California Boasts 80 Percent of the Nation’s Most Expensive ZIP Codes in 2018
- San Mateo County’s Atherton ranks as America’s priciest ZIP code this year, with a median sales price of $6,700,000.
- Santa Monica, Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Portola Valley rank among the nation’s 10 most expensive real estate markets.
- San Francisco ties New York for the highest concentration of high-end U.S. housing markets on a city level, while Los Angeles has the most on a county level.
The Golden State is home to the lion’s share of America’s priciest housing markets, with an exclusive Silicon Valley community at the top of the list.
An analysis by PropertyShark ranks the country’s 100 most expensive ZIP codes based on the median sales price in 2018. Eighty-two of those communities can be found in California, largely in the Bay Area and Los Angeles and Orange counties.
With a median sales price of $6,700,000, Atherton‘s 94027 is the country’s priciest community. Also recognized at America’s most expensive ZIP code by Forbes in late 2017, Atherton’s median sales price is up by 35 percent year over year. According to MLS data, the most expensive single-family home sold in the highly affluent San Mateo County community in 2018 was a six-bedroom, 10,500-plus-square foot mansion that found a buyer in late June.
Santa Monica‘s 90402 ZIP codes takes the No. 5 spot, with a median sales price of $3,762,000. America’s top 10 most expensive real estate markets include four of the usual suspects in Silicon Valley: Palo Alto‘s 94301 ($3,755,000), Los Altos’ 94022 ($3,500,000) and 94024 ($3,254,000), and Portola Valley’s 94028 ($3,300,000). PropertyShark notes that 30 Silicon Valley communities rank among the 100 priciest communities, the highest such concentration in America.
While San Francisco doesn’t appear on the list until No. 40, it places nine neighborhoods in the rankings, tied with New York for the most of any U.S. city. The 94123 ZIP code — which includes the Marina and Cow Hollow — is San Francisco’s most expensive real estate market, with a 2018 median sales price of $2,075,000.
On a county level, Los Angeles has America’s most expensive ZIP codes, with 19 included in the list. Los Angeles County’s priciest communities include those in Beverly Hills, Pacific Palisades, Manhattan Beach, San Marino, and the city proper.
Santa Clara County has the country’s second highest concentration of big-ticket real estate markets at 17 ZIP codes Besides the aforementioned four enclaves, Santa Clara County housing markets that made the list are found in Saratoga, Los Gatos, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, and San Jose.