The number of million-dollar homes in Oklahoma County is on the rise.

While the 834 homes valued at $1 million or more only account for less than 1% of the total residences in the county, that number has jumped from just 26 homes valued at more than $1 million in 1998, according to the Oklahoma County Assessor’s Office.

Five homes in the county are valued at more than $4 million, 18 at more than $3 million, and more than 100 are valued at more than $2 million.

From 1998 to 2001, the number rose steadily. By 2001, there were 118 homes valued at more than $1 million, and six of those were valued at more than $2 million. The current numbers from the assessor’s office show million-dollar homes dotted around the city, with heavy concentrations in northwest Oklahoma City’s Gaillardia and Nichols Hills. The top 10 homes with the highest values are in those two areas. The most expensive in Oklahoma County is at Gaillardia, and is valued at $5,313,750 million; a close second is another Gaillardia abode valued at $5,264,663.

Five houses in the county are valued at more than $4 million, 18 at more than $3 million, and more than 100 are valued at more than $2 million. But home values from the county’s perspective can vary greatly based on the old real estate adage: location, location, location.

Larry Stein, chief deputy with the assessor’s office, says a home in Gaillardia and a comparable one in another addition can vary based on several factors. For one, he says there have to be comparable properties that have sold for more than $1 million nearby to justify that value. If a home sits alone on an acreage far from any similar product, its value will reflect market factors and location. Likewise, a house that might be valued at only several hundred thousand elsewhere might easily be valued at more than $1 million in a place like Gaillardia.

Oklahoma homeowners and home buyers, however, should realize that in the end, they are getting more bang for their buck with that $1 million in Oklahoma, and across all price ranges, for that matter. The state also has the 47th lowest property tax in the nation.

“If we have a million-dollar home in Oklahoma County, it would probably be $15 million in a place like San Francisco or New York City,” Stein says. “Even the homes selling for $250,000 in Oklahoma County would probably be $1.5 million in one of those places.”

Around the metro area, other counties report million-dollar homes. Canadian County has four residential properties valued at more than $1 million, and Cleveland County has 49.

Jim Schuff, 2011 president of the Central Oklahoma Homebuilders Association, says one thing that can drive up the building cost for comparable homes is the amenities, although those don’t necessarily make the homes worth more in the county’s eyes.

“When you get into those homes, they’re highly customized,” he says. “Typically, those people aren’t using ceramic tiles that cost $1.85 a piece.”

But Schuff says an apples-to-apples comparison of homes — and in response to homeowners who wonder why their house isn’t worth as much as a comparable one — is location. He says people often want to know what comparably sized homes in different neighborhoods sell for, or are worth per square foot.

“That would be like pricing a car by the pound,” he says. “Those numbers don’t make sense anymore.”

Mark Dale, owner of Carriage Homes, builds high-end homes, and constructed Gaillardia’s first residence in 1998. He says since the county assessor’s office does not enter a home, an appraiser can be hired to take into account things such as pricey woodwork, expensive fixtures and energy-saving additions for an owner looking to sell a house for higher than the assessed value.

In his experience, with homes that cost more than $1 million to build, Dale finds that some want the county to reflect that price for bragging rights, while others are much happier with a lower assessed value.

“There are those that if they have spent that money, they want their house to appraise for that,” he says. “Other people want that appraised value to be as low as possible because that’s the basis of the taxes they pay every year.”