Sales of existing, single-family homes in California totaled 274,820 in February on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, up 7% from January’s total, but down 0.3% from February 2025.

In the Inland Empire, sales were up 9% from last month, but down 3.7% from last year, while in Riverside County sales were up 20% from January but down 4% from February of 2025.

“Following a soft start to the year, the housing market regained momentum in February, with both sales and prices showing solid gains,” CAR President Tamara Suminski said in a statement. “The conflict in the Middle East is creating some uncertainty for the broader economy and financial markets, which could lead to some short-term hesitation in the housing market. We remain hopeful though that the situation will stabilize in the weeks ahead, allowing market fundamentals and buyer and seller confidence to reassert themselves.”

Statewide prices were also up last month, with California’s median home price rising 0.9% from January to February, to $830,370. That represents a 0.2% increase from one year ago.

In the Inland Empire, the average price rose 1.1% in February to $601,350, 1.6% lower than February 2025. Riverside County’s average price was down 1.3% last month to $631,000, which is 2.4% lower than one year ago.

“While mortgage rates remain below year-ago levels, they recently jumped to their highest level in seven months and could temper buyer momentum as we head into the spring homebuying season,” CAR Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Jordan Levine said. “However, many homeowners remain locked in to historically low rates, and inventory remains tight, so any stabilization in rates could help bolster home prices in the spring market despite ongoing affordability and economic challenges.”

The county with the highest median home price in California in February was Mono County at $2.35 million, after increasing 50% from last month. The lowest median price was Lassen County’s $199,000, after a 22% drop from last month.

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The Office of the Treasurer-Tax Collector on Tuesday sought and got unanimous board support to partner with hosting site Bid4Assets.com to conduct the exclusively internet-based auction on houses and vacant parcels seized as a result of unpaid property taxes.

The sales are scheduled for April 23 and 24.

Rancho Mirage resident Brad Anderson questioned the Bid4Assets.com partnership, which has been ongoing since the previous decade, telling the board he didn’t understand the preference for using “this internet-based bidding outfit to dispose of these properties.”

“For common everyday people like me, it’s difficult (to access hi- speed internet),” Anderson said. “People should have the option of using other avenues, other than the internet.”

Deputy Treasurer-Tax Collector Michael Thomas and another staffer pointed to the “open, competitive and verifiable” resources available via Bid4Assets.com as positives in creating an online forum for the submission of bids on properties. The officials noted that if a prospective bidder lacks broadband or other reliable internet connectivity at his or her residence, public libraries and other facilities may be available.

“This makes it so that people don’t have to go to individual properties to make a bid. That’s the real advantage,” board Chair Karen Spiegel said.

A total of 946 properties in default are slated for the selling block. However, if the tax liens are satisfied by the owners ahead of time, they would be removed from the list.

“The purpose of offering tax-defaulted properties is to collect unpaid taxes and return the property to a revenue-generating status by conveying the property to another owner, or motivating the (assessed party) to redeem,” according to an agency statement posted to the board’s agenda.

Minimum bids for real estate in arrears will start as low as $100 for several properties in Lake Elsinore and Wildomar, with the highest minimum ask listed as $1.16 million for a residential property in Desert Hot Springs, documents showed.

The minimum bid amounts set by the county represent tax and sales costs. Officials said that minimum prices would be reduced on some properties that do not generate interest in the first round of bidding.

The current total estimated aggregate value of the properties in default is $28.92 million.

This will mark the 14th year that the county has turned to internet- based auctioning for its entire portfolio of assets with liens.

Prospective buyers will need to register online and make a deposit in order to participate.

Under state law, before a property under lien can be sold off, it must be held in abeyance for at least five years.

The complete list of properties that are proposed for inclusion in the auction can be viewed at countytreasurer.org.

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The statewide median price of existing single-family homes in California fell 2.0% in the third quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter, reflecting a cooling in market competition, CAR determined.

However, on a year-over-year basis, home prices rebounded — rising 0.8% after posting the first decline in eight quarters earlier this year — as easing mortgage rates encouraged more buyers to return to the market. With the market transitioning into the off-season, home prices are expected to moderate further as seasonal factors kick in, CAR reported.

If lower mortgage rates materialize in the months ahead and economic uncertainties subside, housing affordability could see some slight improvement in the next couple of quarters.

More California households (27%) could afford a typical condo/townhome in third-quarter 2025, rising from 25% both in second-quarter 2025 and in third-quarter 2024. An annual income of $163,600 was required to make the monthly payment of $4,090 on the $649,990 median-priced condo/townhome in the third quarter of 2025, according to CAR.

In the Los Angeles metro area, 16% of households could afford to purchase the $837,060 median-priced home in the third quarter of 2025, up from 14% in second-quarter 2025 and up from 15% in third-quarter 2024, CAR reported.

In Orange County, 13% percent of households could afford to purchase the $1.4 million median-priced home in the third quarter of 2025, up from 12% in second-quarter 2025 and up from 12% in third-quarter 2024.

In San Diego County, 13% of households could afford to purchase the $1 million median-priced home in the third quarter of 2025, the same number as in second-quarter 2025 and up from 12% in third-quarter 2024, CAR determined.

The highest median price in California in the third quarter was San Mateo County’s $2.08 million. Lassen remained the most affordable county in California during the quarter, with homes selling at $257,500.

Compared with California, CAR found, more than one-third of the nation’s households could afford to purchase a $426,800 median-priced home, which required a minimum annual income of $107,600 to make monthly payments of $2,690. Nationwide, affordability edged up from 35% in both the second quarter of 2025 and a year ago.

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The mountainside sanctuary, which is located in the idyllic town of Idyllwild, Calif., was owned by Parton, 79, and her late husband, Carl Dean, for decades before she decided to gift it to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California, which offloaded it in July 2024, according to records.

However, her ties to the petite property remain—a fact that the listing is quick to call attention to, describing the three-bedroom abode, which is now on the market for $768,000, as “Dolly Parton’s former Idyllwild retreat—a home as iconic as the legend herself.”

“If walls could sing, this charming three-story mountain retreat would be belting out a country classic,” the description continues, noting that “nearly everything inside remains just as Dolly left it.”

Indeed, the property is filled with many of the personal items and collectibles that sat in the dwelling when Dolly last occupied the home, having used it as an escape for many years—although several modern updates have been made in the eight months since it last changed hands.

The listing notes that the home has been outfitted with a new luxury shingle roof, while an electric vehicle charger was also installed in order to add another layer of convenience, particularly given the home’s rather remote location.

Still, the new owners have taken pains to ensure that Parton’s presence remains in every room, with the listing photos revealing that a tea set has been placed on the kitchen table, along with printed instructions addressed “to Dolly, from Steve,” which detail how to make the perfect brew.

“Merry Christmas—2002,” the note continues, before laying out a step-by-step guide for brewing up “tea—English style.”

The recipe first notes that the water “must be absolutely boiling” in order to properly infuse it, while the author advises that the tea be made with bottled water “such as Evian” because tap water contains too much chlorine and can change the taste of the tea.

Elsewhere in the home, various knickknacks, including framed art, collectible plates, and various pieces of china can be seen adorning wooden shelves that run throughout many of the wood-paneled rooms.

A signed photo of Parton in her youth hangs on one of the walls, while one of the bathrooms has been outfitted with a guitar-shaped toilet seat for an added homage to her musical career.

More from Realtor.com: The 8 March Madness Cities Hosting the NCAA Tournament

Multiple fireplaces can be found in the living spaces and in the primary bedroom, adding a cozy feel to the 1,800-square-foot property.

“Designed with midcentury chalet flair, the home features soaring wood-beamed ceilings, expansive windows, and a dramatic stone fireplace in a living room built around a massive granite boulder,” the listing notes.

“Dolly and her beloved mother were the last to occupy this home, leaving behind decor, collectibles, and furnishings, all included in the sale. Legend has it that the spacious loft was Dolly’s favorite place to write and play her music.”

Intriguingly, though the home now—quite literally—screams “Dolly Parton,” her ownership of the property remained a closely guarded secret for many years and was only brought to light when it was sold in July 2024.

According to property records, the cabin was originally built in 1996, before being sold for just $126,000 in December 1994, which is when Parton is believed to have purchased it.

It is a far cry from the expansive Tennessee estate where Parton and her late husband lived for many years, enjoying a sheltered and very private life away from the bright lights of the entertainment industry.

Together, the couple were fiercely protective of their privacy, with Dean—who died on March 3—opting to shy away from fame and publicity, even as his wife’s fame skyrocketed, having been by her side since she was a teenager.

The couple met on the day that Parton moved to Nashville, when she was just 18 years old—bumping into one another outside of the Wishy Washy Laundromat, according to the Associated Press.

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Welcome home to 53590 Jeffery Pine Road.

Amid the oaks and pines, this three-bedroom, two-bathroom home built in 1980, designed by Dennis McGuire, just went on the market.

“It organically rises out of the hillside in natural company with massive granite boulders, tall pines and cedars, colorful oaks and Japanese maples,” according to the listing agents.

The exterior is very 1980s, with plank wood exterior, slanted roofline, and floating decks.

“Many decks throughout the property offer sitting places to enjoy morning coffee with the birds, a good book, a conversation with a friend, or time alone breathing in the mountain air. The large front deck looks out to Tahquitz Rock, a breathtaking view changing daily from the morning splash of sun to the soft moods of dusk.

“The interior is an airy two-bedroom, one bath uniquely designed floor plan, with towering ceilings and wood beams throughout. Windows look out at every angle.

According to Daniel Miracle, Compass Listing Agent, this is the perfect place to create.

“An art studio and a workshop offer space for creative projects,” he writes.

“Outside, meandering trails and bridges lead to a guest suite designed by the owner with an architectural nod to Corbusier, Eames-and, of course, Thoreau too in its elegant simplicity. Just outside your door are many hikes to take in the forest, but all trails lead back to this, your home, a place of extraordinary bliss.”

See the full listing at: www.compass.com.

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The average home price in the six-county region now stands at $876,280, up 0.4% from May, according to data from Zillow.

Prices rose in all counties, including Los Angeles County, where the typical home costs $892,304.

In Orange County, the average is $1.16 million.

The increases represent another hit for prospective home buyers struggling to afford a home in an expensive region at a time when interest rates are the highest they’ve been in more than 20 years.

Only 14% of L.A. County households could reasonably afford a median-priced house in the fourth quarter, according to the California Assn. of Realtors. In the Inland Empire, the situation is better, but still fewer than 30% of households in Riverside and San Bernadino counties can afford a median-priced single-family house.

While affordability is the worst it has been since the 2000s housing bubble, some relief could be on the way.

Economists say home values are rising because of a shortage of homes for sale, though that is easing somewhat.

In June, the number of homes for sale in L.A. County rose 22% from a year earlier, the third consecutive month supply has risen. Other counties saw similar increases.

When mortgage interests rates surged in 2022, home prices fell as buyers pulled away and inventory swelled. But prices started rising again last year as homeowners increasingly chose not to sell, unwilling to give up rock-bottom mortgage rates on loans taken out before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, economists and real estate agents say homeowners increasingly believe rates in the 6% to 7% range are here to stay and are deciding a new home is more important than keeping a 3% mortgage.

In theory, if the supply of homes for sale increases enough, home prices would fall. But many economists cite several reasons they believe that won’t happen.

California has long built too few homes relative to demand, the economy is growing and many homeowners will still choose to hold on to their ultra-low-rate mortgages.

A more likely scenario, according to experts, is home values will rise less than they have been, providing an opportunity for incomes to catch up.

That might already be happening.

June’s nearly 8% annual price increase is less than the 9% gains posted in recent months and the lowest since January.

Richard Green, director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, said it’s too early to tell if home price growth is really starting to slow, or if the deceleration Zillow shows is noise in the data.

That said, he does expect a slowdown to come.

“Prices can’t go up 8% a year forever,” Green said.

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The Office of the Treasurer-Tax Collector is again partnering with hosting site Bid4Assets.com to conduct the online auction on houses and vacant parcels seized as a result of unpaid property taxes.

The auction is scheduled to run April 25 to April 30.

“This is an annual process that our office facilitates with the utmost transparency,” Treasurer-Tax Collector Matthew Jennings said. “Through an online format, we are able to increase the volume of potential bidders and overall access to those interested in participating.”

Bids for county-owned real estate will start as low as $100 and could go into the hundreds of thousands of dollars before the auction closes, officials said.

All property is sold “as is.”

This will mark the 12th year that the county has turned to internet-based auctioning for its entire portfolio of assets with tax liens.

Prospective buyers must register online and make a $2,500 deposit in order to participate.

“Bid deposits must be in the form of a wire transfer, certified or cashier’s check,” according to the Office of the Treasurer-Tax Collector.

The minimum bid amounts set by the county represent tax and sales costs. According to officials, minimum prices will be reduced on some properties that do not generate interest in the first round of bidding.

Under state law, before a property under lien can be sold off, it must be held in abeyance for at least five years.

Prospective bidders can view properties and register at https://www.bid4assets.com/storefront/RiversideCountyApr24, or request offline bid forms by contacting Bid4Assets at 877-427-7387.

People concerned whether one of their properties might be on the list of sellable assets can visit the tax collector’s site to find out: countytreasurer.org/tc220.

Anyone who needs additional assistance can contact the agency at 951- 955-3999.

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Rachel King | Contributor

DEAR ATTORNEY KING,

I am losing my home… Please help!

Here’s the short version. In 2005 I bought a house, hindsight I couldn’t afford it, adjustable rate and well, you remember. A few years later the bank took that house. Fortunately, I’ve had a good career and have always been able to support myself. In 2012, my parents agreed to help me buy my home. I would pay for it, but it would be in their name because of my foreclosure history. I made the downpayment; they went on the loan and title; I have lived in my home and paid the mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance, EVERYTHING! My parents never lived here and never paid for anything.

Unexpectedly, both of my parents passed away recently, and my siblings are trying to take my home in probate. They say that because it is in my parents’ names it gets divided between all of us.

Sincerely,

I can’t lose my home again!

DEAR I CAN’T LOSE MY HOME AGAIN,

This is more common than you think. Many family members have complex interfamily agreements, most of which are not in writing, and none understand the legal complexities that can result.

Typically, the name on the deed of real property is the owner. However, there are circumstances that allow for the equitable owner to be different than the legal title holder. If the administrator of your parents’ estates is unwilling to work with you to help clear up the title issue, or your siblings are refusing to recognize the agreement that you made with your parents it is time to start compiling any text messages, emails, or letters from you parents that support the home being yours; find your purchase and closing documents; make a list of the individuals that participated in the transaction; locate the records for the down payment and all of the mortgage payments, tax payments, insurance payments, and anything else that you have that can show your financial support of your home.

All of this information can be used to show a court that you are the equitable owner of your home and the Judge may Quiet Title in your favor, making you the legal title holder.

One last thing: talk to an attorney as soon as possible! You want to make sure that you take action to protect your interest!

Good Luck,

Rachel King, Attorney at Law

This is not legal advice. For further information or to set up a consultation with Rachel King, please call or text 951-834-7715. Rachel King is a strategic litigator with expertise in elder abuse, and conservatorships and has extensive courtroom experience. She has been featured in LA Weekly, CEO Weekly, and SD Voyager. Ms. King has appearances on CBS and is featured regularly on podcasts around the world. Tune in to Gavel’s Down, Voice’s Up, Rachel’s new podcast available wherever you listen to your podcasts.

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If you’re expecting to inherit a home in California, you might need to find a “for sale” sign. That’s because Proposition 19 has made it much harder to keep that house.

Before the proposition narrowly passed in 2020, parents could pass down their home and their very low property tax rate to their children. But Proposition 19 changed that. Now, the property’s value gets reassessed at the time of transfer, and the property taxes could rise along with it. It’s confusing for some who can’t decide whether they should sell or keep their newly inherited property.

For many people in California, inheriting a home their parents bought decades earlier — when the cost of housing was much more affordable concerning average salaries — is the only way they’ll be able to own a home. If you’re in this situation, keep reading for some factors to consider:

Do you plan to live in the house you inherit?

There are some benefits for people who choose to make an inherited property their primary residence. If you plan to live in the inherited home, you can apply to have up to $1 million excluded from the tax reassessment as long as you move into the home within a year of the transfer.

Despite those benefits, there are some downsides, said Alicia Gamez, an attorney specializing in California taxation law, estate planning, trust and probate law. If a family’s home is a multi-unit building, where the parents live in one unit while their children live in other units, only the parents’ unit will qualify for a reassessment exemption. The other units, where the children live, would get reassessed.

“I have seen circumstances where the property tax reassessment really threatens a family’s ability to stay in their neighborhood,” Gamez said.

Gamez said situations can differ based on the circumstances of families. If the home requires repairs, those can add up, and deciding to live in the home is even more expensive and complicated. If siblings are involved, selling and splitting the money may be easier than having one sibling buy out the others.

If the children already own a home, they might not want to move. In that case, they can choose to sell the inherited property or rent it out.

Do you plan to rent out the inherited house?

Rather than selling the inherited property, many inheritors chose to rent out the home and collect a passive income. Before Proposition 19 passed, the inheritors could keep the low property tax rate.

Some people called this the “Lebowski loophole” because the law allowed people like actor Jeff Bridges and his siblings to pay $5,700 in annual property taxes on the Malibu beach house his parents bought in the 1950s while renting it out for $15,995 a month.

Gamez said Proposition 19 also aimed to fix some of the “market anomalies” created by decades of unusually low tax rates.

“There were people in San Francisco who had real estate that was vacant, and it only cost them $600 a year in property taxes,” she said. “They chose not to sell it because it was an appreciating asset with very low overhead.”

With Proposition 19, she said, “It’s going to cost them tens of thousands of dollars to just hold it.”

Why was Proposition 19 passed in the first place?

Proposition 19, officially called the Home Protection for Seniors, Severely Disabled, Families and Victims of Wildfire or Natural Disasters Act, aimed to help people 55 years and older downsize from larger, single-family homes into smaller houses.

The California Association of Realtors lobbied in favor of the proposition and promised it would “open up tens of thousands of housing opportunities,” making the homes “more readily available for first-time homeowners, families and Californians throughout the state.”

Thanks to Proposition 19, people looking to downsize into a smaller home or condo can keep their low tax rate if they purchase a home of equal or lesser value.

Of the money generated through the increased property taxes this new law is expected to generate, 80% funds fire suppression efforts for local special districts and the rest goes to the State Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Is there a chance Proposition 19 will be overturned?

Some property owners across the state want to repeal Proposition 19 and bring the issue in front of voters, but the movement is still small.

Kern Singh, an attorney who specializes in estate law, said some of his clients considered transferring their property to their children immediately, rather than waiting for the property to increase in value, as a way to maintain a lower tax rate. But he said he’s urging those clients to wait and see what happens with Proposition 19.

“I’m a real estate investor myself, and I haven’t taken any drastic measures,” he said. “I’m waiting to see how this pans out in the long run.”

Gamez is a bit more skeptical about any repeal effort, especially as more people purchase homes in California and pay steep property taxes, often for older properties.

“I think that for every person who has a super low property tax basis, they have several neighbors who do not,” she said. “Are those neighbors going to vote to let their neighbor keep their 1979 property tax basis? I think there are a lot of people who feel significant resentment towards having not been born here in the first place.”

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We all know people moved during the pandemic; with a newfound ability to work from anywhere, many migrated to the Sunbelt. Between April 2020 and July 2023, Census Bureau data shows the population in the South rose by nearly four million people.

But the real story, according to a Bank of America research note released Monday, is what’s happening in the West. “While this rise is sometimes discussed in the context of the pandemic, in many ways it is not new ‘news’—the South’s share of U.S. population has been rising for a long time,” the bank said. “The real story, arguably, is the decline in the share of population of the West…its share of overall U.S. population has flattened, and now appears to be falling.”

For the first time since World War II, the share of Americans living in the West has fallen. Bank of America’s data reveals population growth across major metropolitan areas in the West is declining compared to the prior year, with Las Vegas being the exception. “The fall in population growth in the West is more of a Pacific story,” the bank said—with a chart showing declines in population growth across San Diego, Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, with the latter two cities leading the declines.

But why are people giving up on the West Coast, and maybe even their dreams of living in California? It’s simple: housing costs. “We believe relative housing affordability remains a key part of the story,” the bank said. Major metropolitan areas with higher median mortgage payments have experienced negative population growth or, at best, weakly positive growth annually, according to Bank of America. “Looking at the [metropolitan statistical areas] in the Pacific states in the West, they all tend to have higher-than-average mortgage payments relative to the U.S,” the bank said. “By contrast, in the southern Mountain states, mortgage payments are lower than the U.S. average, so outward migration is potentially a reaction to housing costs.”

San Francisco and Los Angeles experienced the largest population losses, while San Antonio and Austin saw some of the biggest increases. In terms of housing costs, it’s not difficult to understand why that is. The average home value in Los Angeles is $918,087; in San Francisco, it’s $1,216,087. Meanwhile, the average home value in Austin is $527,205. In San Antonio, it’s just $251,545, per Zillow. Let’s do the math: The monthly mortgage payment on, let’s say, a million-dollar home after putting 20% down at a 7% 30-year fixed mortgage rate (not including taxes and insurance) would be around $5,300.

That’s a lot more than what you’d typically pay living in San Antonio or Austin. The relationship between migration and housing costs is not perfect: Phoenix’s population, for instance, fell slightly over the last year, despite the fact the city does not have relatively high mortgage payments. But the metropolitan population is up substantially compared to the first quarter of 2020, which suggests “relative housing costs do exercise some ‘gravitational pull’ on population flows, even if shorter-term factors also make an impact.”

Over time, Bank of America expects domestic migration flows across the country “to lead to some ironing-out in relative housing costs” among the metropolitan areas losing residents. The bank believes it’s likely those regions would see reduced pressure on home prices and rents, which would eventually equate to cheaper housing costs—although, that’s in comparison to areas currently seeing spikes in their population growth. “Interestingly, our data also shows a relatively high proportion of higher-income households in the outflow of people from [metropolitan statistical areas] in the West to the South, which could boost demand for housing in southern [metropolitan statistical areas] by more than a straightforward count of the people leaving would suggest,” the bank said. “Likewise, the West may find demand for housing weakening more if higher-income households are leaving.”

More than 40% of people leaving the West for the South had incomes above $125,000, and over 10% had incomes above $250,000. Even so, the bank’s data found that a higher proportion of those leaving the West are one-person households.

It’s mostly single-person households leaving Los Angeles and San Francisco. So if we assume they’re flexible to changes in the economy, they might return eventually. “Overall, as the pandemic itself fades as an influence, whether the internal migration flows we have observed in Bank of America internal data will continue or ease is an open question,” the bank said. “While current patterns may seem entrenched, over time, we think relative housing cost adjustment is likely to have an impact.”

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