Luxury home values increased at double-digit rates in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego in the first quarter of 2014 compared to a year ago, First Republic Bank reported Thursday.
First Republic, a private bank and wealth management company, said its Prestige Home Index showed the following increases:
- San Francisco Bay Area values climbed 12.5 percent from the first quarter of 2013 and 3.4 percent from the fourth quarter of 2013. The average luxury home in San Francisco is valued at $3.17 million.
- Los Angeles area values rose 17.8 percent from the first quarter a year ago and 5.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2013. The average luxury home in Los Angeles is $2.47 million.
- San Diego area values gained 13.5 percent year-over-year and 0.8 percent from the fourth quarter of 2013. The average luxury home in San Diego is $1.93 million.
“Luxury home values again posted strong, year-over-year gains in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego,” said Katherine August-deWilde, President of First Republic Bank. “Prices are being driven higher by limited inventory, robust demand for homes in California’s more desirable communities and continued low mortgage interest rates.”
The 13.5% increase year-over-year gain for San Diego was also the third straight quarter of double-digit gains in the region.
“It was a pretty strong first quarter with a lot of multiple offers, but the number of sales was down,” said Peggy Chodorow of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in La Jolla. “Going forward, I think it’s going to be a more balanced buyer-seller market, which is healthy.”
Market activity in Rancho Santa Fe was slower in the first quarter. “There are too few buyers for the inventory we have,” said Chuck Gifford of Coldwell Banker in Rancho Santa Fe. “Rising prices and qualifying conditions are making it more difficult for buyers to find the right property.”
First Republic Bank produces the Prestige Home Index each quarter with CoreLogic, a leading provider of automated property valuation services and home price metrics to U.S. financial institutions.
— From a First Republic press release
