A reality TV star has predicted that the Pacific Palisades will never be the same because most families won’t return after the recent wildfires destroyed their homes.
The prediction was made by Josh Altman, who co-stars in the Bravo network reality TV show “Million Dollar Listing.” The show chronicles the lives of real estate agents in major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, and San Francisco.
“I think 65 to 70 percent of the people do not go back to the Palisades or Malibu,” he told Fox News. “I can just tell you from gauging all these calls that I’m getting where people are asking me to send them listings and talk to them about different neighborhoods.”
“I’ve gotten calls from many people who just don’t want to be in fire areas anymore. You have to realize there have been multiple fires. Is lightning going to strike twice? It’s going to happen again. So, you know, I think it’s more that most people just not having the bandwidth to go through a build process is going to be more of a determining factor.”
He issued a similar prediction to TMZ as well:
Celeb realtor Josh Altman says 50% of people who lost their homes in the Palisades aren’t coming back.
He says a majority of the people were heavily uninsured.
Altman adds that people simply can’t afford to rebuild their dream homes.
The Palisades will never be the same. pic.twitter.com/HHWEwHaedG
— Paul A. Szypula (@Bubblebathgirl) January 17, 2025
That said, he predicted that the Palisades will continue to thrive, just with new families and owners.
“I see a whole new crowd [coming in] without question,” he said. “So don’t get me wrong. The Palisades is and will continue to be one of the hottest areas in real estate, one of the safest long-term investments, one of the greatest places to live, location-wise, near the beach, near the water, but also, have an amazing town. It will all come back. It’s just going to be a totally new crowd, in my opinion.”
Altman also blamed this on insurance, telling Fox News that he was recently told by his insurance agent that “90-plus percent of [affected families] are heavily underinsured.”
“The other thing that I am seeing a lot of is a lot of people who are fed up with what’s going on with the [insurance] policies that can’t leave California are talking about Orange County,” he said. “There’s a moratorium right now on insurance for any house within a 35-mile radius of a fire line where the fire was, so that’s a lot of houses.”
“So, there’s no insurance happening right now in those areas — zero. And then other people who are not in those areas, premiums are going to go up. With that being said, how are you going to rebuild a house at $1,000 a foot when you’re heavily underinsured? It’s not happening. So, you’re going to end up selling your land, you’re going to get your insurance company check and you’re going to try to move on with your life and try to take back as much as you possibly can.”
Underinsured and Over-regulated
“Million Dollar Listing” star Josh Altman predicts the Pacific Palisades will never be same because he doesn’t expect the majority of families will return. Agents predict up to 70% of current owners will not return. pic.twitter.com/hYm7qPFLoT
— Mark Nantz (@BullseyeBanjo) January 18, 2025
As for those few families who choose to remain, Altman predicted that it’ll take them years to recover.
“People have to understand the build process,” he said. “Most people haven’t built homes in their lives, so they probably assume it’s a lot easier and a lot quicker than it is. It’s a very difficult process, especially in a place like California. There’s no cutting corners. There’s no quick way to do it.”
“I don’t see these houses in places like the Palisades or Altadena — I don’t see that happening for three years. I think it’s going to be a year until everything is cleaned up. Then, they’re going to fast-forward the permit process, from what I’m hearing. So, instead of another year for permits, maybe it’s another couple of months, but there’s no way around a build process of two years,” he added.
Minimum! Though Altman expects the recovery time to be more like four to five years.
“You have to take into account the fact that, do you want to live in a neighborhood where, if you did the perfect build, most people are not going to be that fast?” he explained. “So, you have to assume it’s going to be four to five years,” he added. “That’s the realistic timeline on this. And because of that, that’s going to be an issue, because that’s a very long time.”
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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