Metro

$ky-high living! Upper E. Side moves on up to the top

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For the first time ever, the priciest place to buy a home in the United States is in New York City — a slice of the Upper East Side, where the median asking price is $6.53 million.

The neighborhood bordered by Central Park and the East River and running from East 61st to 69th streets is the most expensive ZIP code — 10065 — in the country, bumping the pricey suburb of Alpine, NJ, from the No. 1 spot, according to Forbes.

Three other Manhattan ZIP codes — and one in the Hamptons — made the list of the nation’s 10 costliest.

Alpine, home to Sean “Diddy” Combs and Stevie Wonder, has a median house price of $5.75 million. But the surge in prices on the Upper East Side dropped Alpine to the No. 2 spot, followed by Atherton, in California’s Silicon Valley.

Sagaponack in Southampton village — known as ZIP code 11962 to the Postal Service — came in fourth for the second consecutive year. Hillsborough, just south of San Francisco, rounded out the top five.

“The main factor driving listing prices in America’s most expensive ZIP codes this year is lack of inventory,” Forbes said.

That and high demand pushed the West Village — ZIP code 10014 — into the Top Ten at No. 6. It’s now more expensive to buy there than in Beverly Hills’ famed 90210, which came in 12th.

Other Big Apple ZIP codes that ranked high were 10021 and 10075 on the Upper East Side — which were No. 8 and 10, respectively — and 10013 in TriBeCa, which was 14th.

Downtown neighborhoods, with a limited supply of premium lofts and townhouses, have surged in median price over the past two years, Forbes said.

Forbes came up with its list by calculating the asking prices for single-family homes and condominiums in 22,000 ZIP codes from June 28 to Sept. 28.

Co-ops were not included, and Forbes acknowledged that may have dropped some areas around Central Park to lower rungs on the totem pole.

“If you enter these markets as a buyer today, this is what you would experience,” said Michael Simonsen, chief executive of Altos Research, a California firm that helped Forbes compile the list.

“And if you are going to sell, this is your competition.”

Forbes added that wealthy foreign buyers have helped push up prices as they look at cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and Washington for a place to park their money.

More expensive ZIP codes/median home prices:

2. Alpine, NJ $5.75M

3. Atherton, Calif. $4.89M

4. Sagaponack, LI $4.18M

5. Hillsborough, Calif. $4.12M

6. West Village (10014) $4.11M

7. Los Altos Hills, Calif. $4.01M

8. Upper East Side (10021) $3.98M

9. Rolling Hills, Calif. $3.97M 10. Upper East Side (10075) $3.88M