Hang on to your hat.
The winner is Atherton, a small town in Silicon Valley with just one zip code, with a median sale price (not asking price) of $4.95 million in 2017. But that’s down 8.8% from the even juicier $5.5 million in 2016.
It beat Sagaponack’s 11962 zip code. The community in the Hamptons had reigned supreme in the prior two years. But in 2017, it dropped to 15th place “mainly due to more sales recorded at lower price points, which slashed its median sale price in half,” to just $2.82 million, according to Yardi’s PropertyShark. That’s quite a step down from $5.5 million last year.
In second place is New York City’s 10013 zip code, which covers TriBeCa with its luxury condo developments. It came in with a median sales price of $4.1 million, up 7.7% from last year.
In third place is 33109 in Fisher Island, “a small, secluded island community” in Miami-Dade County, with a median sales price of $4.05 million, which is up nearly 20% from 2016.
By comparison, according to the National Association of Realtors, the median existing-home price in the US in October was $247,000, which includes all these high-priced areas as well.
Median price means that half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less. The data is based on all residential transactions closed in 2017, including condo, co-ops, single-family, and two-family homes, according to PropertyShark. All package deals are excluded.
The cheapest, so to speak, of the top 10 zip codes has a median sale prices of $3 million. Five of the top 10 are in California, four in New York, and one in Florida.
Of the most expensive 110 zip codes in the table below, 77 are in California and 19 are in New York. These five states have two each on the list:
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Washington
- Massachusetts
- New Jersey
And these four states have one zip code each on the list:
- Colorado
- Maryland
- Hawaii
- Nevada
San Francisco has nine zip codes in the top 110, the most of any city. But its most expensive zip code – 94118, with a median sale price of $1.9 million – ranks only in 42nd place. These types of averages can be a little confusing. The zip code covers a large area with a mix of small ultra-expensive, movie-star-studded areas around Lake Street and Presidio Heights and much less expensive but larger areas, such as part of the Richmond District.
Other cities of note:
- New York City has seven zip codes in the top 110, two of which are ranked 2nd and 4th.
- The city of Los Angeles has five zip codes in the top 110, with the most expensive ranking in 19th place.
- Newport Beach (Orange County, CA) has four in the top 110, including one that occupies 12th place.
At the county level, Los Angeles County is in the top spot, with 18 zip codes in the top. Santa Clara County, one half of Silicon Valley, is in second place with 15 zip codes in the top. San Mateo County, the other half of Silicon Valley, has 10 zip codes.
Silicon Valley accounts for 25 zip codes in the top 110. And the entire Bay Area hogs 45 of the nation’s 110 most expensive zip codes. Here is the whole list (since several zip codes have the same median price and thus share a rank, this list shows the 100 highest median prices spread over 110 zip codes):
The Most Expensive Housing Zip Codes in the US |
|||||
| # | Zip | Location | County | Median | |
| 1 | 94027 | Atherton | San Mateo County | CA | $4,950,000 |
| 2 | 10013 | New York | New York County | NY | $4,100,000 |
| 3 | 33109 | Miami Beach | Miami-Dade County | FL | $4,052,500 |
| 4 | 10007 | New York | New York County | NY | $3,988,683 |
| 5 | 90210 | Beverly Hills | Los Angeles County | CA | $3,850,000 |
| 6 | 90402 | Santa Monica | Los Angeles County | CA | $3,512,500 |
| 7 | 94301 | Palo Alto | Santa Clara County | CA | $3,300,000 |
| 8 | 94022 | Los Altos | Santa Clara County | CA | $3,200,000 |
| 9 | 11976 | Water Mill | Suffolk County | NY | $3,162,500 |
| 10 | 11975 | Wainscott | Suffolk County | NY | $3,000,000 |
| 11 | 94957 | Ross | Marin County | CA | $2,987,500 |
| 12 | 92657 | Newport Coast | Orange County | CA | $2,950,000 |
| 13 | 94028 | Portola Valley | San Mateo County | CA | $2,895,000 |
| 14 | 94024 | Los Altos | Santa Clara County | CA | $2,875,000 |
| 15 | 11962 | Sagaponack | Suffolk County | NY | $2,819,000 |
| 16 | 92661 | Newport Beach | Orange County | CA | $2,800,000 |
| 17 | 10282 | New York | New York County | NY | $2,775,000 |
| 18 | 93108 | Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara County | CA | $2,757,500 |
| 19 | 90272 | Los Angeles | Los Angeles County | CA | $2,730,000 |
| 20 | 94528 | Diablo | Contra Costa County | CA | $2,618,750 |
| 21 | 94303 | Palo Alto | Santa Clara County | CA | $2,600,000 |
| 22 | 98039 | Medina | King County | WA | $2,590,000 |
| 23 | 92662 | Newport Beach | Orange County | CA | $2,575,000 |
| 24 | 10006 | New York | New York County | NY | $2,571,082 |
| 25 | 94920 | Belvedere | Marin County | CA | $2,550,000 |
| 26 | 11932 | Bridgehampton | Suffolk County | NY | $2,525,000 |
| 26 | 90265 | Malibu | Los Angeles County | CA | $2,525,000 |
| 27 | 94306 | Palo Alto | Santa Clara County | CA | $2,455,000 |
| 28 | 94010 | Burlingame | San Mateo County | CA | $2,400,000 |
| 29 | 95070 | Saratoga | Santa Clara County | CA | $2,320,000 |
| 30 | 90266 | Manhattan Beach | Los Angeles County | CA | $2,250,000 |
| 31 | 95030 | Los Gatos | Santa Clara County | CA | $2,211,250 |
| 32 | 92067 | Rancho Santa Fe | San Diego County | CA | $2,210,000 |
| 33 | 94305 | Stanford | Santa Clara County | CA | $2,200,000 |
| 34 | 10069 | New York | New York County | NY | $2,161,000 |
| 35 | 91108 | San Marino | Los Angeles County | CA | $2,150,000 |
| 36 | 92625 | Corona Del Mar | Orange County | CA | $2,100,000 |
| 37 | 81611 | Aspen | Pitkin County | CO | $2,094,000 |
| 38 | 90077 | Los Angeles | Los Angeles County | CA | $2,068,437 |
| 39 | 94025 | Menlo Park | San Mateo County | CA | $2,062,500 |
| 40 | 90212 | Beverly Hills | Los Angeles County | CA | $2,060,000 |
| 41 | 90049 | Los Angeles | Los Angeles County | CA | $1,960,000 |
| 42 | 94118 | San Francisco | San Francisco County | CA | $1,902,000 |
| 43 | 94104 | San Francisco | San Francisco County | CA | $1,860,500 |
| 44 | 89413 | Glenbrook | Douglas County | NV | $1,850,000 |
| 45 | 11568 | Old Westbury | Nassau County | NY | $1,812,500 |
| 46 | 10012 | New York | New York County | NY | $1,807,500 |
| 47 | 94123 | San Francisco | San Francisco County | CA | $1,800,000 |
| 48 | 10580 | Rye | Westchester County | NY | $1,790,000 |
| 49 | 11930 | Amagansett | Suffolk County | NY | $1,781,250 |
| 50 | 7620 | Alpine | Bergen County | NJ | $1,775,000 |
| 51 | 92651 | Laguna Beach | Orange County | CA | $1,765,000 |
| 52 | 94939 | Larkspur | Marin County | CA | $1,755,000 |
| 53 | 94087 | Sunnyvale | Santa Clara County | CA | $1,750,500 |
| 54 | 95014 | Cupertino | Santa Clara County | CA | $1,749,500 |
| 55 | 94041 | Mountain View | Santa Clara County | CA | $1,735,000 |
| 56 | 90291 | Venice | Los Angeles County | CA | $1,732,500 |
| 57 | 94402 | San Mateo | San Mateo County | CA | $1,712,500 |
| 57 | 90742 | Sunset Beach | Orange County | CA | $1,712,500 |
| 58 | 94062 | Redwood City | San Mateo County | CA | $1,699,500 |
| 59 | 92660 | Newport Beach | Orange County | CA | $1,685,000 |
| 60 | 94040 | Mountain View | Santa Clara County | CA | $1,665,500 |
| 61 | 93953 | Pebble Beach | Monterey County | CA | $1,652,500 |
| 62 | 94114 | San Francisco | San Francisco County | CA | $1,652,000 |
| 63 | 94970 | Stinson Beach | Marin County | CA | $1,650,000 |
| 64 | 91011 | La Canada Flintridge | Los Angeles County | CA | $1,642,500 |
| 65 | 95032 | Los Gatos | Santa Clara County | CA | $1,634,000 |
| 66 | 94070 | San Carlos | San Mateo County | CA | $1,625,000 |
| 67 | 33921 | Boca Grande | Lee County | FL | $1,605,000 |
| 68 | 93921 | Carmel By The Sea | Monterey County | CA | $1,600,000 |
| 68 | 11030 | Manhasset | Nassau County | NY | $1,600,000 |
| 68 | 94127 | San Francisco | San Francisco County | CA | $1,600,000 |
| 69 | 92663 | Newport Beach | Orange County | CA | $1,597,500 |
| 70 | 94904 | Greenbrae | Marin County | CA | $1,595,000 |
| 71 | 94002 | Belmont | San Mateo County | CA | $1,590,000 |
| 72 | 11024 | Great Neck | Nassau County | NY | $1,570,000 |
| 73 | 94133 | San Francisco | San Francisco County | CA | $1,565,000 |
| 74 | 94507 | Alamo | Contra Costa County | CA | $1,563,750 |
| 75 | 90274 | Palos Verdes Penin. | Los Angeles County | CA | $1,550,000 |
| 76 | 90254 | Hermosa Beach | Los Angeles County | CA | $1,538,500 |
| 77 | 90405 | Santa Monica | Los Angeles County | CA | $1,535,000 |
| 78 | 6878 | Riverside | Fairfield County | CT | $1,507,500 |
| 79 | 91008 | Duarte | Los Angeles County | CA | $1,500,000 |
| 79 | 91436 | Encino | Los Angeles County | CA | $1,500,000 |
| 79 | 94117 | San Francisco | San Francisco County | CA | $1,500,000 |
| 80 | 11765 | Mill Neck | Nassau County | NY | $1,486,848 |
| 81 | 94705 | Berkeley | Alameda County | CA | $1,475,000 |
| 81 | 02108 | Boston | Suffolk County | MA | $1,475,000 |
| 81 | 95129 | San Jose | Santa Clara County | CA | $1,475,000 |
| 82 | 94030 | Millbrae | San Mateo County | CA | $1,466,500 |
| 83 | 90036 | Los Angeles | Los Angeles County | CA | $1,465,000 |
| 84 | 90048 | Los Angeles | Los Angeles County | CA | $1,455,000 |
| 85 | 10024 | New York | New York County | NY | $1,454,000 |
| 86 | 11959 | Quogue | Suffolk County | NY | $1,452,500 |
| 87 | 21056 | Gibson Island | Anne Arundel County | MD | $1,450,000 |
| 88 | 94061 | Redwood City | San Mateo County | CA | $1,449,500 |
| 89 | 6830 | Greenwich | Fairfield County | CT | $1,445,000 |
| 90 | 96821 | Honolulu | Honolulu County | HI | $1,435,000 |
| 91 | 94563 | Orinda | Contra Costa County | CA | $1,430,000 |
| 92 | 92014 | Del Mar | San Diego County | CA | $1,425,000 |
| 92 | 11963 | Sag Harbor | Suffolk County | NY | $1,425,000 |
| 93 | 94707 | Berkeley | Alameda County | CA | $1,422,500 |
| 93 | 7078 | Short Hills | Essex County | NJ | $1,422,500 |
| 94 | 94121 | San Francisco | San Francisco County | CA | $1,412,000 |
| 95 | 92118 | Coronado | San Diego County | CA | $1,407,500 |
| 96 | 94115 | San Francisco | San Francisco County | CA | $1,397,500 |
| 97 | 2481 | Wellesley Hills | Norfolk County | MA | $1,390,000 |
| 98 | 95120 | San Jose | Santa Clara County | CA | $1,385,000 |
| 99 | 98004 | Bellevue | King County | WA | $1,380,000 |
| 100 | 94549 | Lafayette | Contra Costa County | CA | $1,374,500 |
Enjoy reading WOLF STREET and want to support it? You can donate. I appreciate it immensely. Click on the beer and iced-tea mug to find out how:
Would you like to be notified via email when WOLF STREET publishes a new article? Sign up here.
The Related Group, one of the biggest condo developers in south FL, is expanding into Dallas with apt rentals. Looks like they hit saturation point in south FL. Now everybody is headed to Texas.
I happily didn’t make your list.
Apartments are at 100% occupancy in the Plano/Frisco area.
94118 is the Marina? I would have thought Russian Hill would be more expensive. I am pretty sure there are a number of 10 million dollar homes there. Heck even Zuckerberg has a place over there.
Not the Marina. It’s Presidio Heights and Lake Street and south from there, so the other direction. Here is a map of 94118:
Presidio Heights and Lake Street are super expensive.
There are pockets on Russian Hill that are very expensive too. But again, zip codes are big, and 94109, which includes Russian Hill, also includes part of China Town and part of the Tenderloin, which is one of the edgier areas in SF.
To give you an example…when I left 7th and Lake at the end of 2010, two bedroom flats, needing remodeling, were going for about 750k. As of last year, they were running about $1.7mil, even if not super-upgraded. The nice homes north of Lake and east of park presidio can easily hit 4-5mil. It was tough to leave, but that was my last chance to buy in. It’s game over now. Proles go home. Wheehhhhh
I didn’t know that Tenderloin is packed in together with Russian Hill :) That’s hilarious talking about the microcosm of America with the richest and poorest in the same zip code.
I would think the average would still be higher when it comes to Russian Hill right? The Inner Richmond would pull the median higher because there’s nothing there that’s as bad as the Tenderloin, but I am guessing when it comes to extreme prices, Russian Hill takes the cake, so the average would be higher.
I get data by neighborhood, and you’re right, it looks very different than data by zip code. I might post it next time I get it (early Jan).
To say the Tenderloin is edgy is a complete understatement. LOL
> Tenderloin
One of the few places in the world where an down an out alcoholic that sleeps in doorways is on a first name basis with a billionaire.
“Nothing tender about that neighborhood. It’s rough. I have never seen crack smoked so casually before”
-Dave Chappelle
> 94118
Personally I do not understand why anyone would pay such good money to live in the fog.
Best place to live in SF is Dogpatch. (Don’t tell anyone)
As with all speculative bubbles, buyers are conflating rising price with store of value.
Shennigans, San Francisco is not even 2 square miles and Calabasas, in LA county with a median home price of 1.4M is 13 sq miles. Size matters, redo.
SF is small, but not that small. It’s about 7 miles by 7 miles, so 49 square miles.
Wouldn’t that be 49 square miles?
I mean, duh, sure.
And I fixed it :-]
I’m sooooo jealous!! Wolf has an edit function!!! Oh my could I use one of those.
It feels small though. I walk from my place in the Outer Sunset to the Financial District 3 times a day for work. Took me 1.5 hours one way. Some people would consider that slow.
i don’t give a lot of weight to these kinds of statistics. for example, i live in 10013 which is labeled as tribeca. my apartment doesn’t count because it’s a rental. the eastern part of 10013 is chinatown, where there is some serious poverty but again, it’s mostly rentals over there. chinatown is really resistant to gentrification. it’s very difficult if not impossible for non-chinese to rent there and i hope it stays that way.
” it’s very difficult if not impossible for non-chinese to rent there and i hope it stays that way.”
This is sad…. I respect your opinion, but sad.
Vietnamese vs . Chinese turf wars in the early 90’s in SF Chinatown didn’t make the news, damn public safety. ?
I refuse to beleive 02108 isn’t on here. I just checked the listings there the other day and didn’t find an asking orice below 7 million.
Oh wait there it is at 81 … seems kinda low considering but I guess if it is all of Suffolk county then it will have much cheeper listings then I was looking at (for shock value).
Ha, I love that, “I refuse to believe…” And you’re correct in your refusal. For some reason, the first zero dropped off the zip code. So when you searched for it, you couldn’t find it. Now I glued that zero back on, and it’s right there in 81st position, with a lofty median price of $1.475 million.
Thanks for refusing ;-]
The more people are willing to shell out the more we all have to pay.
The trick is to find the highest ratio of a zip code with the highest income divided by the lowest housing cost.
I believe you can find one in New Mexico.
In Ca, the house might be, for many people, the biggest asset, the most important investment.
When your income is falling, but taxes keep rising, a big portion of your
house, doesn’t belong to you anymore.
In Ca it might be the case for many old people.
They just hang on, not able to move, or change.
I will probably stay in my house in California for as long as I am physically able to do so. The capital gains tax (Federal and State) on a sale would be huge for me. I bought it before Proposition 13
But you have prop 13, and you can take that with you to a new house (ie your current assessed value). I believe that you don’t have cap gains either if you buy a new home.
Whatever happened to Woodside (zip code 94062) in San Mateo County? It ought to be right up there with Atherton.
You can take your basis to another address within the same county or to a few other counties that allow transfers of basis providing the new place has about the same value or less as the old one. The capital gains rules were changed in 1997.
My comment on expensive zip codes posted to the wrong article.
Ahhhh – Cali has Prop 13
“Live on Fisher Island, get buried in Palm Beach. That way, you’ll have the best of Florida.” from the movie “Birdcage”
GoogleEarth indicated the maximum altitude on Fisher Island is 9 feet. Not a long term investment scenario.
To my knowledge one cannot even buy in River Oaks in Houston Texas because no one there wants to sell. I am surprised it is not on the list.
I just checked. It occupies a small corner of a large zip code (77019).
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Houston,+TX+77019/@29.7528188,-95.4449789,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x8640c0bc68ba8a75:0xca397a656364a7c9!8m2!3d29.7508512!4d-95.4122817
Prices are down and falling year on year in many of those zip codes.
Still trying to figure out what’s so great about California. Traffic, smog, and taxes. But if you read People magazine or have a strong desire to strike it rich in tech, maybe California is your style.
That’s our new marketing, we tell people things are bad here. We show scenes from The Grapes of Wrath where cops beat up the poor Oakies. The lines for everything are too long, the freeways too crowded. Try Phoenix, that’s our new tourist slogan.
Hmmmm, One of the #68’s, Carmel by the Sea in Monterey County has been moved to New York.
It has been moved back to California, where it will remain for the time being.
It’s amazing how many places I’ve lived or live now, are on that list.
I don’t know if I’m doing this poor thing wrong or doing it really right.
Agreed. I too was wondering how places considered unsafe just a few years ago have made it to the list. I am not talking about places like Venice that used to be drug haven before the concerted effort by the local govt to clean up the place and make it trendy. I am talking about places like Duarte. 15 years ago, walking about the town was fraught with problems because you could wander into neighboring Monrovia and get mugged. AFAIK, you lived there because you either came into property or worked nearby at Trader Joe’s hq or a Seebeyond Corporation, or at the cancer center.
Recently, I was driving through Hurricane and St George in NV. They are building homes all over these tiny towns. Not only that, they are building them in the middle of nowhere an hour outside st. George. I wondered how much of this is easy fed policy money at work and why anybody would buy them except to retire or use them for Airbnb for the nearby national parks. May be I should jump in and wait for the tide to make me a millionaire too.
I used to shoot smallbore rifle matches in Duarte, and I remember some kind of argument or fight breaking out in a nearby soccer field, and everyone wanting to stay away from the soccer field because there might be shooting (not at targets lol) I’m not sure if the rifle range is there any more.
Southern California used to have drag strips, circle tracks, horse-riding stables, all kinds of “let’s have fun going fast/getting dirty” things because they were out on the fringes of the towns. Now it’s becoming one continuous tilework of towns. Keep the kids safe at home, on their Playstation or if they’re rich kids, they might be able to sail or surf a bit.
“Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution”
It would be interesting to look at the movement of the richest zip codes in the past 200-300 years,starting with Jamestown and Mt Vernon.To explore opportunities open to us in troubled times ahead.
In the ’20s Detroit was richer than NYC.Now housing in Detroit is within reach of a minimum wage worker,even if he works part time.
California’s Prop 13 helps to skew these number considerably. Not only is there a huge impact on the capital gains tax due to the increase in sales price, but the costs associated with the mortgage and property taxes are huge.
Under Prop 13 the amount that the property can be taxed is based on the last sale price. If you sell your property with plans to purchase another in the State your tax burden is going to increase.
For example: You bought a house in Burbank 20 years ago. At the time you took out a $200,000 mortgage on your $240,000 purchase. You now decide to sell. You are currently paying a property taxes based on that $240,000 with a maximum increase allowed of 3%. You sell you property for $1,200,000 and buy a new place for the same amount. (Not an easy thing to do…) Even if you put all the equity into the new purchase, you new tax bill will be based on a $1.2 million property. With the increase in the tax rate your monthly property taxes would exceed your previous mortgage payment.
Prop 13’s maximum property tax increase is 2% per year.
Yep. my fat fingered mistake.
Still that just increases the disparity between an old vs. new purchase tax burden.
@wolf, do good schools correspond to higher prices or are some of these driven by easy money? I wonder how many climbed into the list recently and are driven by ‘I have arrived’ phenomenon. Unlike school district driven places, the ones driven by money usually have a networking angle behind them. Something along the lines of meeting the Zuck when he comes out to throw trash and somehow hands over the keys to a business unit, etc.
There is a relationship between schools and home prices. It could be in either direction: good schools improve home prices; or high home prices lead to better schools (more money). But I don’t think schools are responsible for a $2-million median home price. There are other factors at work to get that.
One of the number 79s, 91008, is listed as Duarte. It really is Bradbury CA. Bradbury has no businesses or post office. Bradbury uses Duarte’s post office.
Our Captains Courageous at the Fed see no bubbles.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-12-19/what-bubble-silicon-valley-homes-going-nearly-2-million-over-asking-price
Whatever happened to Woodside (zip code 94062) in San Mateo County? It ought to be right up there with Atherton.
There are other zip codes missing to my surprise, both east and west coast.
Anon1970,
It is on the list: 94062 — “Redwood City” because it goes all the way into Redwood City. In 58th place.
Newport Beach has 4 zip codes?
No, it has 11:
https://www.google.com/search?q=newport+beach+zip+codes&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US:IE-Address&ie=&oe=&gws_rd=ssl