When it comes to the most expensive neighborhood in the United States, guess which place takes the concrete cake? Why, Pacific Heights, San Francisco, of course! However, the record-breaking billionaires’ playpen still doesn’t cut Forbes’ “America’s Most Expensive Zip Codes” annual list. Surprised? Read on, and you’ll learn why.
Somehow, Pacific Heights, with its exorbitant property prices, didn’t make it in. “The most expensive houses in San Francisco happen to share a zipcode with those among the least expensive,” explains luxury real estate agent Joel Goodrich. And we’ve only been talking zip codes, haven’t we! This month, the magazine published its annual list of America’s most expensive zip codes, with four out of the ten located in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Waspy neighborhood has watched the children of San Francisco’s leading families grow up, even as it has welcomed high-tech moguls like Apple’s Jonathan Ive and Zynga’s Mark Pincus besides also being home to bestselling author Danielle Steel. Clearly, the ultra-exclusive location is bathed in affluence with a smattering of elite schools, too, as well as stores like Marc by Marc Jacobs and Ralph Lauren strewn along with the neighborhood. But its 94115 zip code includes both Pacific Heights “GoldCoast,” and “The Western Addition,” an area about 20 blocks away from where real estate prices are significantly lower.
However, Goodrich, who works at Coldwell Banker Previews International in San Francisco, calculated listing data for single-family houses only in Pacific Heights discovered some shocking data, “if Pacific Heights had its own zip code, it would be the most expensive place to buy a single-family home in the United States.” The median price for a single-family home for sale in Pacific Heights is $10,250,000, a whopping $3.5 million more than Atherton’s $6,665,231, which is listed by Forbes magazine as the most expensive. Its height (pun intended) also beats New York’s iconic and highly popularized Upper East Side that comes in on number three.
With 25 years of experience selling properties for the City’s elite, Goodrich adds that among current listings in Pacific Heights is a $30 million estate on almost two-thirds of an acre, a $24.8 million mansion with a stunning Tiffany glass skylight, and a home with panoramic Golden Gate views for $16,995,000. “And those are just the listings I can tell you about,” continues he, explaining there are also a few “whisper listings” priced as high as $40 million, homes that are not marketed online or on the MLS. “I can only show those residences to the most qualified buyers, with total discretion on both sides, to protect everyone’s privacy.” We get it, Mr. Goodrich. In localities as these, privacy, after all, is key.
[Via – Prnewswire]
