A 12 months after wildfires devastated components of Los Angeles, the true value of the destruction can now be revealed as restoration lags.
The Palisades and Eaton fires of January 2025 prompted property values to plummet, with many components of town that have been affected nonetheless struggling to get better and the vast majority of residents persevering with to stay in short-term housing.
A brand new housing knowledge evaluation carried out by Realtor.com® researchers reveals that the entire worth of destroyed houses within the hearth zones of the celebrity-studded Pacific Palisades enclave and working-class Altadena fell from $14.7 billion to $10.8 billion and from $7 billion to $4.7 billion, respectively, between late 2024 and the second half of 2025.
Properties broken by the fires however not fully ravaged noticed their complete worth decline from $2.2 billion to $1.9 billion in Pacific Palisades and from $825 million to $658 million in Altadena.
Even properties that weren’t bodily affected however merely positioned within the hardest-hit burn zones skilled important losses, with mixture values falling from $10.4 billion to $9.4 billion in Pacific Palisades and from $3.8 billion to $3.2 billion in Altadena.
Altogether, the fires erased an estimated $8.3 billion in dwelling worth throughout the 2 scorched suburban L.A. communities. Notably, that complete doesn’t have in mind losses in different affected enclaves, comparable to Malibu and Topanga.
Analysts used the typical of the newest out there automated valuation mannequin dwelling values from actual property analytics corporations Cotality and Quantarium.
Taking a look at houses bought between 2020 and 2024 that have been diminished to ash and later bought as vacant tons in 2025, sale costs have been usually about 50% decrease than their most up-to-date pre-fire buy costs in each Pacific Palisades (-51.6%) and Altadena (-51.3%), reflecting the lack of livable constructions in addition to the price and uncertainty of rebuilding.
The evaluation consists of solely properties assessed by the California Division of Forestry and Fireplace Safety (CAL FIRE) and captured in its harm evaluation knowledge. It is vital to notice {that a} substantial variety of properties usually are not represented within the CAL FIRE knowledge and subsequently usually are not mirrored in these figures.
“Taken collectively, the gross sales and valuation knowledge point out that the fires led to massive, instant losses in housing wealth for destroyed properties, alongside extra reasonable however widespread worth softening throughout surrounding neighborhoods,” says Realtor.com senior financial analysis analyst Hannah Jones.
How far has rebuilding come after the fires?
Prior to now 12 months, greater than 1,400 rebuilding permits have been issued by town of Los Angeles in and round Pacific Palisades. And whereas greater than 1,740 building plans have been authorised and 417 tasks have begun building, solely two houses have been totally rebuilt.
Metropolis officers hailed the tip of building on the primary dwelling to obtain a certificates of occupancy—a four-bedroom home on Kagawa Road—as a “main milestone” in late November. Nonetheless, it was rebuilt not by a displaced household however by developer Thomas James Properties as a “showcase dwelling” highlighting the restoration progress.
In Malibu, the upscale oceanfront group that misplaced almost 600 single-family houses to the Palisades hearth, solely 22 official constructing permits authorizing reconstruction have been issued so far, based on town’s rebuild dashboard.
In the meantime, Los Angeles County has doled out over 1,110 permits in hard-hit Altadena, based on the county’s allowing progress dashboard. Up to now, building has been accomplished on simply 4 single-family houses, one multifamily property, and three accent dwelling items.
In early December, 67-year-old Ted Koerner turned the primary resident of Altadena displaced by the Eaton hearth to obtain a certificates of occupancy for a totally rebuilt main dwelling.
Koerner, who has been residing in accommodations and rundown leases because the catastrophe, rebuilt his one-story, three-bedroom, two-bathroom dwelling in simply over 4 months regardless of allowing delays, wrapping up building on it in time for the winter holidays.
How did the L.A. wildfires begin?
The Palisades and Eaton wildfires ignited simply hours aside on Jan. 7, 2025. The Palisades blaze sparked within the late morning hours within the Santa Monica Mountains, then rapidly raced westward towards the Pacific Ocean, destroying massive swaths of Pacific Palisades, Topanga, and Malibu neighborhoods mendacity in its path.
Roughly eight hours later, one other hearth touched off close to Eaton Canyon within the San Gabriel Mountains close to Pasadena. Whipped up by a robust Santa Ana wind, the flames overwhelmed the dry, rugged terrain earlier than barreling into the center of Altadena.
It will take greater than 8,000 firefighters 24 days to extinguish the 2 monstrous wildfires, however not earlier than not less than 31 individuals have been killed and greater than 16,000 constructions—an estimated 12,000 of them houses— have been destroyed, together with roughly 7,000 within the Palisades and 9,000 within the Eaton burn zones.
All informed, the dual fires—among the many most harmful in California historical past—prompted complete property and capital losses ranging between $76 billion and $131 billion, with insured losses estimated at as much as $45 billion, based on the UCLA Anderson Forecast final up to date in March.
9 months after the wildfires, authorities arrested 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht, accusing him of beginning a small hearth with a “barbecue-style” lighter on Jan. 1, 2025, that continued smoldering underground earlier than flaring up six days later and exploding into the lethal Palisades wildfire, based on the Related Press.
Rinderknecht, a former resident of Pacific Palisades residing in Florida on the time of his arrest, was indicted in October on costs of malicious destruction by means of a hearth, arson affecting property utilized in interstate commerce, and timber set afire. If convicted, he might withstand 45 years in jail.
Whereas the reason for the Eaton hearth has not been formally decided and stays underneath investigation by CAL FIRE a 12 months later, the U.S. Division of Justice in September 2025 sued Southern California Edison, claiming that the utility’s tools ignited the inferno.
“SCE knew concerning the potential hazard posed by the excessive wind occasion and the dangers posed by energy and transmission traces however did not take motion to forestall it from igniting a hearth,” the grievance said.
How did the wildfires reshape L.A.-area housing?
Roughly 2 out of each 5 single-family houses in Pacific Palisades and Altadena sustained some degree of harm on account of final 12 months’s wildfires, based mostly on CAL FIRE harm assessments linked to the complete housing inventory knowledge from Realtor.com.
This wholesale destruction of housing items displaced an estimated 100,000 residents within the instant aftermath of the fires.
Regardless of measures taken on the metropolis, county, and state ranges to chop by purple tape and fast-track restoration, postfire rebuilding has been hampered by rising building prices, labor shortages, and disputes over insurance coverage payouts.
Because of this, 70% of households that misplaced their houses have been nonetheless displaced 9 months after the catastrophe, based on a survey carried out in October by the Division of Angels, a hearth restoration group.
The report discovered that 9 in 10 Pacific Palisades residents and eight in 10 Altadena residents had no houses to return to, forcing many to depend on makeshift residing preparations.
“The rebuilding course of has been slower than anybody hoped,” actual property agent Brock Harris, with the agency Brock & Lori, tells Realtor.com. “Whereas particles elimination moved rapidly, the allowing and building bottlenecks are actual. Many households are nonetheless in short-term housing a 12 months later, which is heartbreaking.”
Victor Currie, actual property agent at Douglas Elliman Actual Property, agrees, slamming the restoration efforts as “a failure.”
“The allowing course of nonetheless strikes at glacial speeds,” Currie tells Realtor.com. “The speak of waiving allow charges for affected owners has been a multitude. Individuals I do know who lived within the burned neighborhoods however didn’t fully lose their houses nonetheless haven’t been capable of transfer again in due to the smoke harm remediation points. Plus, who actually desires to stay in the midst of an enormous building zone?”
Nonetheless, Currie sought to place the affect of the fires on the Los Angeles–space housing market in perspective.
“L.A. is large, and as horrible because the fires have been for everybody affected, they have been solely in just a few small areas relative to the area as an entire,” he notes. “We actually misplaced lots of stock in an space that already had a scarcity of housing, however costs have been already excessive right here.”
How have dwelling and lot costs shifted within the Palisades?
In Pacific Palisades—a rich neighborhood that counts a bunch of Hollywood A-listers, together with Reese Witherspoon, Ben Affleck, and Tom Hanks, amongst its residents—roughly 37% of all single-family houses sustained greater than 50% of harm within the hearth, leaving them basically destroyed.
In response to a housing knowledge evaluation from Realtor.com researchers, of the uninhabitable properties in Pacific Palisades, slightly below 14% have been listed on the market over the previous 12 months—primarily as empty tons—with a median itemizing value of $2 million.
By comparability, houses evaluated by CAL FIRE however spared by the flames had a median itemizing value of $3.5 million in 2025.
Unsurprisingly, the variety of tons listed on the market on the town has surged over the previous 12 months. In December 2024, earlier than the fireplace, there have been simply 10 parcels of land available on the market with a median value of $2.6 million. A 12 months later, that quantity had jumped to 204.
Taking a look at Palisades’ stock as an entire in December 2025, past simply the properties assessed by CAL FIRE, the everyday lot got here with a $2.2 million price ticket, down greater than 15% from a 12 months in the past, and spent 82 days available on the market.
“We’re undoubtedly seeing cash flowing in to purchase developable tons as a result of tons can be found now, however these traders will seemingly should be ready for the carrying prices whereas they undergo the massively backed-up allowing course of,” says Currie. “The worldwide perspective continues to be that L.A. is a stable, secure place to park cash.”
In the meantime, the median itemizing value of the everyday intact dwelling within the neighborhood was $6.9 million in December 2025, and it spent 72 days available on the market.
From January by September 2025, gross sales of Pacific Palisades properties, together with tons, doubled in comparison with the identical interval in 2024. Nonetheless, the median gross sales costs plunged from $3.7 million to $1.9 million over the previous 12 months, in keeping with the everyday itemizing value for tons within the space.
How have dwelling and lot costs in Altadena modified?
Positioned a brief driving distance from downtown Los Angeles, the various, solidly middle-class group of Altadena was ravaged by the Eaton hearth, which left greater than 41% of its single-family houses unfit for habitation.
Knowledge analyzed by Realtor.com specialists reveals that of the gutted houses in Altadena, simply shy of 10% have been put up on the market over the previous 12 months, with a median itemizing value of $600,000.
Alternatively, properties that survived the wildfire however have been assessed by CAL FIRE noticed a median itemizing value of $1.3 million prior to now 12 months.
The standard burnt lot in Altadena lingered available on the market 60 days in 2025, simply 5 days longer than the everyday intact dwelling.
Harris, with the agency Brock & Lori, says he was stunned by how quickly Altadena’s lot values recovered within the aftermath of the Eaton wildfire.
“I anticipated an extended despair in land costs, however demand for rebuild alternatives got here again inside months,” says the agent. He provides that whereas initially property values within the burn zone plunged by as much as 40%, they quickly rebounded to inside 15% to twenty% of pre-fire norms.
In the meantime, livable houses turned more and more scarce, driving costs up by greater than 15% and infrequently triggering bidding wars.
When contemplating Altadena’s whole for-sale stock past CAL FIRE-assessed properties, the variety of land parcels on the market on the town jumped from simply three in December 2024 to 136 final month. As of final month, the everyday lot had an asking value of $650,000—half of what it was a 12 months in the past.
Through the first 9 months of 2025, dwelling gross sales in Altadena have been greater than 58% up from a 12 months earlier than, but the median gross sales value retreated from $1.35 million to $650,000.
Harris additionally says that closings in Altadena are down about 40% in comparison with pre-fire ranges—however that isn’t the one factor that has modified concerning the native housing market.
“Demand break up dramatically,” says the agent. “Conventional consumers pulled again whereas builders and traders jumped in.”
In response to Harris, Altadena has seen an inflow of out-of-town money consumers, notably from the San Francisco Bay Space, snapping up burned tons. Harris estimates that exterior traders at the moment account for about 30% of lot purchases—however he argues that it’s nonetheless not sufficient to revive town.
“We want extra traders,” he contends. “There are 150 to 200 tons on the market proper now with no takers. These individuals must promote and do not care who buys.”
How does Pacific Palisades measure up in opposition to Altadena?
Jones, the Realtor.com senior financial analysis analyst, says that the destruction attributable to the January 2025 wildfires led to a significant shift within the mixture of houses on the market in each Pacific Palisades and Altadena.
“Extra homeowners opted to promote moderately than rebuild, bringing a better variety of tons to market. As a result of many of those properties now not embrace a construction, sale costs have fallen,” she says.
Jones confirms that some current homeowners are selecting to stroll away from their leveled properties, creating alternatives for traders, builders, and a few enterprising consumers to buy land in a traditionally fascinating location at decrease costs with plans to rebuild and promote for a revenue as soon as long-term demand rebounds.
Jones additional explains that property costs in each Pacific Palisades and Altadena have seen steep declines over a comparatively brief time interval as a result of many transactions now contain vacant tons moderately than liveable dwellings.
“This compositional shift alone can push median costs down sharply, even when underlying land demand stays robust,” notes the analyst.
However there are some vital variations between the 2 L.A.-area housing markets devastated by the pure catastrophe.
“Pacific Palisades’ increased value level seemingly contributes to a better share of destroyed properties being listed,” says Jones. “Greater carrying prices can encourage homeowners to promote sooner, and the realm’s luxurious orientation might make rebuilding extra advanced and costly, with longer timelines and extra intensive allowing for customized, high-end houses.”
Alternatively, in additional reasonably priced Altadena, owners could also be extra inclined to carry on to their properties and rebuild.
How has the house insurance coverage panorama modified?
Even earlier than the January 2025 wildfires, California was experiencing a extreme insurance coverage disaster, leaving many householders in high-risk areas unable to acquire protection.
Within the wake of a number of current fires, main personal insurance coverage carriers like State Farm, Allstate, and Vacationers stopped providing new insurance policies or renewing current ones in areas with elevated threat, whereas the remaining insurers keen to supply protection have been granted permission from the state to hike charges.
The insurance coverage carriers’ exodus has compelled tons of of 1000’s of householders all through the Golden State to show to the California FAIR Plan, the state-backed insurer of final resort, the place restricted protection comes at a steep value.
As of September 2025, FAIR Plan reported $647,000 in complete dwelling publicity, up roughly 50% from a 12 months in the past—and a staggering 303% soar in comparison with September 2021.
The variety of insurance policies on FAIR Plan’s books swelled to over 625,000, up roughly 38% from the identical interval in 2024.
Native actual property professionals say that restricted entry to reasonably priced dwelling insurance coverage in L.A. and its suburbs has turn into a significant impediment to the housing market’s restoration.
“It is the largest transaction killer now,” says Harris. “Offers collapse weekly over insurance coverage.”
Currie, with Douglas Elliman, notes that whereas most houses stay insurable, premiums have gone up considerably throughout the board. Notably, FAIR Plan insurance policies are usually dearer and provide much less protection than personal insurance coverage, and he says that might play a crucial function in a purchaser’s alternative.
“I had a purchaser final 12 months deciding between two properties that have been lower than a quarter-mile aside, however one was eligible for normal insurance coverage and the opposite was on the FAIR Plan,” recounts the agent. “The price distinction was roughly a month’s mortgage cost, in order that turned the deciding issue.”
Seeking to the longer term, local weather scientists warn that the chance of wildfire in California isn’t going away.
Los Angeles stands out for having the best mixed worth of houses which have an elevated chance of being destroyed in a wildfire within the subsequent 30 years, at $476.5 billion, based on the Realtor.com 2025 Housing and Local weather Threat report.
Each Currie and Harris keep that Los Angeles and its suburbs are much less ready now than earlier than for an additional flaming catastrophe.
“I want I might say I assumed our native governments have been higher ready, however seeing how sluggish issues are transferring with the allowing and rebuilding processes, I can’t assist being pessimistic,” notes Harris.
