Home prices in Los Angeles are about to reach a milestone

Barring a cataclysmic event or major economic turmoil, the median home price in Los Angeles County will likely cross the $1,000,000 mark in 2025.

Data released this week by the California Association of Realtors shows a median, detached single-family home in L.A. County costs $956,210, seven percent more than a year ago.

Statewide, the median home price is $888,740, around six percent more than a year ago.

This comes despite mortgage rates continuing to hover around generational highs, which has kept many would-be buyers on the sidelines. However, economists at the Realtor's Association, which represents real estate professionals who rely on sales, say prices in California generally only go in one direction: up.

“The best time to buy was a long time ago. The second-best time to buy is still today,” insists CAR’s chief economist Jordan Levine.

Indeed, the increase in home values in California, especially Southern California, has been significant over the past decade. In October 2014, an average home in L.A. County cost $477,600, meaning home values have essentially doubled.

With the demand for housing far outpacing supply, Levine cautions those who are waiting for mortgage rates to fall.

“If you can see rates go down in the future and take advantage of that and refinance, you really haven’t missed out,” he says. “Whereas if you wait three, four years to buy and prices go up a lot, you can never make up that differential.”

Median Home Prices

Elsewhere in Southern California, the median home price in San Diego County was $1,010,000 in October, Orange County was $1,350,000, Riverside County was $634,000, Ventura County was $940,000 and San Bernardino County was $499,000.

Tap here for all current and historic housing data.