The price of buying luxury homes on the US West Coast got a lot higher in the second quarter of this year from a year ago, with rapid gains in Los Angeles in particular, according to the First Republic Prestige Home Index.

The price of buying luxury homes on the US West Coast got a lot higher in the second quarter of this year from a year ago, with rapid gains in Los Angeles in particular, according to the First Republic Prestige Home Index.

San Francisco Bay Area values gained 12.2 per cent from the second quarter of 2013 and 4.6 per cent from the first quarter of 2014. The average luxury home in the region is at an all-time high of $3.3 million, the index showed, which is issued by First Republic.

Los Angeles area values jumped 16.3 per cent from the second quarter a year ago and 2 per cent from the first quarter of 2014. The average luxury home in the area is at an all-time high of $2.5 million. San Diego area values rose 9.4 per cent year-over-year and 1.1 per cent from the first quarter of 2014. The average luxury home in San Diego is $1.95 million.

“The high end of the luxury market on the West Side of Los Angeles continues to be very robust," said Mary Beth Woods of Coldwell Banker Brentwood West. "Higher priced properties are in great demand. In 2014, the luxury market on the West Side has clearly outperformed 2013,” Woods added.

First Republic Bank produces the Prestige Home Index each quarter with CoreLogic, a provider of automated property valuation services and home price metrics to US financial institutions. The index has tracked luxury home values since 1985.

“The second quarter was extraordinarily strong,” said Joel Goodrich of Coldwell Banker in San Francisco. “Almost three-quarters of the homes sold for over the asking price. A large percentage of those properties sold for 10 per cent over the asking price. We also saw an increasing number of foreign buyers,” Goodrich said.

Silicon Valley was described in the bank’s report as a seller’s market, while the Napa Valley region was also seen as strong (the report appears to have been produced before the recent earthquake which hit that area).

The index claims to be the first statistical model of its kind customized to measure changes in homes valued at more than $1 million in California urban markets. Some common features of luxury homes in the Index are 3,000 to 6,000 square feet, three to six bedrooms, and three to six bathrooms.