It’s been about a month since wildfires tore through Los Angeles, razing thousands of homes and leaving their residents displaced, resulting in home price increases in nearby areas.
The loss of that much housing has put extra pressure on California’s already stressed housing market.
New data from Homes.com reveals that in the weeks since the fires, more homes are being listed for sale in the L.A. area, especially in coastal and mountain neighborhoods, and often at higher prices.
In Manhattan Beach — a neighborhood described as “a buzzy beachfront suburb of Los Angeles” with ultraluxury options — for example, there's been a 68% increase in for-sale inventory since Jan. 6.
The two biggest fires, Palisades and Eaton, are responsible for at least 40,000 acres of damage, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. And previous data from Homes.com showed that as of last week, those two blazes had together destroyed about 11,000 homes totaling just shy of $30 billion.
Local real estate agents say they’re already feeling that shift in the market.
“There’s a fanatic, frantic pace that’s in the current market,” real estate agent Laura Berns of The Berns Team said in an interview. “There’s a sense of urgency that reminds me back to COVID times.”
An influx of listings
Since the wildfires started in early January, 322 neighborhoods in the L.A. area have seen an increase in the number of single-family homes for sale, data showed. In all, there’s been a 25% rise or about 1,938 listings.
And that’s been more tangible in some neighborhoods than others, especially as displaced residents seek to recreate the lifestyle they once knew in the Pacific Palisades and surrounding neighborhoods.
Coastal neighborhoods such as Palos Verdes Estates, Hermosa Beach, Venice and North of Montana have seen influxes of listings as displaced residents search for new homes.
“We’re definitely seeing more listings,” Michael Nourmand, president of brokerage Nourmand and Associates, said in an interview. He described “the sweet spot” as neighborhoods between Santa Monica and Beverly Hills.
A similar trend has appeared in expensive mountainside neighborhoods east of the Palisades, according to Homes.com data. Brentwood, Beverly Crest and Hollywood Hills, for example, have all seen roughly a 40% increase in the number of for-sale listings.
Of course, it is not uncommon for the number of listings to rise as spring approaches, traditionally the busiest time of the year for homebuying and selling. Many agents have reported an uptick in buyer and seller activity in recent months.
Real estate agent Joe Reichling, who specializes in the neighborhoods of Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Hollywood Hills, West Hollywood and Hancock Park, said his clients have been more motivated by market conditions than the wildfires.
"There are factors that were occurring in and starting in 2024 that are continuing to accelerate in [2025] that are even larger than the disruption of the fires," he said in an interview.
The increase in for-sale listings and listing prices appear to have sped up in the wake of the wildfires. Moreover, they’ve made an already busy and competitive time in the housing market even busier.
Demand for larger homes
That competition has started to manifest with increases in the average listing prices of some single-family houses, especially those with at least five bedrooms, according to Homes.com data.
Across all single-family houses listed for sale in Los Angeles, the average listing price has increased by more than 5% since the start of last month’s fires. Much of that increase has been driven by five-bedroom homes. Those larger homes have seen a 12% increase in average price from $3.5 million before the fires to $3.9 million as of Jan. 26, according to Homes.com data.
That said, average prices in the area are skewed by especially pricey mansions. For example, a five-bedroom, 3,029-square-foot house in Malibu that survived the fires is listed for just shy of $18 million.
That disparity is the result of different types of buyers seeking different types of housing. While smaller households displaced by the fires have considered apartment or home rentals, larger families are more likely to seek a single-family house to rent or buy.
Before the fires, around 44% of houses in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood and 23% of the houses in Altadena were four bedroom or more. Houses in the Palisades spanned 2,560 square feet on 0.3 acres of land on average.
Nourmand explained that “the Palisades is a very, very horizontal town with predominantly single-family homes.”
Many of those residents who were displaced have the financial means to purchase a new house while they figure out their insurance and rebuilding plans.
Displaced or not, and despite the increase in for-sale listings, homebuyers seeking houses in Los Angeles County with five or more bedrooms face tight competition. There are roughly 2,030 for-sale listings and 840 for-lease listings with five or more bedrooms available in the county, Homes.com data showed.
“You have less supply, more demand,” Nourmand said.
