“Million-Dollar” Homes and Wealth in the United States

Zhu Xiao Di

W04-1: A decade ago, million-dollar houses were uncommon. This is no longer true. Houses worth one million dollars or more are a fast growing segment of housing markets and are drawing media attention. Even the Census Bureau realized that its top category of property value for primary residences needed upgrading. It increased the top category from “$500,000 or more” in the 1990 Census to “$1,000,000 or more” in 2000. The increase in “million-dollar” homes is a combination of the caliber of homes built in the last decade and the rising value of existing homes…