TerraVue / Markets / Los Angeles, CA
Over the past 20 years, Los Angeles home prices have risen 3.60% a year; over the past three, 3.05%. TerraVue's forward estimate, which weights both, is 3.47%. That is 0.55pp below the national average, which matters more the longer you hold.
Appreciation is only one side of the buy-vs-rent question, but it's the side people guess at most badly. At the forward estimate of 3.47% a year, a home in Los Angeles would gain roughly 41% in value over a decade — before any of the costs that actually decide the question: closing costs, maintenance, property tax, the mortgage interest you'd pay, and what your down payment would have earned invested instead.
Worth being explicit about what that estimate is: it blends the 20-year record (3.60%) with the last three years (3.05%), so a market in a sharp recent run-up or correction lands between the two rather than at either extreme. It is an estimate, not a forecast anyone can guarantee — which is exactly why TerraVue simulates a range of outcomes instead of quoting one number.
Rent is the other side. At a median of $2,689, the yearly rent bill in Los Angeles is about $32,268. Whether buying beats that depends almost entirely on the price you'd pay and how long you'd stay — which is what the simulator is for.
This page describes the Los Angeles market as a whole. Whether buying beats renting depends on the price you'd pay, your down payment, and how long you'd stay — TerraVue simulates about 1,000 market scenarios on those inputs and returns the probability, not a single guessed number. It'll start with 91331's real appreciation and rent already loaded.
Analyze a property free →Averages hide a lot. Across Los Angeles's 93 ZIP codes, long-run appreciation ranges from -3.58% to 10.65% a year — a spread of 14.2 percentage points. Over a 10-year hold, that difference compounds into a substantially different outcome for two buyers in the same city.
| ZIP | Appreciation/yr | Recent 3yr | Rent | Bachelor's+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90015 | 10.65% | 10.67% | $2,680 | 46% |
| 91403 | 8.79% | 14.34% | $2,941 | 65% |
| 90012 | 8.52% | 8.99% | $2,487 | 38% |
| 90057 | 8.50% | 5.99% | $1,791 | 23% |
| 90006 | 6.75% | 8.80% | $2,000 | 21% |
| 90028 | 6.56% | 6.07% | $2,629 | 49% |
| 90077 | 6.25% | 8.13% | $11,469 | 76% |
| 91423 | 5.91% | 9.16% | $2,748 | 61% |
| 90020 | 5.90% | 6.07% | $1,925 | 46% |
| 90035 | 5.72% | 5.96% | $3,208 | 66% |
| 90038 | 5.30% | 6.79% | $2,609 | 37% |
| 90039 | 5.19% | 6.53% | $3,182 | 56% |
| 91436 | 5.15% | 5.68% | $5,861 | 69% |
| 91607 | 5.02% | 6.98% | $2,655 | 49% |
| 90003 | 4.54% | 5.65% | $2,558 | 6% |
| 90064 | 4.52% | 6.66% | $3,510 | 69% |
| 90068 | 4.51% | 6.75% | $3,419 | 64% |
| 90032 | 4.43% | 4.13% | $2,740 | 24% |
| 90292 | 4.39% | 4.39% | $3,741 | 73% |
| 90016 | 4.25% | 3.26% | $3,263 | 29% |
| 90018 | 4.17% | 3.69% | $2,436 | 23% |
| 90065 | 4.13% | 3.92% | $2,839 | 40% |
| 90045 | 4.12% | 4.97% | $2,985 | 61% |
| 90059 | 4.11% | 4.62% | $2,928 | 12% |
| 91316 | 4.08% | 4.79% | $3,000 | 54% |
| 90027 | 4.04% | 4.38% | $2,515 | 58% |
| 90042 | 4.01% | 2.90% | $2,572 | 40% |
| 90041 | 3.89% | 3.55% | $2,836 | 51% |
| 91331 | 3.86% | 4.81% | $2,313 | 11% |
| 90062 | 3.78% | 3.31% | $2,795 | 16% |
| 90034 | 3.77% | 4.41% | $2,686 | 63% |
| 91042 | 3.71% | 4.03% | $2,185 | 29% |
| 91411 | 3.69% | 4.00% | $2,507 | 38% |
| 91401 | 3.64% | 3.80% | $2,689 | 37% |
| 90002 | 3.61% | 3.93% | $1,419 | 7% |
| 91605 | 3.59% | 3.65% | $2,173 | 22% |
| 91306 | 3.56% | 4.16% | $2,979 | 29% |
| 91344 | 3.52% | 4.06% | $2,959 | 37% |
| 91405 | 3.52% | 3.75% | $2,456 | 25% |
| 91356 | 3.43% | 4.17% | $2,711 | 54% |
| 90044 | 3.42% | 3.04% | $2,400 | 10% |
| 91326 | 3.42% | 4.16% | $4,454 | 55% |
| 91324 | 3.37% | 3.71% | $2,780 | 40% |
| 91406 | 3.36% | 3.35% | $2,206 | 29% |
| 91343 | 3.35% | 3.44% | $2,645 | 26% |
| 91352 | 3.34% | 3.46% | $3,100 | 17% |
| 90031 | 3.33% | 1.87% | $2,235 | 23% |
| 91303 | 3.31% | 3.41% | $2,530 | 24% |
| 91342 | 3.30% | 3.62% | $2,713 | 20% |
| 91402 | 3.28% | 3.63% | $2,128 | 18% |
| 90047 | 3.28% | 2.76% | $2,534 | 18% |
| 90011 | 3.26% | 3.16% | $2,557 | 7% |
| 91307 | 3.24% | 3.51% | $4,296 | 52% |
| 91602 | 3.23% | 3.54% | $2,842 | 55% |
| 91367 | 3.22% | 3.24% | $2,868 | 56% |
| 91601 | 3.21% | 2.48% | $2,678 | 49% |
| 91345 | 3.15% | 3.15% | $1,889 | 22% |
| 90008 | 3.11% | 2.33% | $2,089 | 33% |
| 90029 | 3.07% | 1.47% | $2,161 | 35% |
| 90744 | 3.06% | 3.25% | $2,260 | 9% |
| 90023 | 3.03% | 2.11% | $1,460 | 9% |
| 91311 | 3.01% | 3.42% | $2,780 | 44% |
| 90037 | 2.96% | 2.21% | $2,186 | 9% |
| 91606 | 2.92% | 2.06% | $2,821 | 25% |
| 91335 | 2.90% | 2.62% | $2,456 | 29% |
| 90026 | 2.88% | 1.64% | $2,601 | 44% |
| 90248 | 2.86% | 2.63% | $1,811 | 31% |
| 90731 | 2.86% | 3.21% | $2,469 | 25% |
| 90710 | 2.86% | 3.16% | $2,712 | 30% |
| 90732 | 2.83% | 3.19% | $3,378 | 48% |
| 90033 | 2.83% | 1.51% | $2,189 | 14% |
| 91304 | 2.81% | 2.85% | $2,273 | 34% |
| 91325 | 2.79% | 2.80% | $2,286 | 42% |
| 90066 | 2.71% | 2.09% | $2,949 | 58% |
| 90007 | 2.69% | 1.15% | $2,211 | 27% |
| 90004 | 2.64% | 1.29% | $2,225 | 38% |
| 90043 | 2.54% | 0.84% | $2,630 | 31% |
| 90019 | 2.51% | 0.91% | $2,940 | 37% |
| 91040 | 2.19% | 1.09% | $2,475 | 34% |
| 91364 | 2.14% | 1.53% | $3,619 | 55% |
| 90025 | 2.06% | -1.97% | $3,192 | 71% |
| 90005 | 2.02% | -2.05% | $2,358 | 36% |
| 91604 | 1.93% | 1.46% | $3,083 | 66% |
| 90293 | 1.52% | -2.23% | $3,363 | 73% |
| 90024 | 1.48% | 1.48% | $3,450 | 74% |
| 90272 | 1.40% | 1.40% | $9,975 | 78% |
| 90210 | 0.90% | -3.64% | $11,384 | 66% |
| 90069 | 0.85% | -3.92% | $3,956 | 71% |
| 90046 | 0.37% | -2.80% | $2,729 | 63% |
| 90048 | -0.08% | -5.62% | $3,459 | 69% |
| 90291 | -0.26% | -7.84% | $3,833 | 69% |
| 90036 | -1.13% | -7.15% | $3,141 | 69% |
| 90049 | -3.58% | -10.32% | $3,872 | 80% |
Sorted by long-run blended appreciation. Green is at least 0.5pp above the national average, red at least 0.5pp below; smaller gaps are left neutral. ZIPs shown as links have their own detail page.
Appreciation comes from the FHFA House Price Index — a repeat-sales index that tracks the same homes over time, which is why it isn't distorted by a change in the mix of what sold in a given year. TerraVue reads it at the ZIP level, back to 1975 where coverage allows.
The forward estimate blends 60% of the longest available look-back (20 years where available) with 40% of the most recent 3 years. Long-run history is the more reliable signal, but a market that has genuinely changed pace should not be ignored — the 60/40 split is the compromise, and it's the same figure TerraVue's simulation uses.
The national comparison is the population-weighted average of these same blended ZIP-level figures, so it compares like with like.
It depends on the price of the specific home and how long you'd stay. What the data settles is the market backdrop: over the past 20 years Los Angeles, CA home prices have risen about 3.60% a year, and TerraVue's forward estimate is 3.47% — below the national average of 4.02% — against a median rent near $2,689. TerraVue runs about 1,000 scenarios on a specific price to return the probability that buying beats renting, plus the breakeven year.
Over the past 20 years, about 3.60% a year; over the past three, 3.05%. TerraVue's forward estimate blends the two at 3.47%. All of it comes from FHFA repeat-sales data across 93 ZIP codes, and individual ZIPs range from -3.58% to 10.65% on that same forward basis.
90015 at 10.65% a year, versus 90049 at -3.58% — a spread of about 14.2 percentage points a year within the same city.
Around $2,689 — the median across the city's ZIP codes, from the Zillow Observed Rent Index (all homes).