Avalon home and condo appraisals for estates, trusts, and taxes
Island city of hillside cottages, canyon homes and Hamilton Cove condominiums
Avalon, the only incorporated city on Santa Catalina Island, sits a little over an hour by ferry from Long Beach, San Pedro and Dana Point and forms a self-contained housing market. For a cottage, hillside home or second-home condominium alike, the central question is how to find adequate comparables when every sale must come from the island.
- Location
- Avalon is an incorporated city in the Long Beach, Harbor & Catalina region of Los Angeles County
- ZIP codes
- 90704
- Properties
- Single-family homes and condominiums
- Fees
- $449 Standard Desktop, $299 Basic Desktop
- Delivery
- 3+ business days
Homes in Avalon
Avalon's homes fill a narrow valley opening onto the bay, with small cottages on the flat blocks inland from Crescent Avenue and houses stepping up the slopes and into Avalon Canyon. Hamilton Cove, a gated condominium enclave on the shoreline northwest of town, is largely owned as vacation property. Because materials arrive by barge, building and remodeling cost more than on the mainland.
What moves value in Avalon
Supply is fixed by geography: most of the island is protected open land under the Catalina Island Conservancy, and the Santa Catalina Island Company owns a large share of the town's resort businesses, so new home sites are rare. Year-round residents and mainland second-home owners compete for the same listings, and bay views, an easy walk to Crescent Avenue and the ferry, and condition all carry weight.
Neighborhoods and tracts
- Downtown Avalon
- Crescent Avenue waterfront
- Avalon Canyon
- Bird Park
- Descanso Beach area
- Hamilton Cove
Local reference points: Visitors and residents alike know the Catalina Casino, Avalon Bay and the Green Pleasure Pier, Crescent Avenue, the Wrigley Memorial & Botanic Garden and Descanso Beach.
Appraisal considerations in Avalon
Comparables come from Avalon itself, since mainland sales do not reflect island access, freight costs or utility constraints, and the search period is widened as needed with market-condition adjustments. Golf carts and city vehicle permits are not real property and are excluded from the value, and Hamilton Cove units are compared within the complex first, with dues confirmed.
Can Long Beach or San Pedro sales help value an Avalon house when island sales are scarce?
Generally not as comparables. Mainland buyers face none of the island's access, freight and supply constraints, so we extend the search back in time within Avalon, adjust older sales for market change, and treat mainland data only as background.
Reports we prepare for Avalon properties
Each is a certified desktop appraisal of a single-family home or condominium, as of a current or past date.
- Date-of-Death Appraisals
- Step-Up in Basis Appraisals
- Trust Administration Appraisals
- Estate Settlement & Estate Tax Appraisals
- Gift Tax Appraisals
- Prop 19 Parent-Child Transfer Appraisals
- Divorce & Date-of-Separation Appraisals
- Family Sale & Co-Owner Buyout Appraisals
- Retrospective Appraisals
Reviewed November 2026.
Need a value for a Avalon property?
Send the address and the date the value is needed for. We confirm the property and the fee within one business day; the report is delivered in 3+ business days.