The uber-wealthy city of Atherton has some of the most expensive homes in the U.S. But on a per-square-foot basis, it doesn’t have the most valuable real estate in the Bay Area.
With the notable exception of San Francisco, high mortgage rates and a volatile job market have cooled housing markets across the Bay Area. But home values in the region’s premier job centers still demand a high premium. In Palo Alto’s 94301 ZIP code, the typical home was valued at more than $2,000 per square foot in March, the most of any ZIP code in the Bay Area with at least 5,000 residents, according to data from real estate brokerage Zillow. Atherton’s was just a bit lower, at more than $1,900.
Compare that to the 94571 ZIP code that encompasses the town of Rio Vista and its surroundings in Solano County, where homes run for less than $300 per square foot. That means a $1 million home would have a square footage of roughly 3,600 square feet.
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Living space took on renewed value during the pandemic, when remote workers pressed into the outer Bay Area in search of extra bedrooms and home offices, driving up home prices in the region’s relatively affordable pockets…