Explore published city analyses alongside market data for 25 cities and towns. Articles distinguish sales history, local planning evidence and the questions that remain open.
Willow Village is paused in the city's latest posted update; Belle Haven has a completed campus. Separate those facts before paying for a home's future promise.
Two similar flats can involve different ownership and financing. Compare the documents, shared obligations and conversion evidence before relying on a lower asking price.
A historical Woodside comparison shows how the headline changes with the season. Check sales counts before applying a city median to a particular home.
Turn flood, earthquake and fire map results into useful questions before buying. Record the source, map date and unresolved issue without mistaking a blank map for a safe home.
A $50,000 appraisal gap need not mean $50,000 more cash. Use a fictional purchase worksheet to separate price, lender-approved financing, deposits and savings left after closing.
Bay Area housing prices by county for September 2026, with year-over-year changes and practical steps to compare cities, houses, condos and ownership costs.
Compare Bay Area home prices with matching home types, dates and sales samples. Understand median versus average prices, then check specific homes and ownership costs.
Turn an insurance allowance into an address-specific check: compare the quote documents, resolve outstanding conditions, and confirm coverage timing before relying on a home budget.
A fictional March purchase explains two supplemental-tax periods, a $13,200 ongoing annual tax model, and the documents that separate closing adjustments, mortgage escrow and bills after closing.
Build a dated evidence timeline after an open house: match the parcel, separate a claimed addition from documented work, and follow up when public records disagree or a search returns no match.
Look beyond condo dues: follow a fictional reserve balance through project payment dates, compare a higher bid, and use a practical checklist for assessments, insurance and lender questions.
Separate monthly ownership costs, remaining cash to close and savings after the move. A fictional $1.2 million purchase shows how deposits, credits, repairs and reserves fit together without double counting.
A fictional $960,000 mortgage comparison shows why $312 less per month can require $12,000 more upfront—and how a two-year versus five-year loan horizon changes the result.
San Francisco’s summer 2026 median was 43.8% higher for single-family homes and 104.2% higher for condos/co-ops. See the counts, per-square-foot comparison and limits before choosing a city.
Burlingame’s summer 2026 single-family median was 127.7% higher. For condos, the price-per-square-foot gap was only 6.1%, with small samples. Here is how to use the difference in a home search.
Redwood City’s summer 2026 single-family median was 9.9% higher, but its median price per square foot was 0.4% lower. Compare both home types and 15 summer windows before narrowing your search.
An extra $600 a month requires about $99,000 less in purchase price under one transparent scenario. Compare net HOA costs, financing and purchase cash before deciding how much of a condo discount remains.
Across 14 covered cities, summer 2026 prices dipped from spring but were higher than a year earlier in 13 cities. Use the same-season history before assuming a buying discount.
Nine screened Peninsula cities had more single-family inventory, yet seven had flat or faster time to contract. Compare the same-season evidence before assuming a home offers a discount.
Check a Bay Area home’s school district, attendance rules and enrollment year before buying. Use the public-school directory, official address lookups and a practical checklist to separate nearby schools from confirmed placement.
Two fictional condos show how a $100,000 price difference becomes a $69 monthly tradeoff after HOA charges, repairs and financing. Reproduce the calculation, test the uncertain inputs and save your own comparison.
A buyer’s questionHave I separated home types before comparing prices?
Single-family homes and condos have different price levels and histories. The Family Zoning Plan changes the development framework, but its effects need to be measured neighborhood by neighborhood.
A buyer’s questionWhat still has to happen between an adopted plan and a benefit?
The June 2026 plan creates a concrete development story to follow. Current sales history helps frame the market, but the plan’s long-term capacity is not completed housing.
A buyer’s questionCould the mix of homes sold explain conflicting price headlines?
The recent sale-price median rose sharply while median price per square foot fell. That disagreement is a warning against turning a small sample into an appreciation forecast.
A buyer’s questionWhat would I receive for the additional cost?
Separate Palo Alto’s single-family and condo price tiers, then evaluate local plans at their actual scale. North Ventura is a place-specific framework, not a citywide appreciation forecast.
A buyer’s questionDo the single-family and condo markets tell the same story?
A substantial home-type split makes Mountain View useful for comparing actual ownership choices. North Bayshore’s planning framework adds a separate question about delivery and access.
A buyer’s questionAm I comparing the right town and housing market?
Do not borrow Los Altos’s condo market or policy story for Los Altos Hills. Its single-family history and documented housing-element changes need their own analysis.
A buyer’s questionDoes the evidence for my home type match the city's reputation?
Recent home-type differences matter more than a single Los Altos growth number. Downtown housing opportunities remain a policy question whose outcome should not be priced as certain.
A buyer’s questionWhat am I paying for in the actual home, beyond the city median?
A large increase in the recent sales median is not an appreciation estimate for every home. Housing opportunity sites also complicate a blanket claim that local supply can never change.
A buyer’s questionDoes a coastal location fit my actual routines and priorities?
The coast should be compared as a housing and lifestyle choice, with its own planning context. Recent medians do not establish a scarcity-driven appreciation premium.
A buyer’s questionHow does choosing a condo change the price and ownership questions?
The single-family and condo/co-op series tell different recent stories. Compare them separately, then connect housing plans and public-space policy to the location you would actually use.
A buyer’s questionWhat should I check instead of assuming a lower-priced city will catch up?
Recent single-family medians remain far below Palo Alto’s, but the gap is not a like-for-like discount. The Ravenswood plan creates specific delivery questions worth following.
A buyer’s questionHow much can I learn from a market with so few sales?
Colma’s latest single-family window contains one sale. The useful story is what the available evidence can support, and how its housing plan differs from a transaction-based price signal.
A buyer’s questionWhich planned changes could affect a specific home, and when?
A small existing sales market sits beside a much larger planning story. The September 2026 evidence supports tracking Baylands milestones, not treating its future benefits as delivered.
A buyer’s questionDoes a citywide median describe the home type I want?
Belmont’s sales history provides a useful comparison with San Carlos and San Mateo. Its Village plan adds local context, but the citywide median cannot price the benefit of future improvements.
A buyer’s questionWhat can a few expensive sales tell me about an individual home?
A very expensive, lightly traded market deserves more than a scarcity story. Separate the homes that sold from the town’s changing housing rules before drawing a conclusion about value.
A buyer’s questionWhat would justify paying more for one of these cities?
A buyer's comparison of three neighboring cities: the measured price gap, distinct planning stories, and the evidence needed before calling one a better value.
A buyer’s questionWhich neighborhood benefits work today, and which still depend on a plan?
What SSF's housing history, audited finances and growth plans can tell a buyer—and what still has to happen before a development story becomes a neighborhood benefit.
SSF’s development thesis needs evidence connecting occupied workplaces, recurring city resources and residential demand. The first historical screen has not established that connection.
San Mateo stayed close to the county’s growth over ten years. Its rail-corridor planning suggests a more specific research target than a citywide claim about amenities or employment access.
San Bruno gained substantial ground against the county over ten years, yet still trades below Millbrae at the city-index level. The evidence supports investigating the gap without assuming it must close.
Redwood City gained modestly against the county over a decade. Its downtown planning history makes it a useful case study, but timing alone cannot establish that development caused the gain.
Pacifica broadly tracked the county over a decade but lagged in the latest year. The useful investigation combines property-specific coastal exposure, access and the condition of the amenities a buyer values.
Millbrae’s premium to the county widened, while its gap with San Bruno narrowed modestly. Those two facts can coexist—and neither turns a station-area plan into a return forecast.
Daly City’s index remained near the same share of the county’s value over a decade. A useful thesis must explain why access or neighborhood improvements would change that relationship.
Burlingame’s housing premium widened over the past decade. Its fiscal accounts and housing program complicate both the “too expensive” argument and the assumption that scarcity guarantees future gains.