Last year's most expensive home — an 11,000-square-foot property in the Van Ness Extension — was sold for $3.9 million by Rod Aluisi of Aluisi Real Estate in Fresno. Photo via Aluisi

America’s housing market has crossed a new threshold with a record share of million-dollar homes.

A study by real estate website Redfin found that 8.2% of U.S. homes were valued at $1 million or more in February, climbing from 4.8% in February 2020 and 5.8% in February 2021.

And while the Bay Area still reins supreme, the percentage of Fresno homes that need seven figures to describe their worth increased a full point — tripling from .5% to 1.5% over the past two years.

In the Fresno/Clovis area, 19 home sales were pending this week above seven figures — five in Clovis and 14 in Fresno. Over the past six months, 72 homes sold above $1 million with 19 above $1.5 million. One home on Van Ness Avenue in the 93711 zip code sold for $3.8 million while another on Charles Avenue with a golf course view sold for $2.55 million, according to Danyelle Conner, real estate agent with London Properties.

Tulare County experienced its own million-dollar home boom.

In 2020, there were only 11 homes sold that topped that number. From Jan. 1 2021 to date, 33 homes sold above a million dollars, according to the Tulare County Multiple Listing Service. The highest sale was for $4.8 million in 2021. The highest sale in 2020 was $2 million.

Conner’s mom — London Properties co-founder Paula Conner — used to say Fresno is a very price-per-square foot town. In other areas, nobody looks at that ratio, but just as her mother found it to be true, so has she.

As recently as a few years ago, a house reaching $300 per square foot had to be completely dialed in — in a good area and with everything a homebuyer could want.

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Now, resale homes are approaching the $500 per square foot mark.

The usual suspects for million-dollar homes in the area include 93711 and 93730 in Fresno and 93619 in Clovis. But Conner has even begun seeing million-dollar homes sold in 93704, “which never used to be the case,” she said.

The 93704 area code is bounded roughly by McKinley Avenue to the south, Blackstone Avenue to the east, Herndon Avenue to the north and Palm Avenue to the west.

Conner says the perfect house today is the single-story home with four-plus bedrooms, a three-car garage and a pool.

“You’re going to sell that house all day long,” Conner said.

Add-ons such as solar make a home even more attractive. Unlike areas with higher shares of million dollar homes, a house with a price tag that high doesn’t need work, Conner said.

Low inventory continues to be the driving factor explaining the rise in home values, coupled with — until recently — persistently low interest rates. The Federal Reserve Wednesday increased its Federal Funds Rate by a quarter percentage point. The Fed Funds Rate dictates the interest banks pay to borrow, and it also acts as a signal to mortgage companies to increase their rates. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has prescribed more rate hikes in the future.

During the four weeks in February, the number of homes for sale nationwide dropped 50% to an all-time low of 456,000, according to RedFin. This helped spur a 33% rise in the median home price to $363,975.

“The surge in housing values has turned many homeowners into millionaires, but has pushed homeownership out of reach for a lot of other Americans,” said Redfin Deputy Chief Economist Taylor Marr. “Incomes have increased, but not as fast as home prices, which means many people are stuck renting or have to move somewhere more affordable if they want to buy a home.”

Of the top 10 metros for million-dollar residences, California is home to seven.

Nearly nine-in-10 homes in San Francisco and San Jose are valued at $1 million or more — 88.7% and 85.9%, respectively.

The next highest market was Anaheim, which also experienced the biggest surge, increasing its share 28% to end at 55.3% of its homes worth at least $1 million.

Closer to home, interest rate hikes may slow down access to capital, but with low inventory, Conner sees the fundamentals of the market still pushing prices upward.

“It’s anyone’s guess if this going to keep going,” Conner said.