Burlingame · San Mateo · Redwood City
Single-family
Prepared · Evidence observation dates are listed below.
Focus: Balanced overview
How these cities fit your plan
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Explore the full comparison, local research and history
What stands out
This is a comparison of published city evidence and investigation questions, not a city ranking or a forecast. Lower citywide prices do not establish undervaluation or affordability.
San Mateo’s median sale price is 40.0% lower than Burlingame’s, using Burlingame as the denominator. Window: 2026-07-01 to 2026-09-30.
Different homes sell in each city. This does not establish a like-for-like premium, affordability or a negotiating discount.
Evidence 1Evidence 2San Mateo reports 11 days of median marketing time, compared with 12 in Burlingame. Window: 2026-07-01 to 2026-09-30.
Different homes sell in each city. This does not establish a like-for-like premium, affordability or a negotiating discount.
Evidence 1Evidence 2Burlingame’s all-homes modeled value changed 59.3% over ten years, compared with 46.8% in San Mateo and 50.7% in Redwood City. Exact period: 2016-07-31 to 2026-07-31.
All homes, regardless of your selected type. Nominal change excludes ownership costs, rent and financing; past change is not a forecast.
Evidence 1Evidence 2Evidence 3Evidence 4Evidence 5Evidence 6Evidence 7Evidence 8Evidence 9Evidence 10
The evidence at a glance
Single-family transactions
| Measure | Burlingame2026-07-01 to 2026-09-30Rolling 3 monthsSource & definition | San Mateo2026-07-01 to 2026-09-30Rolling 3 monthsSource & definition | Redwood City2026-07-01 to 2026-09-30Rolling 3 monthsSource & definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | $3,413,639 | $2,049,183 | $2,354,062 |
| Closed sales | 49 | 123 | 100 |
| Homes for sale at period end | 10 | 34 | 41 |
| Median marketing time (days) | 12 | 11 | 13 |
Inventory is a period-end count, not adjusted for city size. Median marketing time may describe homes going under contract rather than the homes in the closed-sale count; each source definition is retained below.
All-homes history
Separate modeled index · 2026-07-31 · The selected home type does not change this index. All selected cities and San Mateo County must share the exact month.
| Measure | Burlingame | San Mateo | Redwood City |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modeled typical value | $2,817,833 | $1,685,162 | $1,893,533 |
| 1-year change | 9.2% | 3.4% | 3.9% |
| 10-year change | 59.3% | 46.8% | 50.7% |
These are modeled typical values, not sold-home medians. Past growth does not establish future returns. Exact inputs, baseline dates and source locators ↓
Jobs and completed housing · different scopes and periods
Annual Q2 workplace jobs are not employed residents or households. Reported completed homes include replacement units and do not measure net additions. Do not divide these totals to infer a shortage.
- Burlingame
Workplace jobs · annual Q2 snapshot: 31,454 · 2023-04-01 to 2023-06-30 Evidence 1
Reported completions · all housing types: 473 · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 Evidence 1
- San Mateo
Workplace jobs · annual Q2 snapshot: 59,573 · 2023-04-01 to 2023-06-30 Evidence 1
Reported completions · all housing types: 118 · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 Evidence 1
- Redwood City
Workplace jobs · annual Q2 snapshot: 60,919 · 2023-04-01 to 2023-06-30 Evidence 1
Reported completions · all housing types: 72 · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 Evidence 1
What to check in each city
Burlingame
Evidence
All-homes modeled value: $2,817,833. 2026-07-01 to 2026-07-31. Evidence 1
Closed sales: 49 homes. 2026-07-01 to 2026-09-30. Evidence 1
Unanswered
City totals cannot establish the price, condition, access or exposure of a particular home. Test these questions at the address.
Next actions
Diligence questions, not established neighborhood facts:
- Which daily amenities and routes justify the difference from your other shortlisted homes?
- Does the comparison hold within the same housing type and condition?
Retained research excerpt
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.
Burlingame: a widening premium, and the burden of proving it is worth paying · Published 2026-09-15T03:07:16.676Z · Revision 2026-09-15T02:52:38.133Z
Current deep dive →Current reading may have changed since this excerpt was saved.
San Mateo
Evidence
All-homes modeled value: $1,685,162. 2026-07-01 to 2026-07-31. Evidence 1
Closed sales: 123 homes. 2026-07-01 to 2026-09-30. Evidence 1
Unanswered
City totals cannot establish the price, condition, access or exposure of a particular home. Test these questions at the address.
Next actions
Diligence questions, not established neighborhood facts:
- How do your finalist neighborhoods differ in access and housing type?
- What do recent comparable transactions show for the same type of home?
Retained research excerpt
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 Mateo: why a broad city average can hide the housing decision · Published 2026-09-15T03:07:18.442Z · Revision 2026-09-15T02:52:39.470Z
Current deep dive →Current reading may have changed since this excerpt was saved.
Redwood City
Evidence
All-homes modeled value: $1,893,533. 2026-07-01 to 2026-07-31. Evidence 1
Closed sales: 100 homes. 2026-07-01 to 2026-09-30. Evidence 1
Unanswered
City totals cannot establish the price, condition, access or exposure of a particular home. Test these questions at the address.
Next actions
Diligence questions, not established neighborhood facts:
- Which completed improvements are useful from the candidate address?
- Does its price differ from comparable homes after matching size and location?
Retained research excerpt
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.
Redwood City: did downtown investment cause the housing revaluation? · Published 2026-09-15T03:07:17.891Z · Revision 2026-09-15T02:52:39.115Z
Current deep dive →Current reading may have changed since this excerpt was saved.
Go deeper
Full comparison → · Explore market history and ownership costs →
Model Lab carries these cities into market history, rent-or-buy scenarios and jobs/housing comparisons. Its separate experimental price forecasts use the all-homes index, including when this brief is for condos/co-ops. Choose the relevant home type in the lab.
Dates, definitions and sources
Preview content ID: 6bfe862d73048796c02146c239f318b047dfb352e84cd3c3ad84d935f1421755.
Read the evidence manifest and limitations
Housing release: baseline-2026-09-14 · Structural release: 2026-09-15-completionreview · Template: shortlist-template-v2.
Burlingame · Single-family
Redfin Data Center · 2026-07-01 to 2026-09-30 · Retrieved 2026-10-16 · Published date unavailable · Edition redfin-2026-09-burlingame-single-family-20261016.
Redfin Data Center city boundaries; not seasonally adjusted; rolling three-month window. Median price and sales count use closed sales by closing date. Inventory counts homes for sale on the last day, excluding listings older than one year; it is not all listings active during the window. Median days on market uses homes going under contract during the window, from listing to contract, excluding listings older than one year. Property types remain separate. Price-reduction share is unavailable in this extract.
San Mateo · Single-family
Redfin Data Center · 2026-07-01 to 2026-09-30 · Retrieved 2026-10-16 · Published date unavailable · Edition redfin-2026-09-san-mateo-single-family-20261016.
Redfin Data Center city boundaries; not seasonally adjusted; rolling three-month window. Median price and sales count use closed sales by closing date. Inventory counts homes for sale on the last day, excluding listings older than one year; it is not all listings active during the window. Median days on market uses homes going under contract during the window, from listing to contract, excluding listings older than one year. Property types remain separate. Price-reduction share is unavailable in this extract.
Redwood City · Single-family
Redfin Data Center · 2026-07-01 to 2026-09-30 · Retrieved 2026-10-16 · Published date unavailable · Edition redfin-2026-09-redwood-city-single-family-20261016.
Redfin Data Center city boundaries; not seasonally adjusted; rolling three-month window. Median price and sales count use closed sales by closing date. Inventory counts homes for sale on the last day, excluding listings older than one year; it is not all listings active during the window. Median days on market uses homes going under contract during the window, from listing to contract, excluding listings older than one year. Property types remain separate. Price-reduction share is unavailable in this extract.
Housing Element APR Table A2, San Mateo County jurisdictions
California HCD / reporting cities source · Retrieved 2026-09-15T14:47:32.411921Z · Published date unavailable · Methodology
CNTY_NAME=San Mateo; JURIS_NAME and YEAR; NO_OTHER_FORMS_OF_READINESS, CO_ISSUE_DT1 and CO income fields
LODES workplace jobs, California 2023
U.S. Census Bureau source · Retrieved 2026-09-15T14:47:29.262407Z · Published date unavailable · Methodology
ca_wac_S000_JT00_2023.csv.gz; join w_geocode to crosswalk cty=06081; sum C000 by stplc
ZHVI all homes mid-tier smoothed seasonally adjusted cities
Zillow Research source · Retrieved 2026-09-14T00:45:00+00:00 · Published date unavailable · Methodology
Original columns; only documented RegionID rows retained
ZHVI all homes mid-tier smoothed seasonally adjusted counties
Zillow Research source · Retrieved 2026-09-14T00:45:00+00:00 · Published date unavailable · Methodology
Original columns; only documented RegionID rows retained
Exact observations used
- Burlingame · housing_completions: 473 units; 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31. Source · JURIS_NAME=BURLINGAME; YEAR=2025; sum NO_OTHER_FORMS_OF_READINESS; coverage.json
- Burlingame · workplace_jobs: 31454 jobs; 2023-04-01 to 2023-06-30. Source · sum C000; stplc=0609066
- Burlingame · zhvi_all_homes: 1768666.663669968 USD; 2016-07-01 to 2016-07-31. Source · RegionID=17235; column=2016-07-31
- Burlingame · zhvi_all_homes: 2579507.352917949 USD; 2025-07-01 to 2025-07-31. Source · RegionID=17235; column=2025-07-31
- Burlingame · zhvi_all_homes: 2817833.4024851774 USD; 2026-07-01 to 2026-07-31. Source · RegionID=17235; column=2026-07-31
- Redwood City · housing_completions: 72 units; 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31. Source · JURIS_NAME=REDWOOD CITY; YEAR=2025; sum NO_OTHER_FORMS_OF_READINESS; coverage.json
- Redwood City · workplace_jobs: 60919 jobs; 2023-04-01 to 2023-06-30. Source · sum C000; stplc=0660102
- Redwood City · zhvi_all_homes: 1256212.8164413795 USD; 2016-07-01 to 2016-07-31. Source · RegionID=20128; column=2016-07-31
- Redwood City · zhvi_all_homes: 1822057.884826142 USD; 2025-07-01 to 2025-07-31. Source · RegionID=20128; column=2025-07-31
- Redwood City · zhvi_all_homes: 1893533.3374099701 USD; 2026-07-01 to 2026-07-31. Source · RegionID=20128; column=2026-07-31
- San Mateo County · zhvi_all_homes: 1596366.2605061976 USD; 2026-07-01 to 2026-07-31. Source · RegionID=2842; column=2026-07-31
- San Mateo · housing_completions: 118 units; 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31. Source · JURIS_NAME=SAN MATEO; YEAR=2025; sum NO_OTHER_FORMS_OF_READINESS; coverage.json
- San Mateo · workplace_jobs: 59573 jobs; 2023-04-01 to 2023-06-30. Source · sum C000; stplc=0668252
- San Mateo · zhvi_all_homes: 1148317.235276917 USD; 2016-07-01 to 2016-07-31. Source · RegionID=13699; column=2016-07-31
- San Mateo · zhvi_all_homes: 1630277.067147188 USD; 2025-07-01 to 2025-07-31. Source · RegionID=13699; column=2025-07-31
- San Mateo · zhvi_all_homes: 1685161.8492884866 USD; 2026-07-01 to 2026-07-31. Source · RegionID=13699; column=2026-07-31
History calculations
- Burlingame · 1-year change: 2025-07-31 to 2026-07-31; (end / exact-baseline - 1) * 100; 9.2%.
- Burlingame · 10-year change: 2016-07-31 to 2026-07-31; (end / exact-baseline - 1) * 100; 59.3%.
- San Mateo · 1-year change: 2025-07-31 to 2026-07-31; (end / exact-baseline - 1) * 100; 3.4%.
- San Mateo · 10-year change: 2016-07-31 to 2026-07-31; (end / exact-baseline - 1) * 100; 46.8%.
- Redwood City · 1-year change: 2025-07-31 to 2026-07-31; (end / exact-baseline - 1) * 100; 3.9%.
- Redwood City · 10-year change: 2016-07-31 to 2026-07-31; (end / exact-baseline - 1) * 100; 50.7%.
Limits of this brief
- This is a comparison of published city evidence and investigation questions, not a city ranking or a forecast. Lower citywide prices do not establish undervaluation or affordability.
- Transaction medians reflect homes sold in the stated window. All-homes history is a separate modeled index, smoothed and seasonally adjusted. Exact shared dates and baselines are required; null means unavailable and zero remains zero.
- Small or missing sales counts are shown beside the values. The latest published evidence can be older than today's brief; age notices use the actual market period end.
- Jobs are annual Q2 beginning-of-quarter workplace snapshots, not employed residents, unique workers or an annual average.
- LODES 8.4 all jobs: one California release, 2020 blocks, 2024 place boundaries; 2012–2023.
- Completions are self-reported certificates of occupancy or other readiness, all housing types; 2018–2025. They include replacement units and do not measure net additions or actual occupancy.
- Eight date-conflict city-years are reconciled to original city current-year summaries. Original unfiltered HCD totals remain in reportedUnits; acceptedUnits supplies the chart. San Bruno 2020 and South San Francisco 2024 remain withheld. Audit records retain all positive row IDs and source decisions; no excluded units are reassigned to another year.
- County jobs cover the entire county. No county completion total is provided; the HCD county jurisdiction covers only unincorporated territory.
- Current revised data cannot establish what was known historically. No new predictive rule or forecast is implied.
Burlingame reading sources: Source 1 Source 2 Source 3
San Mateo reading sources: Source 1 Source 2 Source 3 Source 4
Redwood City reading sources: Source 1 Source 2 Source 3 Source 4