Investors are buying close to half the empty lots in LA burn zones, report says

Shortly after the Eaton Fire destroyed thousands of homes in and around Altadena, signs sprung up across the community announcing “Altadena is not for sale.”

Now, nearly one year later, hundreds of Altadena families have concluded that rebuilding isn’t in their budget. In nearly half of recent deals for empty lots, homeowners are selling to investors.

That’s the conclusion researchers with the online real estate listings platform Redfin reached in a new report published Tuesday.

Analyzing transactions in L.A. County burn zones during July, August and September, they found that about 40% of Pacific Palisades vacant lots went to corporate buyers. In both Altadena and Malibu, about 44% of such vacant lot sales went to investors.

Keep up with LAist.

If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.

Subscribe

“It's not uncommon to see that when disasters hit a place, investors come in,” said Sheharyar Bokhari, Redfin’s principal economist. “It's hard to value a vacant lot, so you could perhaps buy lower than what it should sell for and then flip it.”

More vacant lots are getting scooped up

To conduct the analysis, Redfin researchers looked at sales in the zip codes 90272 for the Pacific Palisades, 91001 for Altadena and 90265 for Malibu. They categorized buyers as investors if their names contained words or abbreviations such as LLC, Inc, Corp or Homes.

There was a marked increase of vacant lots sales in all communities, according to the report. In the Pacific Palisades, 119 lots sold in July, August and September. Altadena saw 61 lot sales. In 2024, before the fires, neither Pacific Palisades nor Altadena had any lots selling in those months.

Malibu saw some vacant lots sell in that time frame in 2024. But before the fires, only about 21% of those sales were to investors.

The findings are similar to those in a separate report published in October by the nonprofit Strategic Actions for a Just Economy. That report found that 49% of sales in the Eaton Fire burn zone went to corporate entities.

Zaire Calvin lost his family’s home in Altadena and had a sister who died in the fire. He said the trend shows “disaster capitalism” poised to change the diverse foothill community.

“If rebuilding becomes a race for capital instead of a return home for families, then disaster has been basically repackaged as opportunity for those with the most resources,” Calvin said. “It's like they're preying on us while we're still praying for hope and help.”

Some lawmakers and organizations have been working to counteract speculative development..

Assembly Bill 851, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October, outlawed unsolicited offers on properties in burn zones until 2027.

The nonprofit Greenline Housing Foundation has been buying lots from distressed sellers in Altadena, giving them an alternative to more bottom-line driven investors. The organization has said it intends to rebuild homes and sell them at below market prices to first-time buyers.

Corporate buyers: disaster capitalists or helpful rebuilders?

Bokhari, the Redfin economist, said investor activity is not entirely detrimental to communities recovering from disaster.

“Investors who have a lot more capital can come in and build that community,” he said. They can afford to clean up lingering environmental damage and build homes that comply with the latest fire safety codes, he said.

“Investors play that role in bringing back those homes,” Bokhari said.

Still, uncertainty around investors’ plans have left many Altadenans anxious. Will homes be for sale or for rent? How will those homes look? Will investor-built properties give Black families a way to continue building generational wealth in a historically Black corner of L.A. County?

Lori Gay, president and CEO of Neighborhood Housing Services of L.A. County, said in the grand scheme of L.A. real estate, not many lots in Altadena are trading hands so far. Only 61 lots in the community sold in July, August and September according to the Redfin report.

“More will go up for sale over time,” Gay said. But in her organization’s work advising families on how to rebuild, she said, “Most families we’ve seen want to go back home. They’re not trying to leave. They’re trying to figure out how to stay.”

For more on disparities in disaster recovery