2024 was a challenging year for those looking to buy or sell a home in California — and also for many realtors.
High mortgage rates continued to make the cost of borrowing expensive, which put a damper on sales. Also, while the median single-family home price edged higher statewide, the latter part of the year saw price growth “decelerate,” according to the California Association of Realtors.
This doesn’t mean home prices in California are falling. They rarely do. This just means they aren’t rising as quickly as they had been, especially compared to 2020 and 2021, when mortgage rates were in the 2% to 3% range.
Statewide, single-family home prices grew by 5% in 2024. Some counties, however, saw much larger increases – especially rural ones.
In Imperial County, located along the southeastern border with Arizona and Mexico, home prices soared by 21% year-over-year. In sparsely populated Glenn County, they were up 20%. Santa Cruz County saw prices climb 19.5% to $1.2 million, and Lake County was up 18.4%.
| County | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Year-to-Year Price Change % |
| Imperial | $381,000 | $315,000 | 21.0% |
| Glenn | $420,000 | $349,500 | 20.2% |
| Santa Cruz | $1,255,000 | $1,050,000 | 19.5% |
| Lake | $373,000 | $315,000 | 18.4% |
On the opposite end of the list, three California counties, Mono, Del Norte and Lassen, saw home prices fall by double digits in 2024.
| County | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Year-to-Year Price Change % |
| Mono | $600,000 | $1,052,500 | -43.0% |
| Del Norte | $384,950 | $487,000 | -21.0% |
| Lassen | $237,000 | $272,500 | -13.0% |
The one thing each of these California counties has in common might be obvious. Fewer people means fewer homes and sales, so a handful of transactions can move the needle dramatically. This isn’t the case in the major metropolitan areas of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Sacramento.
Looking at regional sales, CAR data shows home prices in Southern California were up 7.6% in 2024, followed by the Central Valley at 6.5%, the Inland Empire at 4.4%, while the Central Coast, San Francisco Bay Area and Far North grew by less than 2%.
| Region/County | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Year-to-Year Price Change % |
| Southern California | $850,000 | $790,000 | 7.6% |
| Central Valley | $492,000 | $462,000 | 6.5% |
| Inland Empire | $594,950 | $570,000 | 4.4% |
| Central Coast | $995,000 | $979,500 | 1.6% |
| S.F. Bay Area | $1,200,000 | $1,182,000 | 1.5% |
| Far North | $369,500 | $364,500 | 1.4% |
