Million-dollar home record built on sale, price hikes

Million-dollar home sales in California surged to record levels last year, the result of a robust real estate market and strong appreciation rates, according to La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems.

A total of 13,828 homes sold for a million dollars or more in 2002. That was up 45.5% from 9,501 in 2001 and well ahead of the prior peak of 11,365 in 2000. The surge in sales was strongest during the second and third quarters and was strongest in Southern California, where sales were up 56.5% to 7,611, from 4,863 the year before.

“Several factors contributed to the jump,” said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president. “Residential real estate just had a record year.... A lot of homes that would have sold for less than a million dollars a year or two ago, are now selling at prices above the million-dollar threshold, pushing the statistics up.”

Newly built homes accounted for 1,604 of the sales, up 24.1% from 1,293 for 2001. Orange, San Diego and Los Angeles counties are the most active million-dollar new home markets, DataQuick reported.