Los Angeles appreciation rates and housing market information

Los Angeles housing market information

With 3,694,834 people, 1,337,668 houses or apartments, and a median cost of homes of $512,126, real estate costs in Los Angeles are among some of the highest in the nation, although house prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive California communities.

large apartment complexes or high rise apartments are the single most common housing type in Los Angeles, accounting for 43.88% of the city's housing units. Other types of housing that are prevalent in Los Angeles include single-family detached homes (39.23%), duplexes, homes converted to apartments, or other small apartment buildings (9.65%), row houses and other attached homes (6.56%), and a few mobile homes or trailers (0.61%). Cities that are predominantly high-density buildings are relatively uncommon in the US. Because of the density, these types of cities are often walkable and compact, and often have a lively downtown.

People in Los Angeles primarily live in small (one, two, or no bedroom) units, chiefly found in large apartment complexes or high rise apartments. Los Angeles has a mixture of owner-occupied and renter-occupied housing.

At the end of World War II, American soldiers returned home triumphant and, with the help of the GI Bill, built homes by the millions on the edges of America's cities. These homes were predominantly capes and ranches, modest in size, but built to house a growing middle-class as the 20th century became the American century. Los Angeles's housing was primarily built during this period, from the '40s through the '60s. A full 51.01% of the city's housing hails from this era. Other housing ages represented in Los Angeles include homes built between 1970-1994 (29.84%), and housing constructed from 1939 and earlier (16.71%). There's also some housing in Los Angeles built between 1995 and later (2.44%).

Los Angeles home appreciation rates

In the last 10 years, Los Angeles has experienced some of the highest home appreciation rates of any community in the nation. Los Angeles real estate appreciated 108.67% over the last ten years, which is an average annual home appreciation rate of 10.86%, putting Los Angeles in the top 10% nationally for real estate appreciation. If you are a home buyer or real estate investor, Los Angeles definitely has a track record of being one of the best long term real estate investments in America through the last ten years.

Over the last year, Los Angeles appreciation rates have trailed the rest of the nation. In the last twelve months, Los Angeles's appreciation rate has been -17.32%, which is lower than appreciation rates in most communities in America. In the latest quarter, NeighborhoodScout's data show that house appreciation rates in Los Angeles were at -1.29%, which equates to an annual appreciation rate of -5.16%.

Notably, Los Angeles's appreciation rate in the latest quarter is one of the lowest in America.

Relative to California, our data show that Los Angeles's latest annual appreciation rate is higher than 29% of the other cities and towns in California.

One very important thing to keep in mind is that these are average appreciation rates for the city. Individual neighborhoods within Los Angeles differ in their investment potential, sometimes by a great deal. Fortunately, you can use NeighborhoodScout to pinpoint the exact neighborhoods in Los Angeles - or in any city or town - that have the best track record of real estate appreciation, by the latest quarter, the last year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, or even since 1990, to assist you in making the best Los Angeles real estate investment or home purchase decisions.