Public data · Altadena 91001

Altadena rebuild costs: what the permits and the sales say.

Four numbers from public records: what owners tell the County a rebuild costs, what new houses sold for, how big the County lets you build, and how many lots for sale are flat. Each one has its source and its date.

See the numbers See the sources
County permitsSales to 28 Sep 2026 Read 10–11 Oct 2026Free to cite

1 · Cost against price

Owners tell the County a rebuild costs about $212 a square foot. New houses sold at medians of $563 to $804.

The build cost is the number owners write on their Eaton fire rebuild permits. The sale prices are new houses sold in Altadena in the past year, grouped by size.

Medians, in dollars per square foot. The gap is not profit. Land, design, fees, interest and selling costs all come out of it.

Build cost

Median $212 a sq ft. The middle half ran $194 to $256. From 2,213 issued permits for new single-family houses in the Eaton fire area that list both a size and a value.

Time

4.9 months from filing to an issued permit (median of 2,755). Then 9.3 months to finish (median of the 172 already finished, so likely the fast ones).

Sales

19 houses built in 2015 or later, sold in Altadena between November 2025 and September 2026. Smaller houses sold for more per square foot.

Read this with care. A permit value is what the owner declares. It is not a builder’s bid. The small-house group is six one-off rebuilds. Most of the two bigger groups are houses from two developments, so they move together.

2 · The size rule

The County caps the house at a quarter of the lot, plus 1,000 square feet.

Altadena is under LA County’s own planning rules. The living area of a house may not be bigger than one quarter of the net lot area, plus 1,000 sq ft, and never more than 9,000 sq ft. Garages and cellars do not count toward it.

5,000 sq ft lot

Up to 2,250 sq ft of house

7,000 sq ft lot

Up to 2,750 sq ft of house

10,000 sq ft lot

Up to 3,500 sq ft of house

“Net” lot area leaves out land given to the street, so it can be a little smaller than the size on the tax roll. Put the two sections together: a bigger lot allows a bigger house, and bigger new houses sold for less per square foot.

3 · The lots for sale

Of 39 Altadena lots listed for sale, 9 are close to flat.

We measured the slope of each listed lot from public elevation data. Slope matters because grading, walls and foundations cost more on a hill.

Asking prices ran from $168,000 to $1,998,000, with a median of $895,000. Some listings are burned house lots that the listing site files as land. We do not name the lots here.

4 · Selling

Homes for sale in 91001 had been on the market a median of 50 days in September 2026.

That count is for all homes listed in the ZIP code, not only new ones. It is time on the market, not time to close.

Days on market

Median 50 days, September 2026. 41 homes for sale. 8.2 percent had cut their price. Source: Realtor.com.

Burned lots: a news report

The Real Deal reported in June 2025 that most burned Altadena lots sold for $500,000 to $700,000, with some as low as $330,000 and some up to $1.9 million.

Why we flag it

That is a claim from one news story. We have not checked those sales ourselves, and it is from early in the recovery. Treat it as a rough guide only.

5 · Sources

Where every number comes from.

All public. Free to cite. If you find a mistake, tell us and we will fix it and say so.

  • Build cost and time: LA County EPIC-LA Fire Recovery Cases, the public permit map for the Eaton fire. Pulled 26 September 2026. 3,591 new single-family house filings, 2,755 issued.
  • New house sales: Redfin sold records for ZIP 91001, Altadena, houses built 2015 or later. Read 10 October 2026.
  • Size rule: LA County Department of Regional Planning, Altadena Community Standards District summary, section 22.320.090.D.1.d. Read 11 October 2026.
  • Lots for sale and slope: 39 Redfin land listings in Altadena, 10 October 2026. Lot outlines from the LA County parcel map. Slope from USGS 3DEP 1-meter elevation points inside each lot, 10 October 2026.
  • Days on market: Realtor.com Research, ZIP 91001 monthly data for September 2026. Read 11 October 2026.
  • Burned-lot prices: The Real Deal, report on burned Altadena lots, 6 June 2025 (therealdeal.com/la). A news report. Not checked by us.

Our method and the code that counts each number are kept on file. Ask and we will send them. We also published a count of how many California rental owners cannot be reached.

Planning a rebuild? Cargograph is our service for building material, delivered on the build schedule.

Wexmoor Circle LLC · NMLS #2841970 · Equal Housing Opportunity · 930 Colorado Blvd, Suite 1, Los Angeles, CA 90041. This page is public data for general information. It is not an offer, and it is not legal, tax or financial advice.