Published November 1, 2026 in Market Update

More listings are showing up, but this market is still tight

By Spencer Hsu

Real estate, Buy Box 1

Here is the one thing every homeowner in this market should sit with right now. More homes are coming to market. That means your competition as a seller is growing. Pricing and preparation matter more than they did a year ago.

These numbers cover the three months ending August 31, 2026. Realtor.com reported that active listings topped 1.16 million homes nationally in September 2026. That same wave is showing up locally.

Inventory is up sharply in several ZIP codes

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 67 homes for sale in ZIP 95051 in Santa Clara. That is up 123.3% from a year before. The Real Estate Data Aggregator also counted homes for sale up 89.5% in ZIP 94306 and up 67.9% in ZIP 94086. Buyers have more to look at. Sellers have more to compete against.

Even with more supply, most ZIP codes are still very tight. The Real Estate Data Aggregator put months of supply at 1.1 months in ZIP 94087 and 1.3 months in ZIP 94089. Six months is the usual line between a buyer's market and a seller's market. Every ZIP code here is still well below that.

Months of supply across the market

Homes are still selling above list price

Even with more inventory, buyers are still competing. The Real Estate Data Aggregator found that in ZIP 94041 in Mountain View, homes sold for 108.2% of list price on average. In ZIP 94087 in Sunnyvale, the figure was 106.4%. More than half of homes in several ZIP codes sold above asking.

That said, the share of homes selling above list is slipping in some areas. The Real Estate Data Aggregator showed that share down 17.1 points in ZIP 94306 and down 12.2 points in ZIP 94085 compared with a year ago. More homes are still selling above list. Fewer are doing it by a wide margin.

Prices: a mixed picture

Prices are not moving in one direction. The Real Estate Data Aggregator put the median sale price in ZIP 94301 at $3,975,000, down 5.4% from a year before. ZIP 94306 held at $3,265,000, up 3.2%. ZIP 94040 in Mountain View reached $2,850,000, up 49.7%, though that figure reflects a big shift in what types of homes sold, not necessarily a rise in values across the board.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported U.S. house prices rose 2.4% from August 2025 to August 2026. Some ZIP codes here beat that. Some did not. Local results vary a lot, even street by street.

Speed: most homes still move fast

ZIP 94087 in Sunnyvale had a median of just 9 days on market. ZIP 94041 in Mountain View was 10 days. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 64.7% of homes in ZIP 94041 going under contract within two weeks of listing. That is the highest quick-contract rate in the market.

The national backdrop

Realtor.com reported that mortgage rates climbed above 7% for the first time since January 2025. Redfin reported the weekly average rate at 7.32% for the four weeks ending October 25, 2026. That raises the monthly cost for buyers. It also means fewer people are moving unless they have to.

Realtor.com also reported that price cuts hit 20.8% of listings nationally in September 2026, the highest share since October 2022. That is a national number, not a local one. But it tells you something about buyer behavior everywhere right now.

CNBC reported that San Francisco Bay area rent growth was up 13.1% year over year as of October 29, 2026. When renting costs more, buying looks different to a lot of people. That keeps demand in this market real.

One more thing worth saying. These are ZIP code numbers. One street can read very differently from the whole ZIP. A block with newer construction, a top school boundary, or a quiet cul-de-sac can move faster and for more money than the averages suggest. The reverse is also true.