The Bay Area housing market is splitting in two. San Francisco and the inner East Bay are seeing fierce bidding, while San Jose and Fremont are cooling. Here is how seven cities compare, using Redfin's three-month median sale price through September 2026 and Zillow's home value index as of Sept. 30.

Redfin median sale price (year-over-year change)

  • Palo Alto: $3,608,282 (+0.9%)
  • San Francisco: $1,579,248 (+14.9%)
  • San Mateo: $1,574,250 (-1.3%)
  • Berkeley: $1,411,328 (+0.8%)
  • Fremont: $1,370,347 (-6.5%)
  • San Jose: $1,349,357 (-5.0%)
  • Oakland: $772,632 (+3.0%)

Zillow home value index (one-year change)

  • Palo Alto: $3,592,240 (+5.9%)
  • San Mateo: $1,674,908 (+5.7%)
  • Berkeley: $1,442,475 (+8.0%)
  • San Francisco: $1,441,021 (+15.5%)
  • Fremont: $1,439,805 (-1.5%)
  • San Jose: $1,353,869 (-0.5%)
  • Oakland: $710,647 (+0.6%)

Where bidding wars are hottest (Redfin sale-to-list)

  • Berkeley: 126.6%
  • San Francisco: 115.0%
  • Oakland: 111.6%
  • Palo Alto: 107.1%
  • San Mateo: 104.9%
  • San Jose: 101.1%
  • Fremont: 101.0%

We have separate pages with more detail for each city in our Real Estate section.