The number of homes sold for more than $1 million in California increased 45.1 percent in 2013 against 2012, according to real estate information service DataQuick.
Last year, 39,175 homes sold over the million dollar mark versus 2012's 26,993 homes. Of those homes, 10,602 were bought with cash.
Those homes that were financed in this price bracket had a median down payment of 30 percent, and the firms most willing to provide financing were Union Bank, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo.
"The luxury home market is unique, always has been. It responds to its own set of economic factors. Things like job growth, mortgage interest rates and migration patterns do not play the same role as IPOs, stock market performance or how well one type of investment does compared to another, and where one wants to park one's excess money. The $2 million threshold seems to be a more interesting cutoff point. Homes selling below that level do seem more responsive to the more traditional market factors," DataQuick president John Walsh said.
The sales numbers year-over-year for the $1 million, $2-3 million, $3-4 million, $4-5 million, and $5 million-plus price ranges all saw growth. Homes selling for $2-3 million and for more than $5 million both set all-time records.
Newly built homes and condo sales in the $1 million-plus price category were both up over their 2012 numbers.
Overall, home sales in California were down by 0.6 percent in 2013, dropping from 449,059 homes sold to 446,319.