Think South Florida Housing Market is Expensive?
Try La Jolla, California.
According to Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, Inc., the San Diego suburb has topped the list of most expensive housing destinations for a third consecutive year. The average list price of $1.88 million for a typical four-bedroom, two-bathroom home is the nation’s most expensive, as determined by Coldwell Banker’s Home Price Comparison Index (HPCI). The firm’s comparison of homes in typical neighborhoods across the United States bases its data on the average sales prices of properties sold through July 2005.
Much has been made of rapidly increasing prices throughout South Florida — the Sun-Sentinel reports that the median price of existing single-family homes rose more than 25 percent in Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Broward Counties between August of this year and last year — but the Sunshine State’s residents can take solace in the fact that their housing rates are still relatively reasonable considering the demand.
Below is a list of the median four-bedroom home prices in some of Florida’s popular housing markets, according to the HPCI:
- Pensacola — $222,258
- Coral Springs — $387,141
- Miami — $671,854
While some of South Florida’s markets are certainly on the expensive side, consider some alternatives — and the fact that none of the following areas even make the nation’s top ten (which consists of nine California locations and Greenwich, Conn.):
- Chevy Chase, Md. — $829,750
- Rye, N.Y. — $829,750
- Boston, Mass. — $1,260,000
As you can see, it could be a lot worse. If you are in the market for a new home, make use of studies such as this to determine where to get the most out of your money. The same goes if you are thinking of selling your home and relocating. On the opposite end of the spectrum from La Jolla? Killeen, Texas. $131,328!
Okay, so it’s Texas. But that’s a good deal.
