Almost Half of Southern California Houses Seek $1M or More

Nearly half the single-family homes for sale across Southern California this fall topped $1 million.

Some 46 percent of the free-standing homes listed in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties in September exceeded the $1 million mark, the Orange County Register reported.

Of the 12,074 listings across the region, 5,588 sought seven figures, with 24 percent asking $2 million or more and 16 percent marketed for $3 million or more.

Would-be buyers who wanted homes of less than $1 million had 6,486 listings to choose from.

Los Angeles County had 3,288 seven-figure listings, or 66 percent of inventory, with 38 percent at $2 million-plus and 26 percent at $3 million or more.

Orange County had 1,328 million-plus listings, or 84 percent of inventory, with 44 percent at $2 million-plus and 29 percent at $3 million or more.

Riverside County had 675 seven-figure listings, or 23 percent of inventory, with 8 percent at $2 million-plus and 4 percent at $3 million or more.

San Bernardino County had 297 seven-figure listings, or 11 percent of inventory, with 3 percent at $2 million-plus and 2 percent at $3 million or more.

California sales are on pace to hit 241,000 homes this year, 41 below an average going back to 1990. That’s because of the rising monthly cost, based on a 7.8 percent rate on a 30-year mortgage with a 20 percent down payment, according to the Register.

For a house payment to be a third of a family’s income on a $1 million home, it would cost $5,800 a month, with $200,000 down, requiring a $209,000 household income.

The share of families earning $200,000 or more last year was 23 percent in Orange County, 15 percent in Los Angeles County, 12 percent in Riverside County and 10 percent in San Bernardino County.

Some 54 percent of communities across the region — or 69 out of 128 cities — had a median listing price of $1 million or more, according to the Register. Southern California had 28 communities with median asking prices in September of more than $2 million.

The median asking price of a home in Beverly Hills was $9.5 million, with 165 seven-figure listings, 88 percent at $3 million or more. In Malibu, it was $8 million, with 164 seven-figure listings, 87 percent at $3 million or more. In Laguna Beach it was $6.3 million, with 112 seven-figure listings, 87 percent at $3 million or more.

— Dana Bartholomew