These 10 US cities account for 33% of the nation’s residential real estate

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The value of all residential real estate in New York City is equivalent to the gross domestic product of France.

That surprising — though not astonishing — statistic was among the findings in LendingTree’s new report. It ranks 50 U.S. cities by overall residential value alongside the gross domestic product of comparable nations around the world.

The report found that more than one third of the country’s $28.4 trillion in residential real estate value is concentrated in 10 American cities. Besides New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami all ranked in the top 10.

New York City, tops LendingTree’s list with a total residential real estate value of $2.55 trillion. A distant second was Los Angeles, with $2.18 trillion, which is the equivalent to Brazil’s GDP. L.A. does best New York in median house value though: $622,000 compared to $454,000.

California is the only state to have more than one city in the top 10. San Francisco follows at No. 3 on with $1.25 trillion in total value, which is equal to Mexico’s GDP. San Jose, the heart of Silicon Valley, rounds out the top 10 with $535 billion in total value. It’s also the only city in the top 50 with a median home value over $1 million.

Chicago’s $813 billion in residential value makes it the fourth most valuable city and comparable to oil giant Saudia Arabia. Miami ranks seventh in the nation with $648 billion in total value, roughly the equivalent of Argentina.

Home values across U.S. metropolitan cities are generally trending upward, but homes in some cities are seeing eye-popping rise.

It’s not surprising that San Jose’s median home value is over $1 million. Homes there were gaining around $800 in value per day as of this spring, the fastest appreciation in the country, according to one report.

In turn, buyers are faced with the decision to look elsewhere, and possibly far from their workplace. Or, they must spend a bigger share of their income on their home. First-time buyers needed nearly 23 percent of their income to afford a home, according to a second-quarter report. That was a slight rise over the preceding three-month period.