<In most parts of California, a house is not a home. It is an above-ground gold mine.
The median home price in Atherton, a small town south of San Francisco, is $2.5 million.
In Burbank, a medium-sized bedroom community in Los Angeles County, a jerrybuilt bungalow erected during World War II goes for about $500,000.
All that for three bedrooms, one bath and single garage on a 50- by 100-foot lot. Slightly larger bungalows near the city’s foothills are appraised at around $800,000.
California is a state awash with low-income immigrants, most without English skills. So who is fueling the bidding wars for scarce real estate at any price?
No wonder Californians are selling out and using their equity windfalls to drive up real estate prices in other states. (15 MAY 2005)
