Three of the top five luxury markets in the country are located in Silicon Valley, less than half an hour from the headquarters of tech giants Apple, Facebook, and Google, according to a new report by Coldwell Banker Previews International.
The top market is Woodside, Calif., based on the real estate firm’s analysis of sale prices and volume in markets with at least 25 sales of $1 million or higher last year.
Woodside, an equestrian community, is home to property owned by 24 of Forbes’ richest people in America. In 2012, Woodside made headlines when an estate there sold for $117.5 million, making it the most expensive private residence in California.
Related: 5 Reasons the Luxury Real Estate Market Is Booming
“Silicon Valley is the center of the technology universe, and buyers are flocking to our market to be a part of it,” Woodside-based Coldwell Banker sales associate Scott Dancer said in a statement. Two other Silicon Valley suburbs, Portola Valley and Hillsborough, rank third and fourth on the list, respectively.
Bal Harbour, Fla., places second on the list. The beachfront Miami-area town has enjoyed double-digit price growth in recent years, and offers buyers luxury condos and high-end shopping. Los Angeles suburb Thousand Oaks rounds out the list’s top five. Nearly 70 percent of the top markets ranked by Coldwell Banker are located on or near a body of water.
The share of homes selling for more than $1 million has increased since the stock market rebound in 2009, averaging about 2 percent since mid-2013, a level not seen since 2008, according to CoreLogic.
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