1992 Most Sold Sold Expensive 1991 1992 Home Sold Los Angeles (W/Bel-Air) 109 78 $7.5 mill. Beverly Hills 59 33 $5.6 mill. San Francisco 19 26 $3.3 mill. Atherton 13 22 $2.7 mill. Rancho Santa Fe 27 19 $3.5 mill. Santa Monica 14 19 $7.4 mill. Newport Beach 30 18 $2.1 mill. Pacific Palisades 22 16 $1.9 mill. Los Altos (W/Hills) 10 13 $2.3 mill. San Diego (W/La Jolla) 21 13 $2.6 mill. Belvedere-Tiburon 7 10 $1.6 mill. Hillsborough 19 10 $1.8 mill. La Canada-Flintridge 9 8 $1.3 mill. Huntington Beach 6 7 $2.3 mill. Malibu 18 7 $1.8 mill.
