One million dollars doesn’t buy a whole lot of house in the Bay Area, but it’s still the benchmark figure when it comes to defining a luxury home.
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage reported record sales volume of luxury homes in the United States and Puerto Rico in 2005, with the majority of its sales occurring in California.
Locally, Menlo Park, Atherton, Woodside and Portola Valley were among the top 50 cities nationwide in Coldwell Banker’s rankings of luxury home sales volume, according to figures recently released by the company.
Menlo Park held on to its number 14 ranking, just behind Miami Beach, with more than $507 million in luxury home sales in 2005, a 15 percent increase over 2004’s total sales of $442 million.
Atherton holds the number 26 spot, just behind Honolulu, with more than $371 million worth of sales in 2005. That’s an 8 percent drop from 2004, when Atherton was ranked 16th with $405 million in luxury home sales.
Woodside dropped from 31st to 37th place in 2005 with $293 million in luxury homes sales, placing it just ahead of Greenwich, Connecticut. In 2004, Coldwell Banker agents participated in $271 million-worth of home sales transactions.
Portola Valley ranked 45th, the same as in 2004, with $241 million in sales volume in 2005. While the ranking is the same, it’s a 20 percent increase over 2004’s sales volume of $202 million.
Avram Goldman, president and chief operating officer of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in the San Francisco Bay Area, said baby boomers are fueling the demand for luxury homes.
“This group has amassed great wealth through investments, inheritances and equity and appreciation of their homes,” Mr. Goldman said.
The brokerage participated in more than 31,000 luxury home transactions worth a total of $55.9 billion in 2005. The average sales price was $1.79 million. The largest single transaction was a home that sold for more than $39 million in Beverly Hills. Two Woodside properties made the list of the top 50 most expensive homes sold in 2005 — one sold for $18.5 million and another for $13.5 million.
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