{"id":325129,"date":"2026-05-20T21:06:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T21:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/325129\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T21:06:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T21:06:21","slug":"california-home-prices-hit-record-high-as-residents-flee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/325129\/","title":{"rendered":"California home prices hit record high as residents flee"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new report found that California\u2019s housing market is being propped up by rich people trading spaces while everyday residents are running to other states<\/a> for relief.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s housing market continues to be soul-crushingly expensive as California median home prices in April climbed to a record high of $914,810, according to the latest figures<\/a> from the California Association of Realtors.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles\u2019 downtown skyline with the snow-capped San Gabriel Mountains\u00a0may be beautiful but is hardly cheap. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Houses in Los Angeles continue to cost more as expensive home sales prop up the market. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Sales of existing single-family homes rose 3.9% from March and 4.1% compared to April 2025, marking the largest year-over-year increase in seven months. The statewide median price increased 2.9% from March, crossing the $900,000 mark for the first time since May 2025.<\/p>\n

The explosive rise in home sale prices<\/a> was mostly driven by more activity in higher-end housing markets, according to the realtors association. Sales of homes priced at $2 million or more jumped 8.4% compared to April 2025. <\/p>\n

Jordan Levine, the group\u2019s chief economist, cautioned that the larger share of expensive homes changing hands doesn\u2019t necessarily mean the market is on solid ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cHousing affordability remains a significant challenge in California,\u201d Levine said.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s sky-high cost of living is continuing to push residents out of the state, according to a March report from the California Policy Lab. <\/p>\n

The report found Californians who leave the state relocate to neighborhoods where housing costs are an average of $672 cheaper per month, while rents are roughly 30% lower and median home prices are nearly $396,000 less expensive. <\/p>\n

Researchers also noted Californians pay about 11% more for groceries, 40% more for gas and 61% more for utilities than the national average.<\/p>\n

During 2025 alone, nearly 150,000 more people left California than moved into the state, continuing a years-long trend of domestic outmigration tied largely to affordability concerns, according to the California Policy Lab.<\/p>\n

Inland areas of the state have seen increases in home purchases as coastal areas remain incredibly expensive. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Skyrocketing gas prices and the cost of other goods have contributed to an exodus of state residents. REUTERS<\/p>\n

Matt Ingles, 41, recently told The Post that he was thriving after moving out of California<\/a> with his wife and two children to Dripping Springs, Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy quality of life here is significantly better,\u201d Ingles said. \u201cBut that\u2019s more than just finances.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rising cost of living has fueled a steady migration of Californians to lower-cost states like Texas, as well as Arizona, Nevada and Tennessee, where median home prices are often hundreds of thousands of dollars cheaper. <\/p>\n

As a result, the Golden State lost $91.4 billion in net income<\/a> between 2019 and 2023 as people fled the region, according to IRS data.<\/p>\n

In Placer County, the median home price hit $675,000 in April, while Sacramento County\u2019s median price stood at $546,420 \u2014 levels that still require six-figure household incomes for many buyers to comfortably afford monthly payments at current mortgage rates.<\/p>\n

The California Association of Realtors attributed the rise in home prices to a big increase in high-end home sales. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Tamara Suminski, president of the state realtors association, said buyer demand hasn\u2019t been shaken by higher interest rates and increasing costs for gas and other goods.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile elevated mortgage rates and ongoing uncertainty in the Middle East continue to weigh on the market, California buyers and sellers are still finding opportunities,\u201d Suminski said in a statement.<\/p>\n

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The San Francisco Bay Area posted one of the state\u2019s strongest sales increases, with sales up 5.5% from a year ago, even as median prices in the region dipped 1.3%. The county of San Francisco itself saw median home prices jump 19.5% year-over-year to more than $2.1 million.<\/p>\n

Southern California home sales rose 8% annually, while the Central Valley posted a 10.1% increase. The biggest annual sales surge was in the Far North region at 24.6%.<\/p>\n

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.33% in April, down from 6.73% a year earlier, though slightly above March levels.<\/p>\n

Despite the recent gains, California buyers are still feeling an affordability crunch as statewide home sales remained below 300,000 for 43rd straight month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new report found that California\u2019s housing market is being propped up by rich people trading spaces while…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,27255,1011,388,100237,11853],"class_list":["post-325129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-home-sales","tag-housing","tag-real-estate","tag-realtor","tag-residential-real-estate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}