Home Price Changes More Varied in L.A.

The early- to mid-1990s home price decline was egalitarian in Orange County--all levels of the market got clobbered by about the same 20%, according to statistics from the real estate research firm Case Shiller Weiss.

When prices touched bottom in late 1996, the priciest third of the market was down about 21 cents on the dollar, compared with about 19 cents on the dollar for homes in the least expensive third.

That was not the case in Los Angeles County, where the contrasts between extreme wealth and inner-city poverty are more exaggerated. In Los Angeles County, prices of homes in the lower third price fell about 16% from their peak values, compared with a decline of nearly 30% for the top third, the Case Shiller statistics show.

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E. Scott Reckard covers real estate for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7407 and at scott.reckard@latimes.com