Published October 11, 2026 in Market Update

Parts of this market still moved far faster than the U.S. in late summer

By Julie Tsai Law

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

Realtor.com reported that mortgage rates topped 7% nationally in September 2026. That slowed things down in many parts of the country. The National Association of Realtors counted 4.9 months of supply nationally. Here, the Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 1.1 months in both 94024 and 94025 for the three months ending August 31, 2026. That gap is the whole story.

For buyers, tight supply means budget alone may not win. For owners, it means real demand is still showing up, even with rates where they are.

How tight is supply, ZIP by ZIP?

The Real Estate Data Aggregator measured months of supply for the three months ending August 31, 2026. The range across this market is wide. Some ZIPs sit well below 2 months. One sits at 2.8 months. That difference matters when you are pricing or making an offer.

The National Association of Realtors put the national supply at 4.9 months in August 2026. Every single ZIP in this market came in below that. The tightest, 94305, held just 0.8 months of supply, with only 1 home for sale, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator.

Where homes sold above list price most often

The Real Estate Data Aggregator tracked what share of homes sold above list price in each ZIP for the three months ending August 31, 2026. In 94041, that was 58.8% of homes. In 94061, it was 61.1%. In 94040, it was 56.8%. Budget matters, but so does knowing where competition is sharpest.

Speed: how fast did homes go under contract?

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted the share of homes that went under contract within two weeks of listing, for the three months ending August 31, 2026. In 94041, that was 64.7% of homes. In 94024, it was 62.8%. In 94061, it was 55.8%. Not every home sold fast, but in these ZIPs, most did.

94028 is the honest exception. The Real Estate Data Aggregator put its median days on market at 42 days, 26 days longer than the same period in 2025. Only 21.1% of homes there went under contract within two weeks. That is a real shift worth knowing.

What homes actually sold for, compared with asking price

The Real Estate Data Aggregator measured the average sale price as a share of list price for the three months ending August 31, 2026. 94041 led at 108.2%. 94027 came in at 106.6%. 94028 was the only ZIP below 100%, at 99%. Every other ZIP sold above list on average.

Median sale prices across the market

Prices moved in different directions across ZIPs. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted the median sale price for the three months ending August 31, 2026. 94027 came in at $12,000,000, up 24.4% from the same months of 2025. 94303 came in at $1,340,000, down 55.3% year over year. That 94303 drop is large enough to reflect a change in what sold, not just prices falling.

The national backdrop

Realtor.com reported that mortgage rates topped 7% nationally in September 2026. Realtor.com also reported that price cuts nationally hit their highest September readings since 2018. The National Association of Realtors said existing-home sales fell 2.0% in August 2026. Year to date through August, they were up just 1.6%.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported U.S. house prices rose 2.6% from July 2025 to July 2026. That is steady, not spectacular. This market's tightest ZIPs outpaced that by a wide margin.

One street can read very differently from the ZIP code around it. A corner lot, a busy road, a view: those details shift the numbers. The figures above are the ZIP's whole story, not any one home's.