The annals of real estate will show that 2014 put an exclamation point on the U.S. economic recovery.

During 2014, some 13,767 properties valued at $10 million or more were sold for $350.9 billion, or an average of $25.5 million each. That is a dollar-volume increase of 15.5 percent over the $304.3 billion sold during 2013, and an 18.9 percent rise in the total number of properties exchanging hands.

The statistics, compiled by Real Capital Analytics, show that New York City alone accounted for a whopping $51.9 billion of the 2014 total on the strength of 1,085 properties sold for an average price of $47.9 million. Trailing the Gotham powerhouse by more than $30 billion was number two ranked Los Angeles with 684 properties sold for $21.7 billion, an average of $31.7 million apiece. Los Angeles was followed in the sales volume ranking by Washington, D.C., ($14.9 billion); San Francisco ($14.8 billion); and Chicago ($13.8 billion).

San Francisco had the highest ave