For most Americans, the idea of spending $1 million on a home is simply too far out of reach— not to mention $2 million. In two California counties, however, that’s the new reality.
Based on the latest sales figures from the California Association of Realtors, median single-family home prices have reached $2 million in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, home to Silicon Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area.
San Mateo County, where the median price was $2.15 million in April, surpassed the $2 million mark during the COVID-19 pandemic before falling below it in late 2023. Homes in neighboring Santa Clara County reached a median price of $2 million for the very first time last month, the data shows.
San Francisco City and County and Marin County aren’t too far behind, with median home prices of $1.8 million and $1.7 million, respectively.
In all, 10 California counties are north of $1 million and with a perpetual housing shortage, experts say there is no reason to expect prices to fall significantly in the short or long term.
Yet, sales are also climbing: up more than 4% year over year, according to CAR, and homes are staying on the market for fewer average days than a year ago.
Jordan Levine, chief economist at the realtor’s association, says house hunters have come to accept that historically low mortgage rates of 2% to 3% seen during the COVID-19 pandemic are firmly in the rear-view mirror.
“I think folks are starting to realize that 6% is actually a pretty normal rate by historical standards. Those 3% [rates] were really the outlier, and given that prices continue to rise, I think that’s motivating a lot of buyers to get off the sidelines,” Levine said.
Statewide, the median home price exceeded $900,000 for the first time in April.
California Median Home Prices by County
County | Median Single-Family Home Price (April 2024) |
San Mateo | $2,150,000 |
Santa Clara | $2,000,000 |
San Francisco | $1,800,000 |
Marin | $1,700,000 |
Orange | $1,440,000 |
Santa Cruz | $1,420,000 |
Alameda | $1,401,250 |
Santa Barbara | $1,400,000 |
Mono | $1,077,380 |
San Diego | $1,047,500 |
Monterey | $986,500 |
Napa | $950,000 |
Contra-Costa | $940,000 |
Ventura | $940,000 |
San Luis Obispo | $894,500 |
Sonoma | $850,000 |
Los Angeles | $825,970 |
San Benito | $807,500 |
El Dorado | $757,000 |
Placer | $671,740 |
Riverside | $650,000 |
Yolo | $615,000 |
Nevada | $599,000 |
Solano | $590,000 |
Mendocino | $583,500 |
Mariposa | $549,500 |
Sacramento | $548,580 |
San Joaquin | $540,000 |
San Bernardino | $516,080 |
Calaveras | $493,000 |
Stanislaus | $485,000 |
Madera | $457,500 |
Tuolumne | $452,000 |
Butte | $450,000 |
Del Norte | $445,000 |
Sutter | $428,500 |
Yuba | $427,950 |
Amador | $426,500 |
Fresno | $421,940 |
Humboldt | $400,000 |
Merced | $399,000 |
Tulare | $379,990 |
Kings | $379,000 |
Imperial | $377,500 |
Kern | $377,000 |
Glenn | $362,000 |
Shasta | $360,000 |
Lake | $340,000 |
Plumas | $320,000 |
Tehama | $309,750 |
Siskiyou | $281,500 |
Trinity | $212,000 |
Lassen | $205,000 |
Worth noting: A “median” is a middle value similar to an average, so each county has homes selling at prices below and above the median.