The Superstar-City Housing Premium Is Deflating
This chart tracks each metro's typical home value as a multiple of the national average - San Francisco, San Jose, New York, Austin, and Miami, monthly since 2000. The Bay Area premium has come well off its peak, Austin round-tripped its entire pandemic boom, and Miami is the outlier that kept its gains; together the lines show the superstar-city housing premium deflating.
What does it show?
A San Francisco home cost 2.3 times the national average in 2000 and peaked at 4.0; it is 3.1 now. Austin round-tripped its whole boom (peak 1.65, now 1.14), while Miami kept its pandemic gains.
Methodology
Each metro's Zillow Home Value Index (all homes, smoothed, seasonally adjusted) divided by the U.S. index, monthly from 2000-01. A multiple of 2.0 means the typical home costs twice the national typical home. The five metros are editorial picks chosen to span the story — two Bay Area superstars, the largest metro, the biggest pandemic boomtown, and the pandemic winner that kept its gains — not a fitted selection. Ratios of two index levels inherit both indexes' revisions; Zillow revises history when methodology changes. Data provided by Zillow Group; terms verified 2026-07-31.