SAN FRANCISCO–The days when a million-dollar home were the hallmark of wealth and luxury are fast fading, especially in some housing markets. Instead, the new bar for what’s considered luxurious is now considered to be $5 million, according to Trulia.
In a review of all home values across the 100 largest metros—regardless of whether a home was listed on the market or not—a “whopping 4.3% of them” are now valued at $1 million or more–quadruple the amount listed in 2002, according to Trulia. If that weren’t enough, the number of $5-million homes is growing at an even faster rate, nearly five times higher than the share in 2002, Trulia reported.
“In the last year millions of single-family homes and condos were listed on the market across America’s 100 largest metros. Of all listings, over 7,000—or 0.28%—were listed for $5 million or more,” Trulia said.
Among the findings in the Trulia research and analysis:
- Since 2012 the share of homes valued at $1 million or more grew three times in San Francisco and nearly five times in Oakland, Calif., comprising 66% and 23.8% of the housing market, respectively.
- In pricey places like San Francisco listings priced at $5 million or more made up 3% of all listings. Long Island, N.Y., had the second highest share at 2.2%. In San Francisco, homes in the $1-million plus range make up a full two-thirds of the housing market representing a near tripling of the share (22.4% in 2012) over the past five years.
- Despite the fact that the median home price of all listings in the last year was $282,900, 86 of the largest 100 metros had at least one listing priced at $5 million or more, Trulia said. At first glance what sets $5 million or more homes apart is that they have ample room to roam. Super luxury homes tend to have two more bedrooms, four more bathrooms and three times the square footage of those with lower price points. Across the 11 metros with at least 100 super luxury listings, the median bathroom count outnumbered bedrooms among high-end homes, which was never true for lower-end listings. These luxe properties also covered a lot more land, typically occupying at least four times the acreage of other listings.
- The greatest indicator of whether a listing was super luxury among the top 100 metros was the presence of breathtaking views. The rate at which “views” is mentioned was 87.8% of super luxury listings, or 6.6 times the rate among homes listed at less than $5 million, Trulia said.