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.