The American Dream may or may not still be that white-picket fence surrounding a lush green lawn and a big tree that supports a wooden swing. With our current megadrought, of course, most grass is turning brown for now, and for those living in San Francisco that dream of owning a house with a yard may be more of a fantasy anyhow. Those seeking to buy a property in Marin, find the perfect home in Oakland, or settle into San Jose real estate do often have the opportunity to find such outdoor spaces, but it comes at a price. Aesthetics aside, the cost can be prohibitive for those who don't have a significant annual salary. Unfortunately, San Francisco and San Jose are the top two metro areas with the highest share of million-dollar homes, according to a new report from LendingTree.
Million-dollar homes are relatively uncommon throughout most of the country. Only 4.27% of the owner-occupied homes in the nation’s 50 largest metros are valued at $1 million or more. Luckily for us non-millionaires (statistics show that there were 5.32 million people in the United States who had financial assets worth at least $1 million in 2018) not all houses are worth that much but, for those few looking to buy real estate, San Francisco and San Jose is the cream of the crop.
For those familiar with Bay Area real estate, it comes as no surprise that San Jose actually outranks San Francisco, stealing the top spot for number of single-family, owner-occupied dwellings that were valued over $1 million — due in no small part to its proximity to Silicon Valley and the relative distance from the hustle-and-bustle of city life. In San Jose, there are roughly 373,000 single-family housing units in total, and the number of real estate properties valued at or above $1 million stands at around 176,243, or about 47.29%. The median value of owner-occupied housing units is $968,800.
San Francisco ranks number two on the list. The City by the Bay’s overall number of housing units hovers around 931,032. The number of units valued at or above $1 million is 337,480, thus the percentage of units in this $1+ million range is 36.25%. Today, the median value of owner-occupied housing units is at $840,600 in San Francisco.
Two other California metro areas round out the top four on the list: Los Angeles ranked third after San Francisco, with 17% of its homes valued at or over $1 million, followed by San Diego at 12.2%, according to LendingTree’s analysis. Economic analysts for LendingTree expect that the percentage of million-dollar homes in these areas to push further still in 2021. LendingTree used Census data to look at the share of million-dollar homes in the nation’s 50 largest metros.
The sunshine state, after a hard year of COVID restrictions and ongoing fires, still reigns supreme in the housing market. Of the 10 metros with the largest share of million-dollar homes, the four with the highest percentage of million-dollar homes are all in California. Driven by a high concentration of wealth originating in the tech and entertainment industries, an average of 28.19% of homes across San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego are valued at at least $1 million.
Article written by Mitchell Duran. Sponsored Content.
