US Counties by Median Home Price($500,000+) (cost, state, largest, comparison)

[18Montclair]

California dominates the top-but the median incomes are lower than they should be considering cost--

Fortunately(or not), CAs property taxes are considerably lower for long time home owners.

County, State Median Home Value($500,000)
Marin, CA $918,700
San Mateo, CA $843,100
San Francisco, CA $830,700
New York, NY $808,200
Santa Clara, CA $758,100
Santa Cruz, CA $756,800
Orange, CA $670,600
Monroe, FL $662,200
Monterey, CA $658,700
Alameda, CA $651,800
Napa, CA $643,400
Santa Barbara, CA $641,800
Ventura, CA $641,300
Contra Costa, CA $622,200
Sonoma, CA $613,900
Arlington, VA $596,600
Kings, NY $589,300
Los Angeles, CA $589,100
Westchester, NY $582,300
San Luis Obispo, CA $578,900
Honolulu, HI $574,400
Loudon, VA $568,900
San Diego, CA $556,500
Alexandria, VA $555,100
Loudon, VA $544,400
Montgomery, MD $524,700
Nassau, NY $508,000
Queens, NY $506,900
El Dorado, CA $506,500
Morris, NJ $504,500
Rockland, NY $503,100

Table: Who Pays America's Highest Property Taxes? - Forbes.com

[rah]

I know this is nothing surprising...but damn, Bay Area:

1. Marin, CA $918,700
2. San Mateo, CA $843,100
3. San Francisco, CA $830,700
5. Santa Clara, CA $758,100
6. Santa Cruz, CA $756,800
10. Alameda, CA $651,800
11. Napa, CA $643,400
14. Contra Costa, CA $622,200
15. Sonoma, CA $613,900

Not to mention #9 (Monterey County) is just outside of the Bay Area as well.

[LakeShoreSoxGo]

must be rough on a sinking ship

[rah]

^We're all on a sinking ship.

[LakeShoreSoxGo]

I don't know about that one, but it would be interesting to see the stats on how many people in those counties are renters.

[sav858]

"Using statistics from the 2007 U.S. Census American Community Survey"

The median of many of these places in CA has to be significantly lower by now.

[LakeShoreSoxGo]

I thought the bay area finally fell to below 600k. Ive heard some areas have tanked to early 90's values to the point where whole zip codes are damn near under water .

[rah]

Don't know how i missed the fact that these are 2007 numbers...they're undoubtedly quite a bit lower now.

[tmac9wr]

Originally Posted by LakeShoreSoxGo

must be rough on a sinking ship

According to this study, San Francisco is the least-overpriced MSA of the 40 largest MSAs in the country. San Jose ranks 38th.

So that "sinking ship" seems to be doing alright for itself in comparison to everyone else.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by sav858

"Using statistics from the 2007 U.S. Census American Community Survey"

The median of many of these places in CA has to be significantly lower by now.

Well, here's 2008s numbers that were released a few months ago. These are the median values for the end of the year.

The $500,000+ club has shrank

2008
Marin, CA $922,600
New York NY $873,600
San Francisco, CA $824,300
San Mateo, CA $920,400
Sana Clara, CA $729,000
Santa Cruz, CA $660,400
Honolulu, HI $621,500
Orange, CA $616,400
Napa, CA $608,100
Alameda, CA $606,700
Kings, NY $596,000
Alexandria, VA $587,900
Westchester, NY $578,900
Maui, HI $574,100
Ventura, CA $566,200
Santa Barbara, CA $557,400
Contra Costa, CA $548,600
Monroe, FL $538,000
Monterey, CA $535,700
San Luis Obispo, CA $532,600
Los Angeles, CA $525,100
Fairfax, VA $523,600
Sonoma, CA $518,700
Nassau, NY $504,600
Queens, NY $502,600
Fairfield, CT $501,900