If rising house prices scare you, then the best place not to look is the average price for active listings. Unless you are made of stern stuff, you should look away now.

Reviewing the average price for single-family detached homes by ZIP code we see some eye-watering numbers. Here are some examples with UCB and CCBS listings excluded:

We now have 28 ZIP codes with an average price of over $1 million for active listings, 20 more than 3 years ago.

Some caveats are in order:

• sample sizes are low - ZIP codes are often very small and the number of homes for sale may be minuscule right now
• average prices are often much higher than median prices - the majority of homes sell for less than the average price, something many people do not realize

Nevertheless, there are many ZIP codes in the above list where, if you are shopping for a home, you are looking at an average list price more than double what you would have seen 3 years ago. You are also looking at a tiny number of homes for sale compared with 3 years ago.

Market incites provided by the Cromford report.