Marin ZIP Among Nation’s Priciest: Report

MARIN COUNTY, CA — Researchers have compiled data that illustrates what anyone in the market for Central Marin real estate already knows: Surging property values have made the prospect of home ownership unattainable to all but the community's wealthiest.

That’s according to PropertyShark, an online real estate publication that ranks Marin’s 94957 in Ross as the nation’s fourth most expensive ZIP code. The median 2021 sale price of a home in this town will set buyers back a cool $4.6 million, the data-driven real estate blog reports.

The 94957 is among seven Marin ZIP codes that ranked among PropertyShark’s top 100. Marin’s 94970 (Stinson Beach), 94920 (Belvedere/Tiburon), 94939 (Larkspur), 94904 (Greenbrae), 94941 (Mill Valley), and 94960 (San Anselmo), are the others.

The Bay Area features 47 of the nation’s top 100 ZIP codes, making it the nation’s most expensive market.

The greater Los Angeles area has 30 top 100 ZIP codes and the New York metropolitan area 22.

A San Mateo County ZIP (94027) that counts the world’s most prolific 3-point shooter among its residents topped PropertyShark’s rankings for a fifth straight year.

Steph Curry paid $31 million in 2019 for his Atherton home.

If money’s no object, the unincorporated town’s average median sale price for 2021 is $7.5 million.

"Even as another uniquely challenging year — marked by the efforts of tackling the pandemic and boosting the economy — is coming to an end, the U.S. residential market continues to experience vertical price trends," researchers wrote in this year's PropertyShark report.

Here's how the top 10 priciest California zip codes ranked nationally:

• No. 1 Atherton, San Mateo County; $7,475,000
• No. 4 Ross, Marin County; Median Price: $4,583,000
• No. 6 Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County; $4,125,000
• No. 7 Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County; $4,103,000
• No. 8 Santa Monica, Los Angeles County; $4,058,000
• No. 9 Los Altos, Santa Clara County; $4,052,000
• No. 11 Los Altos, Santa Clara County; $3,856,000
• No. 12 Palo Alto, Santa Clara County; $3,800,000
• No. 14 Huntington Beach, Orange County; $3,625,000
• No. 15 Newport Beach, Orange County; $3,577,000

See the full report here.

To determine the priciest zip codes in the U.S., PropertyShark looked at residential transactions closed between Jan. 1 and Oct. 22 in 127 ZIP codes. The report accounts for condos, co-ops and single-and two-family homes.

In April 2020, California's home prices took a pandemic hit, dropping more than 30 percent. But a year later, median home prices rose above $800,000 for the first time ever, according to a report from the California Association of Realtors.

The Golden State's housing market is still riding an upward trajectory, and swiftly outpricing middle class and low-income residents. In August, the median home price for a single-family home shattered state records again, rising up to nearly $828,000, according to recent data.

"I was actually a little surprised that it surged past the previous peak," Wei said. "After it dipped in July, it actually bounced back and by just a couple of percentage points."

A shortage of housing for sale in the Golden State, low-interest mortgage rates during the pandemic and an increase in demand from the state's highest earners earlier this year are what pushed the state's median home price over that threshold in the spring. But at the tail end of the summer, home prices were still inching up, though at a much slower rate, Oscar Wei, lead economist with CAR, previously told Patch.

Inflation, spurred by a pandemic-wounded economy, has also raised home prices, Wei said.

"You probably have noticed, not just from news reports or from, from the media, but also from going to restaurants or going into a gas station, that there has been a little bit of a price increase," Wei said.

READ MORE: CA's Housing Prices Break Records Yet Again