Cape Cod may be frigid this time of year, but its real estate market is one of the hottest in the country. The famous New England vacation destination is home to one of the most desirable luxury real estate markets in the United States, a report Realtor.com released Tuesday found.
Barnstable is a primo summer playground and popular retirement destination for wealthy Bostonians and New Yorkers. So naturally, they want stately homes on the water. The combination of picturesque villages, scenic lighthouses, and lobster rolls—plus all those white-sand beaches—made the hook-shaped peninsula desirable during the pandemic.
According to the report, Barnstable has the sixth-hottest luxury market, which looked at how long the most expensive 1 percent of homes in a region were on the market. The median list price for the 1 percent in Barnstable was $15.9 million, well above the national median of $5.5 million.
The median price is up 16.6 percent year over year, thanks to low mortgage rates, remote workers, early retirements, and a pandemic-fueled desire for bigger homes with more open space.
Realtor.com examined the luxury properties for sale in January, how long they were on the market, and how many unique viewers looked at them online. Only the most expensive 1 percent of homes were considered. The cite noted: “The concept of luxury real estate is somewhat in the eye of the beholder — and the marketplace. High-end home in parts of the Southeast or Midwest might barely make it as a starter home in the priciest areas of the coasts.”
A second New England city also made the list: Portland, Maine, captured the No. 8 spot, with a median price tag of $4.9 million for the most expensive 1 percent of homes in the area. That number may soon rise, however. The report said that prices for luxury homes in the coastal city saw a 27 percent jump in January.
Here are the 10 cities in order
- Kahului, Hawaii
- San Luis Obispo, Calif.
- Sebastian, Fla.
- Hilton Head Island, S.C.
- Wilmington, N.C.
- Barnstable
- Austin
- Portland, Maine
- Salt Lake City
- Prescott, Ariz.
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