Once-modest California towns become surprising ’million-dollar cities’ - Los Angeles Times
▻https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-04-15/california-home-values-climbing-million-dollar-cities
Les « million dollar cities » sont des villes dans lesquelles le revenu médian annuel est supérieur à 1M$.
Il y en a 550 aux Etats-Unis, dont 210 en Californie.
The list of million-dollar cities in California has grown
Do you live in Bonita, Tustin or San Gabriel? If so, congratulations! These once-modest towns have joined the list of California’s “million-dollar cities.”
A “million-dollar city” is any community, town or city where the median value of a home is at least $1 million. And California, as of February, has 210 of them, up 15 from the last count in 2023.
There are currently 550 “million-dollar cities” in the U.S., according to Zillow. California’s share includes cities you’d guess: Beverly Hills, Malibu, Newport Beach and Santa Monica.
But it now also includes cities that until recently were known for their humble working-class stature. California’s rookie “million-dollar cities” include: Bonita, Tustin, Brea, San Gabriel, Cerritos, Orange, San Luis Obispo, Placentia, Cambria, Thousand Oaks, Pala, Pleasant Hill, Arroyo Grande, Bonsall and Cypress.
That’s not the only way to see how housing costs across the state are skyrocketing. Five cities — La Cañada Flintridge, Irvine, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills and Poway — already on the million-dollar-city list, have seen median housing costs increase 12% to 17% per year.
Times data reporter Terry Castleman created two maps that help decipher how California’s housing affordability crisis has transformed the state.
Map showing the 210 California cities where median home values exceed $1 million.
Almost all of California’s “million-dollar cities” are coastal. This isn’t surprising. Houses with an ocean view and close proximity to the beach have consistently been sought-after. A majority of California’s residents live in coastal cities.
In 2020, 26.8 million Californians were living in coastal counties, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office for Coastal Management. That is 67.8% of the state’s total population that year.
Limited supply also heightens the issue. In San Diego County’s unincorporated community of Bonita, for example, surging demand, coupled with limits on construction, “may have also contributed to spiking home values,” Terry noted.
The list’s noncoastal towns are scarce and include Indian Wells ($1.3 million), Tahoe City ($1.1 million), Truckee ($1 million), Granite Bay ($1.1 million) and Homewood ($1.1 million).
Map showing housing values rose fastest in Southern California cities over past 5 years
Statewide, the median home price increased 33.5% over the last five years. Last year, California’s median home value shot up to $789,000 — a 3.1% increase over a year prior.
According to census data, California’s median household income rose from $71,805 in 2017 to $91,551 in 2022 — about a 27.5% increase. Although this is not the same time period as above, statewide median household earnings do not increase parallel to median house values.
Nationwide, homes are worth 5.6 times more than the median household income — a record high from the previous 4-1 ratio — as of 2022, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. California, however, leads the pack as median home values across the state are at least 10 times more than median household earnings.
In Southern California, the unfortunate amalgamation of soaring housing prices, stagnant household incomes and high mortgage interest rates have created the most unaffordable housing market in recent years.
Many cities with the highest change in median home price (51% or more) over five years are in Southern California. The change is especially drastic in cities that used to be affordable for middle-income families.
Median home prices grew by 12% per year in Tustin and Bonita, according to Zillow. In Bonita, specifically, median home values have increased by 65% over the last five years.
Tustin’s median household income is over $100,000. So, according to census data, the average home in Tustin is “worth about 10 times what a household earns,” Terry wrote. The ratio is similar in Bonita.
Although more cities have vaulted into the seven-figure range, cities that were already on the “million-dollar cities” list continue skyrocketing. (Though there are some notable expectations, such as Palmdale, Sacramento and Bakersfield — all with median home values below $500,000.)