Calabasas is an affluent city at the edge of the San Fernando Valley and Santa Monica Mountains, known for guard-gated communities and the Las Virgenes schools.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Median home price | $1,850,000 (site data) |
| Median days on market | ~13 days |
| List-to-sale ratio | 98.4% |
| Year-over-year change | -7.8% |
| Median price per sq ft | $704 |
| Population | ~23,200 (2020 Census) |
| County | Los Angeles |
| ZIP codes | 91302 |
| School district | Las Virgenes Unified School District (LVUSD) |
| Tax authority | Los Angeles County Assessor |
Where it sits and overview
Calabasas is part of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. Calabasas sits at the southwest edge of the Valley against the Santa Monica Mountains, beside Woodland Hills, Hidden Hills, and Agoura Hills, along the 101.
As part of the City of Calabasas, Calabasas taxes and records are administered through the Los Angeles County Assessor and the Los Angeles County tax collector.
Home types and price context
Calabasas offers guard-gated estate communities, hillside homes, and condos and townhomes, generally at an upscale to luxury price point.
Neighborhood character
Calabasas is one of the region's most affluent communities, known for its guard-gated neighborhoods, hillside estates, the Las Virgenes Unified School District, and a setting against the Santa Monica Mountains. The Commons at Calabasas anchors its dining and retail.
Schools
Calabasas is served by Las Virgenes Unified School District (LVUSD). School attendance is assigned by the home's exact address, not by community name, and boundaries can change — always verify the assigned schools for a specific Calabasas address with the district before relying on them.
Fire hazard and insurance
Because Calabasas sits near open space and wildland, portions of the area can fall within or adjacent to a CAL FIRE Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. Confirm any specific parcel on the CAL FIRE hazard map and obtain a firm insurance quote during your contingency period; in higher-hazard areas, owners sometimes rely on the California FAIR Plan plus a wrap-around policy.
Mello-Roos and HOA
Most established Calabasas homes do not carry Mello-Roos (CFD) special taxes, since the area predates the special-tax districts common in newer master-planned construction. Some newer tracts, gated communities, or condos may carry a CFD or HOA dues; verify the specific parcel's tax bill and any HOA before writing an offer.
Commute and access
Calabasas is connected primarily by U.S. Route 101 (the Ventura Freeway). Drive times swing widely with the time of day, so the honest answer to “how long is the commute” is to test your specific route at the hour you would actually be driving it.
Buyer and seller considerations
For buyers
Before writing an offer in Calabasas, request the preliminary title report and the property-tax bill so you can see any Mello-Roos special tax and HOA dues separately from the base 1% ad valorem rate. Two similar-looking homes can carry very different monthly costs.
- Get pre-approved with payment scenarios that include any special tax, HOA, and realistic insurance — not just principal, interest, base tax, and a placeholder insurance figure.
- Confirm the school attendance area for the exact address.
- Where relevant, confirm wildfire-hazard-zone status and shop insurance early, before removing contingencies.
For sellers
Pricing in Calabasas rewards accurate, current comparables and clean disclosure. Buyers are payment-sensitive at today's rates, so presenting transparent carrying costs up front reduces fall-out risk. See our seller guide and buyer guide.
A closer look at Calabasas
Calabasas' signature is its guard-gated communities — The Oaks, Calabasas Hills, Mountain View Estates, and others — offering privacy, amenities, and security at a premium, with HOA dues that should be weighed alongside the purchase price. Its hillside and wildland-adjacent setting also means many parcels carry meaningful fire-hazard exposure and insurance considerations.
Schools serving Calabasas in depth
Calabasas is served by Las Virgenes Unified School District (LVUSD). The most important point for buyers is that attendance is governed by address-based boundaries, not by community or street name — two homes a short distance apart can feed different schools, and districts periodically adjust boundaries as enrollment shifts. If a specific school is a deciding factor, confirm the exact attendance area for any address directly with the district before you write an offer, since the published map is the only authoritative source. Our overview links and the California School Dashboard are good starting points.
Getting around: commute and access from Calabasas
Calabasas's position shapes how residents reach the freeways and job centers. Most commuters funnel toward the nearest freeway via local arterials, then head toward their destination; drive times vary widely by time of day. Whatever your destination, verify your own route and timing before committing — a weekday-morning test drive is worth more than any general estimate.
Understanding property tax and special assessments in Calabasas
California's base property-tax rate is roughly 1% of assessed value under Proposition 13, plus local voter-approved bonds, for a typical effective rate a little above 1%. Most established Calabasas homes do not carry Mello-Roos (CFD) special taxes, since the area predates the special-tax districts common in newer master-planned construction. Some newer tracts, gated communities, or condos may carry a CFD or HOA dues; verify the specific parcel's tax bill and any HOA before writing an offer. The tax authority of record is the Los Angeles County Assessor; confirm any special assessment or HOA by reading the actual property-tax bill and preliminary title report for the specific parcel, since amounts are parcel-specific and can include scheduled escalations.
What buyers should know before making an offer in Calabasas
Calabasas rewards buyers who do their homework on carrying costs and hazard status before they fall in love with a floor plan.
- Get pre-approved with payment scenarios that include any Mello-Roos special tax and HOA dues.
- Request the preliminary title report and property-tax bill early, and read the special-tax line separately from the base 1% rate.
- Check wildfire-hazard status where relevant and shop insurance before removing contingencies, not after.
- In more rural pockets, confirm whether the home is on a private well or septic system rather than municipal service.
Our buyer guide and first-time buyer guide cover these steps in detail.
What sellers should know in Calabasas
Pricing a Calabasas home well starts with current, accurate comparables drawn from the right sub-area, since carrying-cost profiles differ across the community. Because today's buyers are payment-sensitive, the listings that move cleanly are the ones that present transparent costs up front. Clean, decluttered, well-photographed homes with proactive disclosure tend to attract stronger offers and fewer renegotiations. Our seller guide walks through prep, pricing, and timing.
Who Calabasas tends to fit
Calabasas draws buyers seeking guard-gated communities, the Las Virgenes Unified School District, and privacy near the mountains, including the executive, entertainment-industry, and luxury-relocation buyers active in this market.
Local lifestyle in Calabasas
Calabasas offers The Commons at Calabasas, the Saturday farmers market, the Calabasas Lake, extensive hillside trails, and an affluent, gated, mountain-adjacent lifestyle.
The Calabasas luxury tiers, explained
Per regional MLS data, the Calabasas median is about $1,850,000 as of mid-2026 — but in a market this stratified, the median is only a midpoint between very different products. Calabasas spans condominiums and townhomes, established non-gated single-family neighborhoods, and a roster of guard-gated estate communities where individual sales can run well into eight figures. Understanding which tier a home sits in matters more than the citywide number.
At the top are the guard-gated communities that give Calabasas its luxury reputation. The Oaks of Calabasas is a prominent guard-gated community of large, often custom estates with resort-style amenities and high HOA dues. Calabasas Hills and the adjacent gated Calabasas Hills Estates offer gated living a notch below the largest estate lots. Mountain View Estates is a long-established guard-gated enclave known for large lots and privacy. These communities trade at a premium for security, amenities, and exclusivity, and their HOA dues should be weighed alongside the purchase price and the elevated insurance common to the area.
Below the gated estate tier sit Calabasas's established non-gated single-family neighborhoods and view homes, which form the broad middle of the market, followed by an attainable tier of condominiums and townhomes — the most accessible way into the 91302 ZIP and the Las Virgenes schools, typically with HOA dues. Because the spread from an entry condo to a flagship estate is enormous, buyers and sellers should always anchor to comparables within the same community and tier rather than to the citywide median. For an exact figure on any community, pull a live, dated MLS set.
| Tier | Representative communities | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Flagship estate (gated) | The Oaks of Calabasas, Mountain View Estates | Guard-gated custom estates, large lots, resort amenities, high HOA dues; the top of the Calabasas range |
| Upper gated | Calabasas Hills, Calabasas Hills Estates, other gated tracts | Gated single-family living below the flagship-estate tier; privacy and amenities at a premium |
| Core move-up | Established non-gated single-family neighborhoods and view homes | The broad middle of the market that anchors the city median |
| Entry / attainable | Condominiums and townhomes in and around 91302 | The most accessible way into Calabasas and the Las Virgenes schools, usually with HOA dues |
How Calabasas compares: Hidden Hills and Westlake Village
Buyers shopping Calabasas at the luxury end often weigh two nearby comparators. Hidden Hills is a small guard-gated equestrian city immediately adjacent to Calabasas in Los Angeles County; like Calabasas, it is served by the Las Virgenes Unified School District, but the entire city is gated and equestrian-oriented, with large lots and a price floor that generally sits above Calabasas. It appeals to buyers who want maximum privacy and acreage and are willing to pay for it.
Westlake Village straddles the Los Angeles County / Ventura County line a short drive northwest on the 101. The Los Angeles County portion of Westlake Village falls within the Las Virgenes Unified School District, while the Ventura County portion is served by the Conejo Valley Unified School District — a distinction worth confirming by address. Westlake Village offers lake-oriented and resort-style living, gated communities, and a range of price points that can offer relative value against Calabasas's gated estates while keeping access to strong schools and the 101 corridor. For many luxury buyers, the choice among Calabasas, Hidden Hills, and Westlake Village comes down to whether they prioritize gated exclusivity (Hidden Hills), an amenity-rich town center (Calabasas), or lake-and-resort living with a wider price range (Westlake Village).
Las Virgenes Unified School District (LVUSD): an overview
Calabasas is served by the Las Virgenes Unified School District (LVUSD), which also serves Agoura Hills, Hidden Hills, Bell Canyon, and the Los Angeles County portion of Westlake Village. LVUSD operates two comprehensive high schools — Calabasas High School and Agoura High School — along with a network of elementary and middle schools and a range of specialized programs. The district enrolls roughly 10,000 students and consistently ranks among the higher-performing districts in California.
As with any district, the operative point for buyers is mechanical: attendance is governed by address-based boundaries, not by community or street name. Two homes a short distance apart can feed different schools, and the district periodically adjusts boundaries as enrollment shifts. If a specific school is a deciding factor, confirm the exact attendance area for the address directly with LVUSD before writing an offer — the district's published boundary map is the only authoritative source. The California School Dashboard and the California Department of Education directory are good starting points for performance and program data but do not replace the parcel-level lookup.
Wildfire hazard, insurance, and the California FAIR Plan in Calabasas
Calabasas sits against the Santa Monica Mountains in a landscape of chaparral, coastal sage scrub, and steep canyons, and it lies in a region repeatedly shaped by wind-driven wildfire — the 2018 Woolsey Fire, which burned nearly 97,000 acres and destroyed more than 1,600 structures, crossed U.S. 101 near Calabasas. CAL FIRE's updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps, published in 2025, expanded "Very High" zones in and around many Santa Monica Mountains communities, and portions of Calabasas fall within or adjacent to a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. This is not a hypothetical concern here; it is a central part of the cost and feasibility of owning.
For buyers, the practical consequence is twofold. First, parcels in higher-hazard zones are subject to defensible-space requirements (Public Resources Code 4291) and, for newer or rebuilt construction, to wildfire-resistant building standards under California Building Code Chapter 7A. Second, insurance is a gating item, not a formality. Some standard carriers have pulled back from high-hazard California areas, and when standard coverage is unavailable, owners may have to turn to the California FAIR Plan — the state's insurer of last resort, which provides limited coverage at higher premiums and is typically paired with a separate "wrap-around" or difference-in-conditions policy to fill the gaps the FAIR Plan does not cover.
Because of this, the single most important step for a Calabasas buyer is to confirm the specific parcel's hazard-zone status on the CAL FIRE map and obtain a firm insurance quote during the contingency period — before removing contingencies, not after. Sellers, in turn, are well served by documenting fire-hardening, defensible space, and any existing insurance arrangements up front, since a buyer's inability to secure affordable coverage is one of the more common ways a Calabasas deal stalls. None of this diminishes the area's appeal, but it does mean insurance and hazard diligence belong at the very front of the process here.
Buyer takeaway: Calabasas
Calabasas rewards buyers who treat carrying cost and insurability as first-order questions, not afterthoughts. The market is desirable and supply is limited, so well-priced homes can move quickly — but the right preparation gives disciplined buyers leverage and protects them from a deal that unravels at the insurance stage.
- Get pre-approved with full payment scenarios that include realistic insurance (often elevated in fire-hazard zones) and any HOA dues — gated communities here can carry substantial dues.
- Confirm the LVUSD attendance area for the exact address if schools matter to you.
- Verify wildfire-hazard-zone status on the CAL FIRE map and obtain a firm insurance quote — including a California FAIR Plan quote where standard carriers decline — before removing contingencies.
- Anchor expectations to the correct tier and community; the spread from an entry condo to a gated estate is very large.
Seller takeaway: Calabasas
Calabasas sellers benefit from strong, supply-constrained demand, but at this price point buyers are discerning and insurance-aware. Clean pricing, thorough documentation, and proactive handling of fire and insurance questions are what separate listings that close smoothly from those that renegotiate or fall out.
- Price against current comparables within the same community and tier — not the citywide median, which spans condos to flagship estates.
- Document fire-hardening, defensible space, and any insurance arrangements early so buyers can underwrite coverage without surprises.
- Present transparent carrying costs (tax, HOA, insurance) up front to reduce payment- and insurability-driven fall-out risk.
- Prepare the home for clean inspections; in the luxury tier, presentation and proactive disclosure carry real weight.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the guard-gated communities in Calabasas?
Calabasas is known for guard-gated communities such as The Oaks, Calabasas Hills, and Mountain View Estates, offering privacy and amenities at a premium, typically with HOA dues. Verify each community's terms separately.
What school district serves Calabasas?
Calabasas is served by the Las Virgenes Unified School District (LVUSD). Attendance is by address; verify the assigned schools for a specific home.
Is Calabasas in a fire zone?
Many Calabasas parcels, given the hillside and wildland-adjacent setting, can fall within a CAL FIRE Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. Confirm the parcel on the CAL FIRE map and obtain an insurance quote early, before removing contingencies.
Does Calabasas have Mello-Roos?
Most Calabasas homes do not carry Mello-Roos, though guard-gated and newer communities tend to carry higher HOA dues. Verify the specific community's tax bill and HOA.
What county is Calabasas in?
Calabasas is in Los Angeles County, California, part of the San Fernando Valley.
Does the Brian Cooper team have a San Fernando Valley office?
No. The Brian Cooper Real Estate Team serves the San Fernando Valley from our Simi Valley headquarters; we do not maintain a local office.
What is the median home price in Calabasas?
Per regional MLS data, the Calabasas single-family median is about $1,850,000 as of mid-2026. Calabasas is a luxury market spanning condos to guard-gated estates, so the median is only a midpoint; pull a live, dated MLS set for current figures.
How many days are Calabasas homes on the market?
Recent Calabasas figures put median days on market in the low double digits for well-priced inventory, though luxury and unique estate homes can take considerably longer. Pull a live, dated MLS set for the current number.
Is Calabasas a seller's market in 2026?
Calabasas is a constrained, high-demand luxury market where well-priced, move-in-ready homes can move quickly, which favors prepared sellers. At the top of the range, estates are more buyer-selective and time-sensitive to pricing. Conditions vary by price band and community; pull a live MLS set for current absorption.
Where does the Calabasas market data come from?
Figures here are drawn from regional MLS data plus public sources such as the Los Angeles County Assessor and the U.S. Census. See our data sources and methodology page, and confirm current numbers via the live property search or by contacting Brian.
How has the Calabasas market changed versus a year ago?
Calabasas pricing has eased modestly year over year as higher mortgage rates and selective luxury demand trimmed the top, while limited supply and strong appeal have kept the median high. Year-over-year figures shift month to month; pull a live, dated MLS set for the current comparison.
What should buyers and sellers do in the Calabasas market?
Buyers should get pre-approved with realistic insurance (often elevated given fire-hazard zones) and HOA dues built into the payment, confirm school attendance by address, and shop insurance — including the California FAIR Plan where standard carriers decline — before removing contingencies. Sellers should price to current, community-specific comparables, document fire-hardening and insurance, and present transparent carrying costs.
