A record 146 U.S. cities became new “million-dollar cities” — cities in which the typical home value is at least $1 million — in 2021, Zillow data shows. There are two million-dollar cities in Metro Phoenix — Paradise Valley and Carefree — one more than the previous year.
Paradise Valley’s typical home value is $2,825,574, an increase of 32.1% from the previous year. Carefree’s typical home value is $1,201,329, an increase of 33.9% from the previous year. The typical home value across Metro Phoenix is $428,437.
There are now 481 cities in which the typical home value is at least $1 million. If current rates of appreciation hold, 49 more could join the $1 million club by midyear.
The number of cities that crossed the $1 million threshold in 2021 is almost triple that of cities reaching those heights in 2020, underscoring a record-setting year of home appreciation that saw the typical U.S. home gain 19.6% in value.
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The majority of million-dollar cities are clustered within a few large coastal regions; the San Francisco and New York metro areas lead the way with 76 million-dollar cities each. The Los Angeles metro is third with 57 cities, and San Jose is fourth with 22. In total, 60% of all million-dollar cities lie within eight metro areas, and almost half (44%) are in California.
“The surge in demand for housing last year sent home values skyrocketing, even in places where prices already were sky-high, and that helped tip a record number of cities into the million-dollar club,” said Jeff Tucker, Zillow senior economist. “The locations of these newly seven-figure towns bust the myth that everyone fled California and the Northeast last year, as California, Massachusetts and New York led the pack for the most new cities with home values above $1 million. Still, we’re seeing how the geography of wealth in the U.S. has begun to shift, as 2021 was the first year for both Idaho and Montana to place any cities on this list, and now those Western states boast three million-dollar cities each.”
Indian Creek, Florida, an exclusive 300-acre island in Biscayne Bay in Miami, is the most expensive city in the country, with a typical home value of around $28.3 million. The city has a total population of fewer than 100 residents, including a handful of high-profile celebrities such as Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen. In the No. 2 spot is Atherton, a small town on the San Francisco Peninsula where the typical home value sits around $7.7 million. Hunts Point, Washington; Jupiter Island, Florida; and Sagaponack, New York fill out the top five, with typical home values of roughly $6 million each.
“With such sharp increases in home prices over the last year, we’re seeing tons of demand come from current homeowners who’ve decided to tap into their home equity to move up into their dream home,” said Erik Throm, an agent with Fast Real Estate in San Francisco. “But even expensive homes are moving quickly in this market, and shoppers should be prepared with a pre-qualification letter and the help of a trusted local agent who knows the pros and cons of their specific neighborhood and how to structure a winning bid that still protects a buyer in an incredibly competitive and high-priced market. ”
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