California Home Pricing Tiers examined

During January 2025, home prices stagnated compared to the prior month in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego.

While most price tiers remained constant, the high tiers in San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles all tilted higher from December to January, with Los Angeles growing the most at less than 1.0%.

However, current home prices in San Diego and Los Angeles are now higher than their previous peaks during May 2022. In San Diego the overall growth from May 2022 until January 2025 increased 1.87% while in Los Angeles, it rose 3.63%.  

In contrast, San Francisco’s tiers have receded after spiking in May 2022, sinking 10.86% as of January 2025. Be aware that the direction of pricing in the most expensive homes sets the forward trend for all home pricing.  Expensive homes are first to rise in price from a recession, and first to drop in price after the peak of a recovery as is presently underway.

Watch for prices to make their cyclical advance in the second quarter (Q2) during a spring 2025 seasonal bounce.  

As sales volume slows, forcing the current seller’s market to peak, real estate agents need to consider a switch in their services to maintain their standard of living. The focus has turned, in part, to cash buyers willing to purchase when mortgage rates stay high, inventories remain low and the pace of tenant and homeowner turnover slows. Consider diversifying your services to hedge against uncertain transitions in the economy.

Updated April 25, 2025.

Charts are updated monthly. There is a two-month lag in reported data.

high-endrolex.com

Chart update 4/25/25

Chart update 4/25/25

January 2025 January 2024 Annual Change May 2022 past peak Change from 2022 peak
Low Tier 507 488 +4% 484 +5%
Mid Tier 425 420 +1% 420 +1%

High Tier

417 398 +5% 414 +1%

Chart update 4/25/25

Chart update 4/25/25

January 2025 January 2024 Annual Change May 2022 past peak Change from the 2022 peak
Low Tier 524 506 +4% 500 +5%
Mid Tier 462 436 +6% 438 +5%

High Tier

405 391 +4% 395 +3%

Chart update 4/25/25

Chart update 4/25/25

January 2025 January 2024 Annual Change May 2022 past peak Change from past peak
Low Tier 391 382 +2% 418 -7%
Mid Tier 368 363 +2% 417 -12%

High Tier

340 325 +5% 384 -12%

 

Chart update 4/25/25

Chart update 4/25/25

January 2025 January 2024 Annual Change May 2022 past peak Change from past peak
Low Tier 474 459 +3% 468 +1%
Mid Tier 419 406 +3% 426 -2%

High Tier

387 372 +4% 398 -3%

Forecast by firsttuesday

The above charts track sales price fluctuations of single family residence (SFR) resales in California’s three largest cities. Each city’s sales prices are organized by price tier, giving a clearer picture of price movement in each price range within local markets.