The Millionaire List: is D.C. out of touch when it comes to the recession?
August 6th, 2009 by Jeff WardIn the 12 months from May 2008 to May 2009, The District of Columbia led the U.S. with the highest percentage of homes sold over $1 million at 7.14 percent. California leads the nation in overall volume of homes sold for over $1 million but is fourth behind Hawaii (6.95 percent), Connecticut (3.87 percent), and D.C. (7.14 percent) in percentage at 3.26 percent.
Furthermore, the unemployment rate for the D.C. metro region is at 6.2 percent, much lower than the 9.5 percent national average. There is a fascinating article about the muted effects the recession has had on D.C and its residents by Victoria McGrane – D.C. Plays “Rich Uncle” in Recession.
Of all the states where enough data was gathered to report on percentage, Michigan was the lowest at 0.08 percent. With the continuing decline of American automobile companies in the area, climbing unemployment, and soaring foreclosures, it would stand to make sense there are less opportunities for people to both earn and spend millions on homes in the area.
The top 20 by percentage are listed below:
| State | Total Sales | Sales Over $1 Million | % |
| D.C. | 4,763 | 339 | 7.1% |
| Hawaii | 11,018 | 766 | 7.0% |
| New York | 96,096 | 4,937 | 5.1% |
| Connecticut | 29,292 | 1,135 | 3.9% |
| California | 384,233 | 12,492 | 3.3% |
| Massachusetts | 58,135 | 1,811 | 3.1% |
| New Jersey | 65,184 | 1,684 | 2.6% |
| Washington | 60,921 | 1,150 | 1.9% |
| Maryland | 56,839 | 938 | 1.7% |
| Florida | 253,369 | 3,900 | 1.5% |
| Colorado | 80,171 | 1,215 | 1.5% |
| Illinois | 94,197 | 1,312 | 1.4% |
| Wyoming | 2,758 | 38 | 1.4% |
| Rhode Island | 9,636 | 120 | 1.2% |
| Virginia | 76,689 | 917 | 1.2% |
| South Carolina | 39,528 | 382 | 1.0% |
| Arizona | 90,113 | 862 | 1.0% |
| Vermont | 3,714 | 30 | 0.8% |
| New Hampshire | 7,732 | 59 | 0.8% |
| North Carolina | 88,558 | 668 | 0.8% |
