Real Estate Directory - California
Population: (1995) 33,871,648
Capital City/population: Sacramento (445,335)
Largest cities/population:
- Los Angeles - 3,819,951
- San Diego - 1,266,753
- San Jose - 898,349
- San Francisco - 751,682
California is the third largest state, with total area of 163,707 square miles. California became the 31st state on September 9, 1850. The state is known for its long, mountainous coastline, with rugged mountains to the north and desert basins in the southern interior. Residents enjoy moderate temperatures and rainfall along the coast, with more extreme temperatures in the interior portions of the state. Average annual precipitation ranges from 2 – 100 inches annually, depending upon location. California is larger than 85 of the smallest nations in the world.
HOUSING (2005 figures)
Los Angeles- The city has seen an average price appreciation of 10-12% for the past 4 years but the market has cooled the past few months. Homes range from $100,000 up to $20 million dollars. Buyers have found a good market due to homes remaining on the market longer than usual during the past three years.
San Diego - Over 2,400 single-family homes sold in November, for an average price of $619,740, with an average of 60 days on the market. Since early September, sales have decreased by almost 12%.
San Jose – The average price for single-family homes rose 1.1% in October, to $741,000, with an annual appreciation of 16.5%. Home sales were off 11% from last month, and down 14% compared to October. The median price for condos rose 3.1% to $495,000.
San Francisco- The real estate market is strong in this area, with prime locations selling at full sales price. Homes in the $200,000 - $600,000 range are selling well, with homes priced to the $1,000,000 mark selling at slower pace.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Primary industries include agriculture, entertainment, manufacturing, services, and trade. Manufactured goods include food, printed material, metals, machinery, transportation, and electronics. Grapes, cotton, flowers, oranges, nursery products, cattle, and hogs are also grown. The tourism industry is strong in the state, with San Francisco alone hosting 13.7 million visitors in 2002, with a total of $5.9 billion spent.
Other tourist attractions include mountain resort towns, professional sporting events, and the state’s national forests. “General Sherman,” a 3,500 year-old sequoia tree in Sequoia National Park is a popular attraction, with a trunk of 102 feet in circumference. The redwood is the official state tree of California, with many of the giant redwoods in excess of 2,000 years old
SCHOOLS (2005 figures)
California has 1,056 public school districts, with a total of 8,914 schools. There are over 6,140,000 students enrolled in the K-12 program. The majority of the districts employ fully-credentialed teachers, with only 1,243 schools with less than 80% of teachers fully-accredited. For the 2004 – 05 school year, student-teacher ratios are as follows: Elementary 20.6:1; High School 23.6:1; Statewide 21.2:1.
Private school enrollment has varied since 1995, but remains approximately at or below 10% of California’s total student population. Of this 10%, half of the students attend church-affiliated or religions schools. Over 1/3 of the private schools are very small, having between six and thirty students.
The University of California heads the state-supported institutions of higher learning. In addition to the parent campus at Berkeley, there are eight other campuses: Davis, Irvine, San Diego, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz, and a law college at San Francisco. There are 19 campuses, including two polytechnic schools.
HISTORY
Along with the majority of the American Southwest, California was ceded to the United States by Mexico in the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848, following the Mexican War. The northern boundary of California was set by the Oregon Territory, also in 1848. California is perhaps best known for the Gold Rush, when in 1848, James Wilson Marshall found gold in the American River. Called “forty-eighters” after the year the rush started, eager Californians hurried to the site in a fit of gold fever. From around the world, thousands of people joined them, forever changing the history of California.
RELIGION
The religious affiliations of the people of California:
- Christian – 75%
- Protestant – 38%
- Baptist – 8%
- Presbyterian – 3%
- Methodist – 2%
- Lutheran – 2%
- Other Protestant or general Protestant – 23%
- Roman Catholic – 34%
- Other Christian – 3%
- Protestant – 38%
- Jewish – 2%
- Other Religions – 3%
- Non-Religious – 20%