In the City of Los Angeles part of the Palisades, 1,349 destroyed homes have a rebuild permit, and 344 of them, about one in four, are already in close-in and finishes. Nearly two in three (65%) show no rebuild permit 21 months after the fire, and no sale recorded through 2025.
Published October 2026. Inspection data as of Oct 12, 2026; forecast date Oct 16, 2026. LA City (LADBS) only: Malibu and Altadena follow in later reports.
All 4,618 destroyed homes (City of LA)
Each square is 10 destroyed-home parcels. Rebuilding squares run from permit issued (lightest) to finished (darkest).
1,198Rebuilding: has a rebuild permit (some have stalled)
405Sold in 2025
3,015No rebuild permit we can see, not sold
The fast lane: about 14 months from permit to final
Adding the median time for each step, a permitted home moves from permit to final in about 14 months. The homes with no permit haven't started that clock, 21 months after the fire.
Permit to foundation1.6 mo
Foundation to framing1.9 mo
Framing to rough-in2.8 mo
Rough-in to close-in1.6 mo
Close-in to final6.0 mo
Permit to final~14 mo
Medians count only jobs that finished each step, so the real total is likely longer; the last step rests on 59 homes.
Each destroyed-home parcel counted once. A lot that sold in 2025 counts as sold even if it also has a rebuild permit (151 do), which is why 1,349 have a permit but 1,198 are shown as rebuilding. "No rebuild permit" means none we can see: plans in city plan check aren't in LA's open data, so some of these owners have filed. The Palisadian-Post counts 1,862 permit applications against 1,317 issued. Sales after Dec 31, 2025 aren't on the assessor roll yet.
For suppliers
The finish wave
344 destroyed homes are in close-in and finishes, more than five times the 59 finished so far. If the 6-month median from close-in to final held, most would finish in 2027.
That median rests on 59 homes, the fastest ones, and will likely lengthen.
For trades
Reaching rough-in is the longest wait before finishes
Framing to rough-in takes a median 2.8 months, against 1.6 to 1.9 for the steps before and after. Of the 500 rebuild jobs not yet at framing, 182 have sat more than twice the usual time.
All 1,409 rebuild jobs. City data lags a few days, so some may just be waiting on a recent inspection to post.
On investors
40% of Q3 sales, a small share of lots
Redfin counted 48 investor purchases among 119 lots sold in the Palisades ZIP in Q3 2025 (buyer names with LLC, Inc, Corp or Homes). That's about 1% of the 4,618 destroyed lots. Full-year investor buying isn't known: 8.8% of destroyed lots sold with a tax reset in 2025, up to 12.2% counting all deeds.
Where the rebuilds stand
A rebuild job is a parcel with a permit for a new home or an addition, issued since the fire (Jan 7, 2025). Its stage is the furthest stage it has passed an inspection for.
281Permit issued, no inspection passed
219Foundation
229Framing
255Rough-in
360Close-in and finishes
That is 1,344 active jobs, plus 65 with a finaled building permit: 1,409 in all. 1,349 of them are on one of the 4,618 parcels where the state recorded a destroyed home; the other 60 are on parcels outside that set.
How long each step takes
Step
Median months
Jobs measured
Permit issued to foundation
1.6
1,028
Foundation to framing
1.9
756
Framing to rough-in
2.8
435
Rough-in to close-in
1.6
382
Close-in to final
6.0
59
Each median counts only jobs that have finished that step, so all of them lean short. The last step rests on 59 finished homes and will move as more finish.
The next 90 days
Each job's next stage is forecast from its last inspection plus the median times above. Jobs that have sat in their stage for more than twice the median are counted as stalled and not forecast.
Entering
Next 30 days
Days 31–60
Days 61–90
90-day total
Stalled
Framing
141
85
70
296
182
Rough-in
103
81
81
265
219
The next-30-days column includes 57 framing and 74 rough-in jobs already past their forecast date on Oct 16. City data lags a few days, so some stalled jobs may have a recent inspection not yet posted.
We will score this forecast in public. On Nov 6, 2026 we re-pull the inspection records and check it. It passes if at least 60% of the jobs forecast to reach framing by then actually did (within a week), and the median timing error is under three weeks. City data runs a few days behind, so a Nov 6 score is a floor; if it falls short, we rescore after Nov 15. We set that bar now, before we know the answer.
Lots changing hands
LA County assessor records show 405 of the 4,618 destroyed-home parcels (8.8%) sold, with the tax value reset, between Jan 8 and Dec 31, 2025. Counting deeds recorded with no reassessment too (often trust or family transfers), the upper bound is 562 (12.2%).
Stage
Parcels
Sold in 2025
Share
No rebuild permit
3,269
254
7.8%
Permit issued, not started
264
32
12.1%
Foundation
213
26
12.2%
Framing
223
27
12.1%
Rough-in
246
17
6.9%
Close-in and finishes
344
41
11.9%
Finished
59
8
13.6%
All destroyed-home parcels
4,618
405
8.8%
Lots that now have a rebuild permit had sold more often in 2025 (11.2%) than lots without one (7.8%). Stages are as of October 2026, so many weren't underway when they sold, and the records we used don't show who bought.
Redfin reported that investors bought 40.3% of vacant lots that sold in the Palisades ZIP code in Q3 2025: 48 of 119, counting buyers whose names include LLC, Inc, Corp or Homes (Redfin, Dec 30, 2025). That is a share of lots that sold in one quarter. Measured against all 4,618 destroyed lots, 48 is about 1%. Investor buying for the full year isn't known. A local builder disputes the 40% and estimates about 20% (SAN).
Other counts
The Palisadian-Post's Pali Rebuild Map reported 1,317 permits issued, 1,126 homes under construction and 50 with a certificate of occupancy as of Oct 8, 2026 (Palisadian-Post, Oct 9, 2026). Our 65 counts finaled building permits, which can come before a certificate of occupancy.
What the records can't show yet
Plans in city plan check: LA's open data doesn't include them.
Who is building: builder names on these permits are the subject of a pending public records request.
Why 3,269 destroyed-home parcels have no rebuild permit: the records show filings, not reasons.
Who bought the 405 lots that sold.
Sales after Dec 31, 2025: they reach the assessor roll in mid-2027.
Sources and method
LADBS building permits and the Building and Safety Inspections dataset (data.lacity.org, 9w5z-rg2h), updated Oct 12, 2026. A stage counts as reached on its first passing inspection.
Destroyed homes: LA County "2025 Parcels with DINS data", Palisades Fire, Destroyed, LA City, residential.
Sales: LA County Assessor rolls for 2024 and 2026. A sale is a land base year reset after the fire with a deed recorded from Jan 8, 2025.
We publish counts only: no addresses, parcel numbers or owner names.