I don’t follow the real estate values in California very closely. The climate is very nice there. They call it a Mediterranean climate. Since I am not a celebrity, when I decided to leave Canada for a warmer place I went to the Mediterranean. Houses are very expensive to purchase here, but they are surprisingly cheap to rent.

I find out about house prices in California when celebrities get married and when they get divorced. Avril Lavigne and her new husband are shelling out about $10 million. Jessica Simpson and Nick Lache sold their Newlyweds home to a d-list actor for something over $3 million. Tom Green has irrevocably altered his nice 7 figure bungalow by retrofitting it into a broadcast studio for his web channel. And Steve O peed on his chairs.

I can understand why busy actors and actresses might need to have a house in Southern California, it’s the singers that I don’t get. Britney Spears claims to hate the spotlight, but she continues to live in the midst of it. She owns several homes including one in Southern California. If you are a smart celebrity homes can be a great investment. Brad Pitt has a house fetish. He likes houses that can be used as projects. He has had generous block parties to appease his neighbors and make up for all the construction. He is also too busy to actually spend much time living in the houses that he acquires and works on.

ValuesInfo.com can be used to get an idea of what your own home is worth, or you can use it to get an idea what homes in other neighborhoods are worth. I actually used it last year by plugging in celebrity addresses. It was fun.