California’s Carmel-by-the-Sea Home to Pricy Real Estate

If you’ve never heard of Carmel-by-the-Sea you’re probably not alone, but it’s become an ultra-pricey enclave for homebuyers who can afford it.

The tony city on California’s Central Coast is home to some of the country’s most expensive real estate, the Wall Street Journal reported. The median price in Carmel, as it’s also known, is a smidge over $2,000 per square foot, according to Realtor.com.

The priciest listing on the market is a brand new $8.2 million home, which only spans 2,020 square feet. The median sale price last year was $2.3 million, only slightly below $2.35 million in 2022 for the market’s most expensive year since 2014.

To retain the area’s charm, the standard lot size for a home is 4,000 square feet, and the average house is only 1,600 square feet.

A majority of buyers are either locals or coming from California’s Bay Area, though 30 percent of buyers are also from Texas, according to Jessica Canning, managing partner of Canning Properties Group with Sotheby’s International Realty.

The city is known for its unique and walkable feel, reminiscent of a town in Europe more than one in the United States. The community has dozens of restaurants, hotels, art galleries and antique shops, in addition to a number of wine-tasting rooms. It’s very artsy and many buildings are referred to by names, rather than addresses.

A critical feature of Carmel is its proximity to the legendary Pebble Beach Golf Links, which hosts a Pro-Am tournament annually in the winter. Inventory typically comes online around the time of the competition, according to Canning, then goes through a lull before the summer season.

Carmel’s most famous resident is Clint Eastwood, the film actor and director who also served as the city’s mayor. The house he owned when he served as mayor recently sold for $19.3 million, slightly below the $21 million it was listed for a few months earlier.

And while Eastwood has set the silver screen ablaze for decades, the area is at risk for wildfires, meaning home insurance premiums could make living in the charming town even more cost prohibitive.

— Holden Walter-Warner