Best place to sell a home in the U.S.? Top 4 markets are in California

One group that likely will not complain about California’s high home prices: Sellers.

The Golden State was home to the nation’s top four metropolitan areas for largest seller profits in the first quarter.

That’s an eye-catching snapshot of the state’s home-price boom, which is good for sellers and not so good for wannabe owners, according to Attom Data Solutions. The firm studied differences between first-quarter selling prices and what the owner paid for the residence — a rough profit figure that does not include any transaction costs or home-upgrade expenses.

Nationally, the typical seller in the first quarter had $57,500 median profit during their ownership — or just a 1% gain. It was a far different story in California: the median gain of 12 regions tracked statewide was $139,375, equal to a 46.3% windfall.

My trusty spreadsheet shows how the state dominated the first-quarter profit rankings, which tracked 124 big metro areas. California had the biggest four gains in dollar terms, ad six of the top10. On a percentage basis, California had five of the top 10.

It’s worth noting these handsome gains are in good part due to good timing. Attom’s numbers suggest the typical California seller in the first quarter bought their home between 2008 and 2010 — in the heat of the housing meltdown — and benefited from roughly a decade of ownership amid a huge real estate rebound.

Plus, when folks ask “Who can afford California homes?” … the answer lies with house hunters whose finances were boosted with these kinds of profits Yes, the folks reaping the profits are, at a minimum, keeping prices high — at least, so far in this cycle.

Here’s a breakdown of what I found when looking at the first quarter metric for those metros: profit, percentage gain on the purchase price; a year ago’s profit; average ownership for the seller; and how the percentage gain averages out over time of ownership. Here are California’s results, starting with the top four …

San Jose-Santa Clara: $479,500 profit — No. 1 — down from $561,000 a year earlier. The gain equals an 84.1% increase. Over 10.27 years of ownership, the average annual gain was 8.19%.

San Francisco: $336,000 profit — No. 2 — up from $333,750 a year earlier. The gain equals a 70.9% increase or 6.82% annually over 10.4 years of ownership.

Los Angeles-Orange counties: $217,000 profit — No. 3 — up from $215,000 a year earlier. The gain equals a 53.8% increase or 5.40% annually over 9.98 years of ownership.

Ventura County: $178,000 profit — No. 4 — up from $173,000 a year earlier. The gain equals a 44.5% increase or 6.82% annually over 11.14 years of ownership.

Elsewhere in California among the 124 metros …

San Diego: $165,000 profit — No. 7 — down from $180,000 a year earlier. The gain equals a 43.4% increase. Over 9.86 years of ownership, that’s 4.4% annually.

Vallejo-Fairfield: $125,500 profit — No. 10 — down from $151,750 a year earlier. The gain equals a 44.9% increase or 4.76% annually over 9.43 years of ownership.

Stockton-Lodi: $117,250 profit — No. 13 — up from $115,500 a year earlier. The gain equals a 53.8% increase or 6.15% annually over 8.75 years of ownership.

Sacramento: $112,000 profit — No. 16 — down from $127,000 a year earlier. The gain equals a 43.1% increase or 4.66% annually over 9.24 years of ownership.

Riverside-San Bernardino counties: $112,000 profit — No. 16 — down from $116,000 a year earlier. The gain equals a 47.7% increase or 5.05% annually over 9.44 years of ownership.

Modesto: $111,000 profit — No. 18 — up from $108,500 a year earlier. The gain equals a 59.7% increase or 6.48% annually over 9.21 years of ownership.

Fresno: $69,000 profit — No. 32 — down from $80,250 a year earlier. The gain equals a 38.3% increase or 3.73% annually over 10.27 years of ownership.

Bakersfield: $50,856 profit — No. 51 — down from $60,490 a year earlier. The gain equals a 32% increase or 3.65% annually over 8.75 years of ownership.

PS: Outside of California in the Top 10 for seller profits… No. 5 Honolulu ($171,563); No. 6 Seattle ($169,000); No. 8 Boston ($138,000) and No. 9 Portland, Ore. ($127,300).