American housing is usually quoted as one national number, and the national number is the least interesting one available. This is our standing reference for what the expensive end of the United States is doing, built on the same index for every place in it.
How we price these, and what the figures are
Every figure on this page comes from the Zillow Home Value Index, downloaded free from Zillow’s published research data. Zillow releases the same index split into thirds by value, which is what makes the top of a market readable against the top of another market rather than against an average that mixes in everything below it. That is grade-three evidence and weaker than the auction results elsewhere on this site: ZHVI estimates what homes are worth, smoothed and seasonally adjusted, rather than recording what anybody paid. Every article built on it says so.
1. Nine of the Ten Most Expensive Counties in America Are Resort Towns. Manhattan Is Ninth.
The most expensive county in the United States is a ski town. Pitkin County, Colorado carries a top-tier value of $10,114,588, and nine of the ten most expensive counties in the country are ski resorts or islands. Manhattan is ninth. Read the full piece and its sources.
2. No US Resort County in the National Top 20 Lost Value. Eleven Below It Did.
Thirty-eight resort counties, and the line between the ones rising and the ones falling is price. Not one of the twelve inside the national top twenty lost value; eleven below that line did. The correlation between rank and direction is -0.441, which is reported and is not the argument. Read the full piece and its sources.
3. The Top Third of US Housing Lagged the Bottom in 65% of Metros. In the Biggest 25, It Led.
Asked of metropolitan areas rather than counties, the answer flips with the sample. Across all 891 metros the top third of housing lagged the bottom in 64.6 percent of them; across the largest 25 it lagged in only 20 percent. Read the full piece and its sources.
4. New York City Has Nine Property Transfer Tax Thresholds. Crossing the $10 Million One Costs $100,000.
Before any of that comes the tax on the transfer itself, and in New York City every rate is charged on the whole price rather than on the part above the threshold. Nine thresholds run from $500,000 to $25 million, and crossing the ten million dollar line costs $100,000 of extra tax for one extra dollar of price. Read the full piece and its sources.
5. The Same $10 Million House Costs $532,500 to Transfer in New York and $70,000 in Florida.
The same $10 million house costs $532,500 to transfer in New York City and $70,000 in Florida, because Florida charges one rate with no thresholds in it at all. The multiple grows with the price, from 4.0 times at $1 million to 8.5 times at $25 million. Read the full piece and its sources.
Sources
All values are the Zillow Home Value Index for single-family homes and condos, smoothed and seasonally adjusted, downloaded from Zillow’s public research data on the date each article states. The county files carry 3,074 counties and the metro files 891 metropolitan areas. Zillow publishes them without a key or a license. Ranks, medians, correlations and every multiple are our own arithmetic on those files. Where an attribution could not be read from the file itself, such as which Montana county contains the Big Sky ski terrain, it was checked against the FCC’s Census area service rather than assumed.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most expensive place to buy a house in America?
By county, Pitkin County in Colorado, which covers Aspen and Snowmass. Its top third of housing carried a Zillow Home Value Index of $10,114,588 in June 2026, against $402,879 for the median American county. Nantucket County is second at $6,277,364 and Teton County in Wyoming, which is Jackson Hole, is third at $5,812,440. New York County is ninth.
Are American luxury home prices rising or falling?
Both, and which one depends on where you look rather than on the calendar. Of 38 resort counties measured in June 2026, 27 gained top-tier value over the year and 11 lost it, and every one of the fallers ranked outside the twenty most expensive counties in the country. Across metropolitan areas the top third of housing lagged the bottom third in 64.6 percent of all 891 metros while leading in the largest 25.
Why use Zillow rather than an official index?
Because the United States has no equivalent of HM Land Registry’s price index. The federal series that exist are either repeat-sales indices published as index points rather than dollars, or they are quarterly and national. Zillow’s file is monthly, free, published in dollars, available down to county level and split into thirds by value, which is the combination the comparisons on this desk need. The cost of that choice is stated on every article using it: ZHVI is an estimate produced by a company with a commercial interest in American housing, not a register of completed sales, and it is weaker evidence than the auction results and the land registry figures elsewhere on this site.