Small Towns With Expensive Homes

By Steve Gillman - 2011

We do not normally report on expensive homes here. In fact, our theme is the opposite. But once in a while it is fun to look at just how crazy real estate can be, and just how much people are willing to pay to live in a place. So the following is all about pricey homes in small towns. As you'll see, these are some of the most expensive towns in America.

Much of the information here was gathered from an article on msn.com and from zillow.com. The average prices mentioned are for December 2011. And the priciest small town is...

Sagaponack, New York

On average, a home here will cost you about $3.5 million. Of course, it will be a nice home; most likely with a large yard and a view of the ocean. One of the houses here is a 66,000-square-foot mansion.

Located on Long Island, Sagaponack has held the number one spot for expensive small towns for three years now. It has a population of under 700 residents. Home values dropped about 10% here last year, but prices are still far beyond the next town on the list.

Jupiter Island, Florida

Home to famous golfers and singers (Tiger Woods and Celine Dion have lived here), Jupiter island has close to 1,600 human residents. It is also a seasonal home to sea turtles, which come here to nest. Although prices have dropped by about 9% in the last year, the median home value is still $2.6 million, putting this small town solidly in second place.

Los Altos Hills, California

This town of 7,400 people has a median home value of $2.16 million. That is 5.6% higher than the previous year--one of the few places on the list that have seen rising prices. Los Altos Hills, considered part of Silicon Valley, used to be a seasonal destination for wealthy San Franciscans, but according to the 2010 census, that has changed. Now 1.7% of homes are for seasonal use.

The Rest of the List

As you might have guessed, homes cost the most in New York and California. In fact the rest of the top ten most expensive small towns are in these two states. All of these, by the way, have less than 10,000 people living in them. They are:

Water Mill, New York
Belvedere, California
Kings Point, New York
Hidden Hills, California
Woodside, California
Montecito, California
Sands Point, New York

Now to Get Back to Our Theme...

Even as the last of the top ten, Sands Point still has a median home value of $1.77 million. None of the towns listed are likely to have affordable homes for the middle class.

On the other hand, if you see that a town you like has expensive homes, take a second look at all the options. Sometimes the "median home value" doesn't tell the whole story. In Naples, Florida, for example, has a median home value of $491,000 because, well, there are a lot of expensive homes. But there are also some great three-bedroom condos available for under $100,000.

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