Published November 1, 2026 in Market Update

One part of Palo Alto got much busier even as prices dropped hard

By Julie Tsai Law

Real estate, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park, Atherton, Mountain View, Portola Valley, Woodside

The numbers for the three months ending August 31, 2026 are out. The biggest surprise sits inside Palo Alto itself.

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 63 homes sold in ZIP 94303 in that period. That is up 14.5% from the same three months of 2025. More homes changed hands here than in any other Palo Alto ZIP code.

But the median sale price in 94303 fell to $1,340,000. That is down 55.3% from a year before. Activity went up. Price went down. Those two things moved in opposite directions at the same time.

The National Association of Realtors reported that existing-home prices across the country were up 1.3% in September 2026. This ZIP code moved the other way by a wide margin.

94303 at a glance

Even with prices lower, buyers still competed. The Real Estate Data Aggregator shows the average sale came in at 104.4% of list price in 94303. That is up 1.7 points from a year before. Nearly half of all homes, 49.2%, sold above list price, up 3.7 points.

Homes did take a little longer to sell. The median days on market rose to 28, which is 6 days longer than the same period in 2025. Not every home moved fast.

How 94303 compares with the rest of Palo Alto

Palo Alto has three ZIP codes with Real Estate Data Aggregator numbers. They look very different from each other.

ZIP 94301 had a median sale price of $3,975,000, down 5.4%. ZIP 94306 came in at $3,265,000, up 3.2%. ZIP 94303 at $1,340,000 is a very different price tier. The same city, three very different stories.

ZIP 94306 sold homes fastest. The Real Estate Data Aggregator put the median days on market there at 14, which is 3 days longer than 2025 but still the quickest of the three. Homes for sale in 94306 jumped 89.5% from a year before, so buyers had more to choose from.

New listings and pending sales in 94303

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 77 new listings in 94303, up 11.6% from 2025. Pending sales hit 61, up 13%. More homes came to market and more went under contract. That is a real increase in activity on both sides.

What the national picture says

The National Association of Realtors reported 3.99 million existing-home sales nationally in September 2026. Inventory nationwide reached 1.60 million homes. The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported U.S. house prices rose 2.4% from August 2025 to August 2026.

Those national numbers are a backdrop. They do not describe any one street in Palo Alto. The gap between 94301 and 94303 alone shows how much local detail matters.

CNBC reported the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 7.37% as of October 28, 2026. That rate affects what buyers can afford, and it is part of why pricing precision matters more than ever right now.

One more thing to know

A ZIP code is still a big area. One street can read differently from the whole ZIP. The Real Estate Data Aggregator numbers here cover the full three months ending August 31, 2026, for each code. Your block may be a different story.