15 Cities With the Most Luxury Home Sales

Editor's Note: This story originally appeared on Inspection Support Network.

One of the dominant economic stories since the COVID-19 pandemic began has been the fiercely competitive housing market. The median sales price of a home in the U.S. topped $400,000 for the first time in 2021 amid aggressive buyer offers and bidding wars in markets all across the country.

The current challenges of the housing market have come from a potent combination of supply- and demand-side factors. The U.S. has underbuilt housing supply for years, with mortgage lender Freddie Mac estimating a shortage of 3.8 million housing units as of 2020.

Before the pandemic began, the median sales price of a U.S. home was $329,000. By the third quarter of 2021, the median sales price soared to a peak of $411,200. With more than half of homes now selling for more than $400,000, fewer options are available for lower-income or first-time buyers, and current homeowners looking to upgrade to larger or nicer homes are having to pay a higher price to do so.

But even before the recent spike, higher-end home sales in the U.S. had been increasing in share over time.

To determine the metros with the highest percentage of luxury home sales, researchers at Inspection Support Network analyzed the latest data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. The researchers ranked metro areas by the percentage of mortgaged home sales greater than $1 million. In the event of a tie, the metro with the larger median property value for homes greater than $1 million was ranked higher. Read more about our methodology at the end.

Here are the cities with the highest percentage of luxury home sales.

15. Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ

• Percentage of luxury home sales ($1 million or more): 3.11%
• Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,345,000
• Median income for $1M+ buyers: $350,000
• Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $410,000

14. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA

• Percentage of luxury home sales ($1 million or more): 3.38%
• Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,255,000
• Median income for $1M+ buyers: $315,000
• Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $390,000

13. Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN

• Percentage of luxury home sales ($1 million or more): 3.92%
• Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,335,000
• Median income for $1M+ buyers: $336,000
• Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $420,000

12. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX

• Percentage of luxury home sales ($1 million or more): 4.30%
• Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,375,000
• Median income for $1M+ buyers: $377,000
• Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $410,000

11. Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA

• Percentage of luxury home sales ($1 million or more): 4.31%
• Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,255,000
• Median income for $1M+ buyers: $346,000
• Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $400,000

10. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO

• Percentage of luxury home sales ($1 million or more): 4.98%
• Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,285,000
• Median income for $1M+ buyers: $300,000
• Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $420,000

9. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL

• Percentage of luxury home sales ($1 million or more): 6.13%
• Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,455,000
• Median income for $1M+ buyers: $451,000
• Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $490,000

8. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

• Percentage of luxury home sales ($1 million or more): 9.01%
• Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,305,000
• Median income for $1M+ buyers: $311,000
• Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $360,000

7. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

• Percentage of luxury home sales ($1 million or more): 12.11%
• Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,355,000
• Median income for $1M+ buyers: $320,000
• Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $400,000

6. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA

• Percentage of luxury home sales ($1 million or more): 12.28%
• Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,435,000
• Median income for $1M+ buyers: $378,000
• Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $420,000

5. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

• Percentage of luxury home sales ($1 million or more): 14.70%
• Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,305,000
• Median income for $1M+ buyers: $272,000
• Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $390,000

4. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA

• Percentage of luxury home sales ($1 million or more): 19.40%
• Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,375,000
• Median income for $1M+ buyers: $290,500
• Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $430,000

3. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA

• Percentage of luxury home sales ($1 million or more): 27.51%
• Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,405,000
• Median income for $1M+ buyers: $300,000
• Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $430,000

2. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA

• Percentage of luxury home sales ($1 million or more): 49.36%
• Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,425,000
• Median income for $1M+ buyers: $290,000
• Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $400,000

1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

• Percentage of luxury home sales ($1 million or more): 61.12%
• Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,455,000
• Median income for $1M+ buyers: $289,000
• Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $400,000

Methodology

To determine the metros with the highest percentage of luxury home sales, researchers at Inspection Support Network analyzed the latest data from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.

Only conventional, home purchase loans that originated in 2020 were considered in the analysis. The researchers ranked metro areas by the percentage of mortgaged home sales greater than $1 million.

In the event of a tie, the metro with the larger median property value for homes valued at greater than $1 million was ranked higher. To improve relevance, only metropolitan areas with at least 100,000 residents were included.