According to Compass, Northern California’s county markets split along a single line in September: inventory. Where listings ran well below the prior year’s levels, competition intensified and prices firmed; where supply grew, buyers gained leverage and price cuts became more common. San Francisco, San Mateo, Marin, Alameda, and Sonoma tightened, while Santa Clara, Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, Solano, and Napa cooled. Condominiums generally lagged single family homes across the region, yet San Francisco proved the clear exception.
No market was more competitive than San Francisco. About 92% of single family homes sold above asking, up roughly 17 points year over year, with the median near $2,050,000 (up about 17%); active house listings fell 18% to 237, months of supply held at one, and days on market dropped to 16 from 23. The condo market was the real headline, turning decisively after a long soft stretch: the share of condos selling over asking jumped 27 points to 66% and the median rose about 23% to $1,355,500, even as active condo listings fell 33%. Fall inventory then surged month over month, with new single family listings up 62% from August, leaving San Francisco the region’s tightest single family market and its condo segment unmistakably competitive as well.
