A burned-out, boarded-up bungalow in LA just went under contract a few weeks after being listed for almost $1 million cash

• A two-bedroom house in LA just went under contract after being listed for $925,000 for three weeks.
• The front of the house showed significant fire damage, and the listing called for “investors only.”
• As of February, a record 6 million US homes were valued at $1 million or more, according to Redfin.

California homes continue to fetch remarkable prices, in spite of being far from move-in ready.

A 1,555-square-foot, two-bed, two-bath bungalow in South Los Angeles went under contract this week after being listed for $925,000 even though the house suffered significant fire damage last year and the seller required investors with cash offers.

“Tear down or fixer, your call, ” the listing said. “Property is in highly sought neighborhood. Won’t last long.”

In spite of the house’s condition, the listing price was about 44% higher than the median sale price of $640,000 for South LA, and was on the market for only half the time, according to Redfin data.

The listing agent declined Insider’s request to comment for this story.

Once the property is renovated, it will certainly crack the $1 million mark, joining a record-high number of over 6 million US homes that are now worth seven figures or more, per Redfin.

Earlier this year, a house in San Francisco sold for nearly $2 million in spite of having zero bedrooms and just one bathroom, and last summer a burned out Bay Area home sold for over $1 million in less than a week.

Even as they tackle homes with rising prices and rough conditions, developers and remodelers say now is a great time to be in business, according to a recent survey from John Burns Real Estate Consulting.

“There’s just a lot of demand out there, and that’s really helping them do well and push prices in this environment,” Alex Thomas, senior research analyst at John Burns, told Insider.

Record low inventory is helping drive that demand.

“It’s like that Hungry Hungry Hippo game in the 1980s, except there’s only one ball,” real estate expert Logan Mohtashami told Insider. “The sheer panic of needing somewhere to live is hitting everyone.”