There are now nearly twice as many $1m homes in the US than before pandemic

California had seven of top ten cities in new list

The Painted Ladies of San Francisco, California (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

There are now nearly twice as many $1m homes in the United States than before the Covid-19 pandemic.

A record 8.2 per cent of US homes were worth at least seven figures in February, an increase from 4.8 per cent two years earlier, according to real estate company Redfin.

San Francisco had the most million-dollar homes overall, while Anaheim in Orange County saw the biggest leap in homes worth at least $1m, nearly doubling to 55.3 per cent.

The Golden State accounted for seven of the top 10 cities with the largest share of million-dollar homes, with Honolulu, Seattle and New York completing it.

Redfin says that the Anaheim prices were driven by a housing shortage in the city, with the number of houses for sale dropping 42.5 per cent year over year in January.

“House hunters in Anaheim are regularly competing with dozens of other people,” said Redfin agent Linda Tessitore.

“Low mortgage rates and a lack of inventory are the main factors driving the surge in bidding wars and prices.”

San Francisco had the highest rate of million-dollar homes at 88.7 per cent, followed by San Jose at 85.9 per cent and Anaheim, stated Redfin.

Cities with the lowest number of homes worth more than $1m include Elgin, Illinois, at 0.1 per cent of the total.

Meanwhile, El Paso, Texas and Columbia, South Carolina had 0.2 per cent of homes in the million-dollar bracket.