Now, developers are swooping in to make cash purchases from a growing number of sellers who are opting out of what is expected to be a time-consuming and costly rebuilding process.

The newspapers described what the Post called a “frenetic rush to buy and sell scorched lots,” with the pace exceeding expectations. “The damage hasn’t deterred sales; it has accelerated them,” the report said.

A typical listing for a fire-scarred lot in Altadena described a 10,500-square-foot, ash-filled parcel as an “incredible canvas for a custom-built estate.” The listing didn’t specify the disaster but noted: “Opportunities like this where privacy, natural beauty, and limitless potential converge are truly rare. Property sold as-is. Cash offers only.”

According to local real estate agents, for every available lot in the fire zones, there are at least 10 interested buyers. This mostly breaks down to developers and builders offering cash deals to buy the fire-scarred lots.

Bidding wars have erupted In the Palisades, one of L.A.’s wealthiest enclaves. Nearly all of the lots sold there have exceeded their asking prices, with one parcel fetching $3M, the Post reported.

In middle-class neighborhoods that were destroyed in Altadena, residents are raising concerns about gentrification and whether property owners are getting fair prices in the sudden land rush.

Eight burned-out lots in Altadena recently were sold, with each priced in the $500,000 to $600,000 range according to Zillow. That's about two-thirds of what the land would have fetched before the fire. Altadena residents have started holding rallies with signs declaring “Altadena is not for sale,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

Recent history suggests that new development in the fire zones may result in higher home prices once the properties destroyed in the fire are replaced. A UCLA study of the rebuilding effort in Paradise after the Camp fire destroyed 80% of the homes in the area in 2018 found that home prices and median incomes in the area were significantly higher five years later.

As the number of burned-out lots on the selling block multiplies, the debate over whether to rebuild and what to build in the areas consumed by the Palisades and Eaton fires also is growing.

According to a new poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Government Studies (Berkeley IGS), an overwhelming majority of Los Angeles County voters support strengthening building codes and imposing greater restrictions on home construction in high-risk areas.

About 80% of the respondents backed tougher codes to make homes more fire-resistant, even if doing so added to the costs. Seven out of 10 respondents wanted more regulations to curb homebuilding in wildfire-prone neighborhoods.

“This is a huge event in L.A. history,” said Mark DiCamillo, poll director at Berkeley IGS. “It’s having a major effect on what people think needs to be done in terms of making housing safer.”

The most striking example of this epiphany was found in the poll results from the communities directly impacted by the Palisades and Eaton fire zones: 65% of voters in the Palisades fire zone said they are in favor of homebuilding limits, as did 61% in the Eaton fire area.

The Berkeley IGS poll found broad backing for increased taxes to pay for fire protection and to build higher-density housing in urban areas. Nearly a quarter of the homes lost in the January fires were apartments, other multifamily housing or mobile homes.

Of those surveyed, 46% support a tax structure requiring those living in high-risk fire areas to pay more for public services including fire departments, while 43% oppose the measure.

More than half of those surveyed opposed allowing insurance companies to increase their rates if it enables them to offer fire coverage more broadly.