2015 has seen the housing market in Los Angeles continue its meteoric price rise, with established neighborhoods steadily increasing in value, and emerging areas finding their footing. Homeowners throughout the city and region find themselves in the enviable position of seeing prices ascend to levels unseen since before the crash of 2008.

But the unfortunate side-effect has been that prices are now beyond the reach of many buyers. The median sales price of single-family homes in the second quarter in greater Los Angeles (the Westside,Downtown and Northeast) reached a record high of $1,371,500, and for condominiums it hit $675,000, making the across-the-board price for homes a gasp-inducing $938,000.

Some of the hottest neighborhoods are areas which 10 years ago would have been perceived very differently than now. Echo Park, East Hollywood, Koreatown, West Adams, Downtown and others would have been considered either too "fringe" or lacking in services. What a difference a decade makes! Those areas are now some of the hottest markets in town, with percentage increases outstripping established areas like Cheviot Hills, Beverlywood, Westwood, Brentwood and Beverly Hills.

Check out this 1913-vintage Los Feliz estate on the market for nearly $10 million.

And some of the hardest reservations to score are at restaurants in those areas. I can say from personal experience that, especially Downtown, one must plan far in advance to dine at some of the trendiest spots, such as Bestia, Perch L.A. and the sizzling Bottega Louie, where they don't take reservations and the wait can be upwards of an hour for a table. But no one seems to care, as the people-watching is as delicious as the food!

Another new development is — oddly enough — new development! The high-rise condo boom of cities like New York, San Francisco and Chicago has finally made its way to our laid-back, low-rise shores, and is transforming the city's "topography" with some spectacular and luxurious towers throughout the city. The tallest residential project underway is the 50-story project at 820 S. Olive St. by Vancouver, Canada-based developer Onni Group. And Chinese developer Greenland USA's $1 billion mixed-use project in the South Park district — Metropolis — includes a 54-story condominium tower. Other high-rise residential projects include Beijing-based developer Oceanwide's $1 billion mixed-use Fig Central, and another project by Onni Group at 1200 S. Flower St.

Other areas are also about to feel the developer’s shovel. In the Miracle Mile, local developer Rick Caruso is planning a super-lux, 19-story residential tower adjacent to the Beverly Center at the gateway to Beverly Hills and in Century City a $300 million, 39-story skyscraper by Miami developer Crescent Heights. For prestige, it's going to be difficult to beat Townscape Partner's 8150 Crescent Heights (at Sunset Boulevard), designed by perhaps the most famous architect in the world, the omnipresent Frank Gehry.

It's an incredibly fascinating time to be selling in Los Angeles, and as real estate professionals we're looking forward to exciting progress in the months and years to come.