President Trump likes to brag that he’s accustomed to the best. Now, after his swearing-in on Friday, he can finally lay claim to living in the most high-end home America has to offer.
The White House is worth $397.9 million, making it the most valuable home in the nation, according to a new estimate that online real estate marketplace Zillow released earlier this week. The new home, which has 132 rooms and a kitchen capable of serving 140 guests, will be a significant upgrade in value for Trump, whose three-story Manhattan penthouse has been estimated to be worth only around $100 million.
On the campaign trail, Trump frequently expressed a preference for staying at home in New York City as often as possible, and voiced doubts about whether he’d move in to the White House if elected. Two weeks after the election, however, he announced that he would take up residence there, and that his wife, Melania Trump, and 10-year-old son Barron would join him there after the school year ended.
The White House isn’t private property, of course, and it’s never been bought or rented on the open market. If it were a private home, at six floors and 55,000 square feet the White House could theoretically be rented for a shade under $2.1 million a month, according to Zillow, based on prevailing prices in the Washington, D.C., area. Buying the 18-acre home using a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage would be the more affordable play, provided the buyer laid out a 20% down payment. That would leave the owner with carrying costs of close to $1.6 million per month. (Presidents and their families live there for free.)
The White House’s value grew 15% in the eight years the Obamas lived there, Zillow estimated, with another 3% increase anticipated over the next year, given expected market conditions. And naturally, the White House is not immune to the rich getting richer phenomenon: The double-digit jump in value over the course of former President Obama’s two terms bested the 9% growth the general housing market saw over the same period. (The overall Washington, D.C. market was actually far hotter over that span, with median home prices up almost 50%.)
High-end assets appreciating faster than the average American’s net worth was something of a theme during the Obama administration: Stocks rose 12% annually during his two terms, even as overall U.S. economic growth was relatively tepid.
