The 10 Most Expensive Neighborhoods in the U.S.

 

It’s not just buyers and sellers of luxury homes. Real estate professionals across the U.S. wonder how long upscale can keep scaling up, and the July 2015 issue of Realtor® highlighted the most high-priced homes in the ten most expensive zip codes. Hint: New York might get the press, but California runs away with six out of ten.

 

Only one non-Big Two property made the list, in zip code 33109--Miami Beach. With its increasingly international flavor as well as being the sometime playground of such celebrities as Oprah, Don Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and many others, it’s a Caribbean business hub as well. The most expensive listing at $35 million is a 9,715 square foot penthouse condominium with an ocean view on Fisher Island Dr.

 

 

Some “Most Expensive” compilations leave out New York City, since so many high-end properties proliferate and presumably skew the data. That said, a Park Place penthouse in zip code 10007 with its own private elevator, library, media room, and a river view listed at $29.5 million. In the wings in Tribeca, zip code 10013, is a multi-story building adjacent to the near- iconic Cast Iron House. Believe it or not, it’s a fixer and being sold as-is for $65 million, with plans to convert the space into an “urban mansion.”

 

The Hamptons area has long been the go-to place for New Yorkers’ getaway, but in recent years, buyers have internationalized. In zip code11962, on Fairfield Pond Ln. in Sagaponack, you can buy a nifty mansion for a mere $$14.9 million. While the village only has a few hundred people, you could well run into Billy Joel or Bill and Hillary Clinton at the market.

 

 

On the other side of the country, Silicon Valley claims three spots. In this vibrant cauldron of uber-techhies and venture capitalists, the pace of sales and rising prices seems to go on without surcease. At $13.95 million, this Los Altos home in the hills in zip code 94022 on Elena Road has two master suites, an indoor spa, solar panels, and other amenities. Nearby in Palo Alto, home of Stanford University, is an unassertive traditional property for $8.398 million on Byron St. in zip code 94301.

 

If neither of those get your attention, zip code 94207 in Atherton, the most expensive town in Silicon Valley, features a 9,000-square-foot Tudor mansion for $28 million. Think of an amenity, and this home probably has it.

 

However, Southern California has broken away from its northern neighbor, if not the whole country. This zip code 90210 (yep, Beverly Hills) property on Lania Ln. may be the most expensive luxury home in the U.S., priced at $195 million. But if that home is a tad on the high side, consider the more laid-back Santa Monica, nearer to the Pacific. On E. Channel Road in zip code 90402, the compound known as Villa Ruchello, with 3.3 acres of land and 14,000 square feet of living space lists at $28.5 million.

 

Rounding out the top ten is zip code 92662, in Newport Beach. With 500 feet of waterfront, a French Provincial mansion with soaring ceilings and a domed skylight on Collins Island comes in at $6.995 million.

 

 

Are luxury properties a good investment? Generally speaking, that’s hard to say, since it depends on the individual goals and the timeline. According to a June 11, 2015 article in The Atlantic’s “Citylab” section, however, global capital demanding luxury properties in cities such as New York, San Francisco, Dubai, London, and several others has created its own market dynamic, where the usual supply-and-demand rules don’t seem to apply. Citing the high-end brokerage firm Corcoran Group’s CEO Pam Lieberman, the article notes New York City has regained its glamor, its panache, and as an increasingly vital financial center, it’s seen as a safe harbor for the world’s wealthy to park their money.

 

Will prices keep rising despite added supply? No one knows for sure, certainly. While the traditional real estate market ebbs and flows, though, the luxury home market across the U.S. appears to keep heading in one direction—up.