Housing Bubble
Record California million-dollar home sales
February 04, 2003
La Jolla, CA.---- Million-dollar home sales in the Golden State surged to record levels last year, the result of a robust real estate market and strong appreciation rates.
A total of 13,828 homes sold for a million dollars or more last year. That was up 45.5 percent from 9,501 the year before and was well ahead of the prior peak of 11,365 in 2000, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
The surge in sales was strongest during the second and third quarters and was strongest in Southern California where sales were up 56.5 percent to 7,611 from 4,863 the year before. The Bay Area sales count was 5,404, up 32.9 percent from 4,066 in 2001. Last year`s Bay Area count was slightly ahead of 2000 when 5,374 homes in the region sold for more than a million dollars.
"Several factors contributed to the jump in sales. The first is that residential real estate just had a record year and the prestige market was a part of that. The second is that prices are going up, and 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," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.
Statewide, there were 88 sales for more than $5 million last year, 86 sales were in the $4-$5 million range, 324 in the $3 million range, 1,131 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 5,355 square- foot 5-bedroom, 5-bathroom Bel Air house on 2 acres which went for $15,000,000 in August. The largest was a 7-bedroom, 8- bathroom 18,369 square-foot Rancho Santa Fe house which went for $5,825,000.
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 1,604 of the sales, up 24.1 percent from 1,293 for 2001. Orange, San Diego and Los Angeles counties are the most active million-dollar new home markets, DataQuick reported.
There were 617 condo sales in the million-dollar category, up from 447 a year ago. Most were sold in West Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego.
The median size of a million-dollar home was 2,885 sq.ft. with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The median price per square- foot for all million-dollar homes was $462, down 2.2 percent from $472 a year ago, DataQuick reported.
Around 17 percent of the buyers paid cash. Of those who financed their purchase, the median down payment was $450,000. Lending institutions most willing to provide financing were Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo and Bank of America.
Source: DataQuick
