With its landmark Mission building and historic playhouse, San Gabriel boasts one of California’s best-looking downtowns.
Aside from its architecture, however, the town of about 40,000 residents is in many ways unremarkable. That has not stopped it from joining the list of million-dollar neighbourhoods, making it one of hundreds of communities in the US where median home values are more than $1 million.
While that title was once reserved for some of the most sought-after places in America, the number has risen from 119 in 2014 to 550 today, according to new data. The boom in property prices has made even traditionally middle-class communities out of reach for many.
The rise is partially the result of the so-called mortgage lock-in effect, where homeowners are unwilling