Average annual home price appreciation (1949-2006)*:
3.7%

Along with San Francisco, Los Angeles was the first major metro in the United States to become "filled up” during the 1960s and 1970s because of geographic constraints and political restrictions on building. Three-quarters of new construction is now in-fill development, and much of it is high end. The gentrification is pricing out middle and lower income families, who are moving in-land.