Weeks after the fires raging across Southern California began, drought conditions and strong winds have, incredibly, kept the two biggest ones, the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades and the Eaton Fire near Pasadena, still active. At least 29 people have died, as thousands of firefighters have been in action across 45 square miles of LA County. Adding to the devastation, the newest fire, the Hughes Fire in the Castaic area, has prompted evacuation orders for tens of thousands of people.
A new report from Realtor.com® exploring the potential impact of the Eaton and Palisades fires includes these key numbers:
- The 15,841 residential properties within the designated fire boundaries had a total value of $40.3 billion. This estimate includes single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and cooperatives.
- The sizable total value of residences impacted by the fires stems from both the high number and the relatively high median value. The median home within the boundaries of the Eaton fire has an estimated $1.3 million value, while the typical home in the Palisades fire boundary has an estimated value of $3 million.
- The number of homes listed for sale in the affected areas fell from 94 homes in the first week of the year (pre-fire), to 52 homes last week as sellers either pulled listings off the market, or potential listings never hit the market. In this same period of time, the broader Los Angeles market saw the count of active listings rise from 6,089 to 6,743, an increase that is seasonally typical.
- For-sale listing viewership from outside of LA surged starting on January 8, right as the wildfires picked up. Pre-fires, less than 40% of listing viewership came from outside the LA metro area. By January 9, the out-of-metro share of views reached 65%, peaking before falling slowly and reaching pre-fire share by January 18. Of note, in the last few days, out-of-metro viewer share has continued to fall, suggesting that within-LA viewership is picking up, perhaps as displaced residents look for living options.
- So far in 2025, about 100 homes have been listed for sale within the Eaton and Palisades fire boundaries. LA County as a whole has seen 8,426 active listings year-to-date, meaning these at-risk properties made up about 1.3% of active for-sale home listings so far this year.
- Rents have been stable to modestly down in the Los Angeles metro area in recent years as the rental vacancy rate has risen to a 10-year high. This will likely help the market better accommodate displaced households, but rental price increases are still expected.
- Traffic on Realtor.com to rental listings in Los Angeles from local residents has climbed by twice as much since the start of 2025 as traffic to for-rent listings nationwide. Elevated search activity in the rental market in the near term is expected.
The Los Angeles area will likely see an uptick in local market home search activity as displaced families hoping to stay in the area look for a place to settle while they evaluate the damage and pursue repairs or rebuilding. The expected increase in demand coupled with the loss of for-sale supply could push rents and home prices higher in the very near term.
View the full report here.
