Boston metro area lands on list of ‘million dollar markets’ once again

The metro Boston area has 95,518 homes valued at $1 million or more, according to a new report. Continue reading at realestate.boston.com.

The metro Boston area has 95,518 homes valued at $1 million or more. Matthew J Lee/Globe staff

June 28, 2022

When in comes to pricey properties, California and New York are the reigning champs, but don’t count out Massachusetts.

For the second consecutive year, Boston has ranked seventh on LendingTree’s list of U.S. metros with the highest share of million-dollar homes. Topping the count again was San Jose, which has nearly 200,000 homes valued at that price point or higher. This reflects a whopping 53% of owner-occupied homes in that area, according to the report the mortgage site released Tuesday.

By comparison, the metro Boston area has 95,518 homes valued at $1 million or more, which reflects 8.35% of its owner-occupied housing stock. Providence, which ranked 27th on the list, has 6,956 properties at that value, or 1.83% of its owner-occupied homes. The Rhode Island capital was 28th on the list in 2021.

The report looked at the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas and their share of owner-occupied homes with or without a mortgage and valued at $1 million or more. The information comes from the Census Bureau’s 2020 American Community Survey, which gives five-year estimates. Researchers divided the number of owner-occupied housing units priced at $1 million or more by the overall number of owner-occupied housing units in the area.

Jacob Channel, a researcher behind the report, said the information contains the latest available data.

“Certainly, with how crazy the market has been, the numbers could be higher, but we prefer prioritizing government sources like the census, even if they have a lag … they’re very clear about their methodology, and they’re speaking directly with people in the areas in which they’re gathering data,” Channel said. “It’s also important to note that while those estimates are for 2020, they did come out this year. So, they are the latest census data available.”

Million-dollar homes are “relatively uncommon” in most of the country, according to the report: “An average of only 4.71% of the owner-occupied homes in the nation’s 50 largest metros are valued at $1 million or more.”

These metros made the top 10 this year, holding the same ranks as in 2021:

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And these cities had the lowest share of million-dollar homes out of the 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas. This year, Louisville, Ky., jumped two spots and Hartford edged out Kansas City, Mo., for the No. 10 spot: