Every year, the aggregate site Property Shark releases its rankings of the most expensive housing ZIP codes in America–and every year Atheron lands in the number one spot, or very close to it. It’s almost a tradition, by this point.
This year, the site followed up with a bit of a brainteaser: What are the least expensive homes in the country’s most expensive neighborhoods?
In a place like Los Altos, the next most expensive Bay Area city after Atherton, the cheapest homes currently for sale in exclusive ZIPs run between $950K and nearly $2.5 million for asking price, while in Palo Alto’s jet-set areas the cheapest current listing slides in just under $1 million.
And in San Francisco’s priciest designation–encompassing usual suspect neighborhoods of the Marina and Cow Hollow–the bottom of the barrel only goes as low as $799,000 for a condo on Greenwich Street.
But as for number one, bank-busting destination Atherton? The most attainable asset there is 16 Valley Road, currently on sale asking $4.99 million.
So those are all interesting tidbits, but note that they only encompass the homes for sale right now, which is a somewhat arbitrary distinction–what if a cheaper place sold just last week?
For the record, only 93 Atherton homes have sold so far this year–there are not very many homes or people in the entire city to begin with. But the cheapest is actually a far cry from the current $5 million floor–a $1.22 million-plus exchange just two weeks into January.
But that was one of only two Atherton homes sold this year for less than $2 million, and the median sale price citywide for 2021 to date is $7.9 million.
So, additional context widens the window into Atherton a little bit–but only a little bit. It is Atherton, after all.
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