The priciest ZIP Codes in the nation

By Rusty Weston | 24/7 Wall St.com – Tue, Nov 20, 2012 2:11 AM EST

This is the priciest home listed on Yahoo! Homes in the nation's priciest ZIP Code. Click the photo to see det …A little-known Northern California town called Ross, established more than 100 years ago on a tract of land owned by a Scottish liquor wholesaler named James Ross, offers some of the nation’s most expensive homes. The area, a San Francisco suburb north of the Golden Gate Bridge, is a leafy retreat for celebrities, executives and a few politicians.

But even Ross can’t keep pace with Alpine, N.J., where the median home sale is $6.7 million and prices have jumped 41% year over year, according to Realtor.com. Where Ross flies under the radar of media scrutiny, residents of Alpine inevitably get attention. In a town where single-family homes sometimes list for more than $50 million, the current most expensive listing on Yahoo! Homes is a seven-bedroom, 10-bathroom mansion for $14,750,000.
Though wealthy neighborhoods hold their appeal through storms, recessions and stock bubbles, even Ross stumbled considerably in recent years before bouncing back with a vengeance in the last 12 months. The greater San Francisco area saw a 38.6% decrease in home values from 2006 to 2011, according to Jennifer DuBois, a director at Realtor.com, which supplied 24/7 Wall St. with data about America’s 10 most expensive ZIP Codes for home buyers. This year, median list prices in Ross’ ZIP Code, 94957, have shot up more than 73% from a year ago.
Yahoo! Homes is publishing the top five ZIP Codes. To see the rest of the top 10, visit 24/7 Wall Street:

In all 10 luxury ZIP Codes, where median list prices in September were at least $2.8 million and as much as $6.7 million, residents are incredibly wealthy. Median household income in some of these areas is $30,000 to $50,000 higher than the U.S. median income of $51,914. In the United States in 2010, 4.2% of households earned $200,000 or more. In school districts in five of these ZIP Codes, at least 25% of households earned $200,000 or more. While Ross’ recovery is impressive, wealthy neighborhoods are not leading the nation’s housing recovery. “We have started to see a recovery in key housing indicators such as median list price and inventory,” says DuBois of the nation’s wealthiest neighborhoods. “But these luxury areas are not recovering as fast as some less expensive areas, such as Bakersfield, Calif. or Oakland, Calif.”
The housing recovery is benefiting from tighter inventories and eager buyers willing to pay higher prices to make a purchase — especially in these high-end markets. Nearly every neighborhood on the list has a smaller inventory of homes for sale than it did one year ago. And top-notch neighborhoods are anything but a secret: DuBois says that these ZIP Codes are all in the top 50 most-searched-for metropolitan statistical area on Realtor.com.
Another factor driving competition for high-end homes is an increase in international buyers, particularly in the past three years, says DuBois. And these buyers aren’t bottom-feeding for bank-owned properties. They are looking for homes in the $250,000 to $500,000 range, well above the national median list price of $191,500. There’s also been a surge in demand for homes priced at more than $1 million. Even more telling: More than half of these international purchases are made in cash, a ratio that has continued to rise since 2007, according to Realtor.com.
Based on home price data provided by Realtor.com, 24/7 Wall St. identified the U.S. ZIP Codes with the highest average listing price for the month of September. Realtor.com also provided September values, as well as one-year and one-month changes in list prices, median age of inventory, and total number of homes listed. In order to reflect local economic measures, 24/7 Wall St. identified school districts within each ZIP Code, and obtained data from the U.S. Census Bureau on income, poverty, and educational attainment for 2010, the most recent available data for these areas.
These are the most expensive neighborhoods in America.

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In the 94027 ZIP, the priciest Yahoo! Homes listing is this eye-popping $34,888,000 mansion. Click to see more …5. ZIP: 94027 in Atherton, Calif.
> Median list price: $4.30 million
> Year-over-year change: -4.5%
Atherton has the feel of an exclusive club where membership costs continue to soar as prospective members wait to pounce on the next mansion that comes up for sale. Silicon Valley initial public offerings have helped fuel sales and the town has made a strong post-recession recovery. Unlike some affluent neighborhoods on this list, Atherton boasts exceptional public schools that help offset the San Francisco Bay Area’s notoriously high cost of living. Median income in the greater bay area in 2010 was $71,975, more than $20,000 higher than the national average.

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In the 81656 ZIP, the priciest Yahoo! Homes listing is a brand-new riverfront estate. Click to see more photos …4. ZIP: 81656 in Woody Creek, Colo.
> Median list price: $4.93 million
> Year-over-year change: 26.4% Visitors may find it difficult to believe that this once-rustic part of northwest Colorado, located near the posh community of Aspen, is centered on the tavern where Hunter S. Thompson held court. In recent decades, the presence of other iconoclastic artists, including rock stars, has further strengthened property values. Inventory has held steady since last year, and home prices continue their steep ascent, rising by 26.44% between September 2011 and September 2012.

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In the 10013 ZIP, the priciest Yahoo! Homes listing is this $48 million penthouse. Click to see more photos and …3. ZIP: 10013 in New York, N.Y.
> Median list price: $5.10 million
> Year-over-year change: Unavailable New York City neighborhoods in this ZIP Code, which include Greenwich Village and Tribeca, are home to some of the nation’s best jazz clubs and feature many stately homes built more than 100 years ago and condos priced at the top of the market. Demand is so high for this once-Bohemian neighborhood that some one-bedroom apartments command $1 million or more. Some buildings in the area were damaged following Sandy, which could mean that inventory may get even tighter.

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In the 94957 ZIP, the priciest Yahoo! Homes listing is this $12.5 million manor, built about a century ago. Click …2. ZIP: 94957 in Ross, Calif.
> Median list price: $5.30 million
> Year-over-year change: 73.6% Ross residents cherish the comforts of living in one of the nation’s wealthiest enclaves, but one service they don’t have is mail delivery directly to their homes — they must pick up letters at the local post office. Still, it’s not a long walk — and an easy drive in a Range Rover — as the town is only 1.6 square miles and the downtown, known as Ross Commons, is within easy reach. Like other towns and neighborhoods on this list, limited housing inventory is pushing up prices,which rose 73.61% between September 2011 and September 2012.

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Here's another view of the priciest Yahoo! Homes listing in the priciest ZIP Code, 07620. It's $14,750,000, a newly …1. ZIP: 07620 in Alpine, N.J.
> Median list price: $6.70 million
> Year-over-year change: 41.1% Alpine residents may feel secure behind their iron-gated entrances, but they did not escape Sandy’s wrath, which knocked out power through much of the town and across Northern New Jersey. Mayor Paul Tomasko reported that the storm damaged many homes, but residents of this ultra-upscale enclave are likely to begin restoration efforts immediately. It’s not surprising that a town with so many celebrities, including Stevie Wonder, Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock, enjoys a very low crime rate. It’s easy to understand the appeal of Alpine, which is located just 15 miles from Midtown Manhattan. Median household income in the area’s Tenafly Borough School District, was more than $125,000 in 2010, more than double the U.S. average.
To see the rest of the top 10 most expensive neighborhoods in America, visit 24/7 Wall Street.


Source(http://homes.yahoo.com/news/the-priciest-zip-codes-in-the-nation.html)