Rancho Santa Fe is one of the country's priciest ZIP codes
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San Diego is home to one of the most expensive ZIP codes in the country, according to a recent report.
Why it matters: Given the skyrocketing local housing market, the only surprising thing might be that we only have one.
State of play: The honor goes to Rancho Santa Fe, which is tied for eighth on the list, thanks to its median home listing at just under $6 million as of January, per the report from Realtor.com.
Context: The neighborhood's 92067 ZIP code has risen steadily in the rankings in another annual report from Property Shark, in part because of the overall increase in the San Diego region's home prices.
- Rancho Santa Fe started at #26 in 2016 and has been in the top 10 for the past four years.
- Other local ZIP codes have jumped up too. Del Mar is now 47th and La Jolla 60th.
The biggest shift started happening in 2022 as people moved to the region from more expensive markets during COVID, Eliza Theiss, a writer with Property Shark, tells Axios.
- Case in point: 92067 in Rancho Santa Fe, 92014 in Del Mar and 92118 in Coronado have all been in the top 100 since 2016.
- "But it was 2022 when Rancho Santa Fe suddenly climbed to the top 10," Theiss says.
Zoom in: Some RSF homes are clearly tipping the balance a bit.
- Here's an $85 million mansion with 26 bedrooms, 22.5 bathrooms and 15,000 square feet.
- Or a much more modest $55 million, 9-bedroom estate.
Flashback: Rancho Santa Fe has always been pricey, dating back to its origin in the 1920s as a planned community built around large estate lots, which keeps density low and home prices high.
- It also has a covenant that decrees how homes can look.
- The original covenant also banned selling homes to Black or Asian people — wording that was removed in 1973, per KPBS.
What they're saying: A $5 million home in "the ranch" is considered very affordable, luxury real estate agent Seth O'Byrne tells Axios.
O'Byrne also lives in RSF and said he bought the cheapest house he could find. Price tag? Just over $3 million.
- "That's literally the cost of some of the barns out here," he says.
The big picture: The top ZIP code on the Realtor.com list is just up north in Newport Coast, with the median price at $12.5 million as of January.
- It dethroned Miami Beach's Fisher Island this year.
- Something for "the ranch" to aspire to.