Affluent St. Louis suburbs are lapping the field in Missouri’s latest home price race, with Huntleigh, the Village of Loch Lloyd and Ladue taking the top three spots in a new statewide ranking. The list tracks the dollar change in local Zillow values through May and shows how already pricey enclaves can rack up big one year gains in raw dollars even when percentage growth looks relatively tame. For buyers, that translates into sticker shock in prestige neighborhoods and faster percentage jumps in some smaller, more affordable towns.
According to ABC17News, which republished a Stacker list compiled from Zillow data, Huntleigh posted the largest dollar jump, with a typical home value of $2,520,978 and a one year gain of $205,850. The Village of Loch Lloyd and Ladue followed with typical values of $1,371,477 (up $136,692) and $1,366,088 (up $96,099), respectively.
Why the numbers jumped this year
National trends set the backdrop for Missouri’s hot spots. According to the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted 4.17 million in May and the national median price reached $429,300, underscoring ongoing buyer demand. Zillow notes in its market reports that listings and inventory have recovered slightly but that price growth is uneven across metros, and that the Zillow Home Values Index, or ZHVI, is the gauge Stacker used to measure typical local home values.
Method matters: dollar change vs percent change
According to Stacker, the ranking is ordered by the dollar change in Zillow’s Home Values Index for the 12 months ending in May 2026, a method that tends to favor wealthier suburbs. That helps explain why small towns show up when the list is sorted by percent growth but not at the very top when it is sorted by dollar change. Hurdland, for example, recorded an 18.1% one year rise but only about $28,087 in added value, far less than Huntleigh’s six figure dollar jump.
Local takeaways for buyers and sellers
For local buyers, the headline figures land differently depending on price tier. Someone priced out of Huntleigh or Ladue may still find faster percentage appreciation in more affordable parts of the state. In the broader regional picture, Zillow listed the St. Louis market’s typical home value at about $272,221 in April with a modest year over year gain, evidence that statewide hotspots and metro averages can tell very different stories.
Ranked lists like the one from Stacker are a useful snapshot but reflect a specific way of slicing the data. For the full city by city breakdown, readers can scroll through the table republished by ABC17News or check the original Stacker piece to review methodology and the sortable list.
