Housing Prices updated: 7 November 2009
Here are some pages created to offer a thorough understanding of prices: today, in the past decades and (possibly) those on the horizon. If the median price of a house in California was $3,500 in 1940 and roughly $340,000 in 2009, the value of that same property could be $35,000,000 in another 60 years... A real estate purchase today is obviously paid with 2009 dollars. At the 30-year mark when the payments are unchanged, you are actually paying much less, as the value of your money has decreased substantially due to inflation. Discuss the topic with your accountant; it's one of the best long-term investments a person or family can make.
1) Los Angeles County and Westside Prices - This is the most recent sales data by zip code from the
Data Quick website (September 2009), with new reports roughly mid-month.
2) U.S. Housing Prices - Here is the most compelling data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia
between 1940 and 2000, clearly evidencing the long-term benefit of home ownership.
3) California Quarterly Reports from 1976 to 2008 - Think that the increases of this decade are without
precedent? Have you seen the data from the 1970s and 80s? This is another must-see page.