Million-dollar cities are not as rare as one would think: In 2019, three cities made the million-dollar club, joining the other 215 cities in America with an average home value of at least $1 million. This may sound like a high number, but the three-city increase actually marks a slowdown: For context, 74 new million-dollar cities have been added in five years at an average of roughly 14 per year. As the market stabilizes, more potential buyers are able to buy an entry-level home, but luxury markets are starting to struggle. Due to overvaluation, even the fabulously rich are not biting at the top-shelf homes.
- There are 218 cities with a typical home value of at least $1 million, three more than in December 2018.
- Seven new cities joined the list, but four saw home values decline below the $1 million threshold in 2019 as the market slowed, the first time since 2016 that any cities fell off the list.
- More than half of these $1 million cities are in the San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles metros.
There are currently 218 million-dollar cities in the U.S. — cities with a typical home value of $1 million or more — three more than at the end of 2018 and 74 more than there were five years ago. The net addition of three $1 million cities is easily the lowest in recent years, a reflection of the slower market last year.
The typical home value in seven cities broached the mythical $1 million mark during the course of 2019 — Santa Ynez, Calif.; Telluride, Colo.; Forest Hills, Tenn.; Sierra Madre, Calif.; McLean, Va.; Moose, Wyo.; and Redondo Beach, Calif. The typical home value in four previously $1 million dropped below the $1 million threshold — San Jose, Calif.; San Quentin, Calif.; Lexington Hills, Calif.; and Laie, Hawaii.
