Real estate is all about location, location, location. While this is certainly a cliché, there is no doubt it is true in California. For the last five years, California real estate has been appreciating at a surprising rate.
California is an incredible place to live and real estate prices reflect it. Single-family home prices average about $620,000 for San Diego, $1,300,000 for central San Francisco and $750,000 for central Los Angeles. In general, the closer the home is to the ocean, the more it will cost.
As shocking as the prices are, the rate of appreciation is downright impossible to believe. In the last 12 months, California real estate has appreciated over 25 percent. For a $500,000 home, that is a gain of $125,000 in 12 months.
This is making it harder and harder for people to buy houses, which some people might say is leading to a housing bubble burst.