California Real Estate & Home Prices

California real estate: Mountain to beach 

Is there a more iconic state than beautiful California? Holding down the West Coast with some of the nation’s most alluring geographies, California has inspired generations of artists, musicians, and entertainers to capture her wonder from song to screen. The sparkling Pacific and moody San Francisco Bay, the snow-capped Sierra Nevada Mountains and the sun-drenched Mojave Desert: there’s something for everyone in California.

California real estate varies nearly as much as California living. Los Angeles, home to the internationally recognizable Hollywood Hills, anchors the southern part of the state with poolside lounging and gorgeous beaches. The sun-kissed lifestyle, with year-round blue skies and warm weather, has inspired architectural masters for generations: Angelenos find their personal real estate standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, the Eameses, and Frank Gehry. It’s no wonder that the most prized home features in the region are outdoors. According to Realm’s data analysis, the most popular features in recent real estate listings include patios, mentioned in a whopping 90,256 listings, and pools, which were featured in another 72,405 recent listings. 

Heading north, San Francisco’s bustling tech scene and eclectic architecture paint a different picture. The smooth stucco exteriors of Mission buildings, highlighted by earth tones and natural colors, complement overhanging eaves and gabled roofs for a very particular regional style. The arched entryways and windows have carried old-world Spanish influence throughout the region for nearly 300 years and counting.

California architecture and landscaping

Which of these styles speaks to you: a modern efficiency apartment in a sleek skyscraper? Maybe a classic California bungalow with a lush patio and a cozy porch? Or perhaps a 100-year-old Craftsman retreat with hardwood floors and hand-laid stone?

The architecture of California offers all this and so much more. If mid-century modern suits your sense of cool, you’ll be right at home sipping a martini beside a piano-shaped pool in retro-loving Palm Springs. Take a step back to a very different time in historic Mendocino, where lovely single-family homes are celebrated for their distinctly Victorian charm. The Gold Rush and Spanish Colonial style have also left equally distinctive impressions on the state’s structures.

If you’re more interested in outdoor spaces and putting that green thumb to use, California offers landscaping style in spades. Many of the nation’s leading landscape architects work to maximize both beauty and efficiency at properties large and small throughout the state. For a little inspiration, check out the 2.5-acre green roof at the California Academy of the Sciences. The California Green Roof Project also helps millions of homeowners cut down on energy costs every year. Your oasis awaits!

Tips for California Homeowners

California real estate has it all. While Realm’s data analysis found that most homes in the state were built in 1989, many are much older – and many much newer! According to Realm’s data, 98% of properties in California are safe from flooding, while 99.97% have remained out of wildfires’ reach for the past five years or more. No wonder there are so many lovely older homes still boasting original details. 

In a state of so many diverse building styles and unique neighborhoods, don’t be afraid to explore. And while you’re at it, do your research: knowing what features are common in your area might help you decide what projects could really give your property’s value a boost. If you live in California or are exploring California real estate, check out the Realm dashboard. It’s a quick (and free!) way to see how much it might cost to update your paint or add a new pool, and how much added value that could mean for your home.

Frequently asked questions about California real estate 

Affordability has been a challenge in the California housing market for a long time. As early as the 1960s, the average home in California cost three times the income of an average household. 

Today, the gap is even more dramatic, so much so that California real estate has become notorious for its very pricey properties. It’s a simple problem, really: demand simply trumps supply, and it has been doing just that for a very long time. When there’s not enough housing to go around, the prices keep going up. Statewide, the median home price in 2020 was $659,400. By 2022, California home prices are projected to rise to $834,400. 

If you’re looking for more affordable California real estate, reach outside the housing markets of celebrated urban centers: smaller cities and towns like Eureka, Rancho Cucamonga, Imperial, Yucca Valley, San Bernardino, and Bakersfield earn frequent praises for more affordable cost of living (and property, too). 

Are people moving out of California?

In the spring and summer of 2020, the great “California Exodus” hit headlines: with the pressure of rising cost of living and pandemic-driven social shifts, it seemed many were leaving the state for its sunnier (and less pricey) neighbors. 

In reality, while it might have appeared that way at the time, people aren’t actively leaving the Golden State at a particularly high or significant rate. According to data from UC San Diego released in the summer of 2021, only 23% of California voters reported that they were “seriously considering” leaving the state – lower than the numbers reported by UC Berkeley two years earlier. That’s right, the California Dream is still very much alive and well. 

What type of houses can you find in California?

With a state covering so much varied geography, it’s no surprise that California homes vary dramatically in style. In architectural guides to Los Angeles, it’s not uncommon to find 15, 16, or even more distinct architectural styles in that city alone!