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Sarah Mitchell

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Compass Real Estate · California

“Your trusted relocation specialist since 2009. 350+ homes sold. Zero-pressure, data-first approach.”

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California housing market

The typical home in California is worth $764,158, up 0.4% over the past year. Homes that actually closed went for a median of $887,400 after 33 days on market. On supply, pricing discipline, and speed of sale, California currently reads as a seller's market at 3.2 months of supply. At today's 7.03% 30-year fixed rate, that typical home costs $4,079 a month in principal and interest with 20.0% down.

Sources: Zillow, August 2026 · Refreshes monthly · Redfin, through May 2026 · Freddie Mac via FRED, September 2026

California housing market at a glance

Every tile carries the provider and the month it was published

Typical home value

$764,158

+0.4% YoY · Zillow, August 2026

Median sale price

$887,400

Redfin, through May 2026

Typical asking rent

$2,724/mo

Median of 149 cities · Zillow, August 2026

30-yr fixed rate

7.03%

Freddie Mac via FRED, September 2026

Monthly P&I

$4,079

20.0% down, 30-yr fixed

Days on market

0 days YoY

Active listings

78,189

-14.3% YoY

Median household income

$96,334

U.S. Census ACS, 2023

Typical home value is Zillow's ZHVI — the value of a typical home across the whole housing stock, not just the homes that sold. Median sale price is what actually closed. Redfin stopped publishing public market trackers in June 2026; latest available period is May 2026.

Where California home prices are heading

California's typical home value is $764,158, up 0.4% over 12 months. The two-year number matters more than the one-year number: it spans a full rate cycle rather than a single seasonal swing. Values are currently 2.3% below their two-year high, which means sellers who bought at the top may need to bring money to closing rather than take equity out of it.

Against the national picture, California runs 107.3% above the U.S. typical home value of $368,697, and its 12-month move of +0.4% is trailing the national pace of +1.2%.

What would have to change for California prices to fall. Prices fall when supply outruns demand for long enough that sellers compete on price rather than waiting. California is carrying 3.2 months of supply — below the four-month line, so inventory would have to roughly double before sellers lose pricing power. Active listings are -14.3% year over year and new listings -10.5%, so supply is still tightening, which supports prices even with weak demand. The other lever is the rate. At 7.03%, existing owners with cheaper mortgages have little reason to list, which is what has kept supply artificially low across most of the country. A sustained move down in rates unlocks those sellers and adds inventory; it also adds buyers. Which side moves first decides the direction.

Market trends

Statewide monthly series · Redfin, through May 2026 · No longer updating · Redfin stopped publishing public market trackers in June 2026; latest available period is May 2026.

What it costs to buy in California at today's rate

Down payment

$152,832

20.0% of value

Loan amount

$611,327

30-yr fixed

Monthly P&I

$4,079

at 7.03%

Income needed

$174,814

28.0% front-end ratio

A buyer purchasing the typical California home at $764,158 puts $152,832 down, finances $611,327, and pays $4,079 a month in principal and interest. Property taxes, homeowners insurance, HOA dues, and mortgage insurance sit on top of that and vary by county — budget for them separately rather than assuming the P&I figure is the payment.

Lenders typically want principal and interest under 28.0% of gross income, which puts the qualifying income for that purchase at roughly $174,814. California's median household earns $96,334 (Census ACS 2023) — a gap of $78,480 above what the median household brings in. Put differently, the median household would spend 50.8% of gross income on principal and interest alone — above the ratio most lenders underwrite to, which is why buyers here typically need a larger down payment, a co-borrower, or a cheaper city than the statewide typical home.

The value-to-income ratio in California is 7.9x. Anything above 5x means prices have run well ahead of local earnings; buyers are relying on dual incomes, prior equity, or outside capital rather than local wages. Model your own numbers in the affordability calculator or the mortgage calculator.

Figures are illustrative, not a quote or a pre-approval. Rate: Freddie Mac via FRED, September 2026 · Value: Zillow, August 2026 · Income: U.S. Census ACS, 2023

Buying in California in the next 12 months?

Tell us your timeline. We send the California market brief: the price ranges that are actually clearing, the cities where your budget goes furthest, and what to fix on your credit before you apply.

Rent or buy in California?

Zillow publishes its rent index per city rather than per state, so the honest statewide read is the median across the 149 largest California cities that carry it: $2,724 a month. Set against a typical home value of $764,158, that is a price-to-rent ratio of 23.4x.

Above 20x, the arithmetic favours renting over short horizons: the purchase premium takes years of appreciation to recover, and that appreciation is not guaranteed. Principal and interest on the typical home runs $1,355 more per month than that typical rent — and that is before taxes, insurance, and the roughly 1% of value a year most owners spend on maintenance.

For a second read on the same question, the Census ACS puts median gross rent across all California households — every unit type, not just what is currently listed — at $1,956 a month (2023), with 55.8% of California households owning rather than renting. Asking rents lead the ACS figure because they reflect today's new leases rather than the whole stock of existing ones.

Run the rent-vs-buy calculator with your own holding period and down payment — the statewide ratio is a starting point, not an answer.

Supply: what is on the market in California

California inventory, new listings, sales, and supply, latest month versus the same month a year earlier
Measure	Latest	Year earlier	Change
Active listings	78,189	91,186	-14.3%
New listings	34,703	38,790	-10.5%
Homes sold	24,400	24,886	-2.0%
Months of supply	3.2	3.7	-0.5
Sale-to-list ratio	100.7%	100.2%	Above asking

What these mean. Active listings is the shelf — everything a buyer could tour today. New listings is restock rate; when it falls faster than sales, the shelf empties. Months of supply is active inventory divided by homes sold per month: at the current sales pace, how many months it would take to sell every home currently listed. Under 4 months of supply tilts toward sellers, 4 to 5 months is the neutral band, and above 5 months tilts toward buyers — above 7 months is a glut. These are the same thresholds the market verdict on every city and ZIP page is scored against. Sale-to-list ratio is the discipline check — above 100% means homes are clearing over asking on average, below means sellers are conceding.

Redfin, through May 2026 · No longer updating — Redfin stopped publishing public market trackers in June 2026; latest available period is May 2026. Zillow's inventory and new-listing counts are published per city and appear on the individual city pages.

Where California home values are moving fastest

12-month change in typical home value · Zillow, August 2026

Rising fastest

Falling

Computed from Zillow's typical home value for each city at August 2026 against the same month a year earlier, across the 150 largest California cities by population. Small markets swing hardest because a handful of transactions moves the index — read the city page before treating a large move as a trend.

The most and least expensive cities in California

Typical home value across the 150 largest cities · Zillow, August 2026

Most expensive

Most affordable

1.Porterville$330,293
2.Tulare$356,755
3.Redding$387,376
4.Bakersfield$388,250
5.Fresno$388,924
6.Merced$395,807
7.Visalia$397,626
8.Madera$425,530
9.Stockton$427,285
10.Apple Valley$433,365

The spread between Newport Beach and Porterville is 11.2x — one reason a single statewide number is close to useless for a buyer with a fixed budget. Pick the city first, then the price band. Speed is a separate axis from price: Mountain View was the quickest of these markets to clear at 7 days on market (Redfin, through May 2026).

How California compares

California typical home value, 12-month change, median household income, and value-to-income ratio compared with the United States and neighboring states
Market	Typical value	12-mo change	Median income	Value / income
California	$764,158	+0.4%	$96,334	7.9x
United States	$368,697	+1.2%	—	—
Nevada	$442,027	-1.8%	$75,561	5.8x
Arizona	$417,990	-1.1%	$76,872	5.4x
Oregon	$496,113	-0.1%	$80,426	6.2x

The three states above are California's nearest land neighbours — the markets buyers most often price against when a move is still negotiable. Nevada and Arizona and Oregon carry lower typical home value than California, which is what makes them the usual destination for equity-funded moves out of California.

Values and 12-month changes: Zillow, August 2026 · Refreshes monthly. Income: U.S. Census ACS, 2023. ACS publishes household income per state, not for the nation on the same basis, so the U.S. row shows home value only.

California housing markets by city

1,378 cities tracked — the 60 largest by population shown

Los Angeles

$929,572

San Diego

$985,158

San Jose

$1.36M

San Francisco

$1.42M

Fresno

$388,924

Sacramento

$473,797

Long Beach

$850,917

Oakland

$708,610

Bakersfield

$388,250

Anaheim

$946,371

Stockton

$427,285

Riverside

$645,110

Santa Ana

$868,002

Irvine

$1.49M

Chula Vista

$849,526

Santa Clarita

$787,700

Fremont

$1.45M

San Bernardino

$492,161

Modesto

$442,564

Fontana

$633,683

Moreno Valley

$551,273

Oxnard

$759,573

Huntington Beach

$1.35M

Glendale

$1.18M

Ontario

$661,918

Elk Grove

$626,316

Santa Rosa

$709,775

Rancho Cucamonga

$781,865

Oceanside

$867,314

Garden Grove

$1.01M

Lancaster

$461,962

Palmdale

$499,832

Salinas

$748,418

Hayward

$820,844

Corona

$754,203

Sunnyvale

$1.99M

Roseville

$645,119

Escondido

$842,305

Pomona

$682,283

Torrance

$1.10M

Visalia

$397,626

Fullerton

$1.04M

Orange

$1.13M

Pasadena

$1.19M

Victorville

$434,932

Santa Clara

$1.65M

Simi Valley

$833,307

Thousand Oaks

$1.04M

Vallejo

$519,461

Concord

$722,165

Clovis

$516,830

Berkeley

$1.45M

Fairfield

$599,253

Antioch

$591,983

Richmond

$601,802

East Los Angeles

$666,566

Carlsbad

$1.59M

Downey

$878,882

Murrieta

$687,308

Costa Mesa

$1.41M

Browse all 1,378 California cities Compare every state →

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Weekly updates on prices, inventory, and trends. Free forever.

What to do next in California

If you are buying

Set the payment before the price. Start from what you can carry monthly, then work backwards with the affordability calculator — the typical California home is $4,079/mo in P&I today.
Pick the city, not the state. Values across California run from $330,293 in Porterville to $3.70M in Newport Beach.
Put two finalists head to head in the city comparison tool before you tour anything.
Fix the credit file before you shop the rate. A better score moves the payment more than haggling over price does at 7.03%.

If you are selling

Price against your city, not the statewide figure — the spread between California markets is wider than the year-over-year move in any of them.
Read the supply table above. At 3.2 months of supply, you still set the terms — but only if the home is priced to the comps on day one.
Watch days on market in your city, not the state. The statewide median was 33 days (Redfin, through May 2026); your city page carries its own.
Time the listing against new-listing volume. New listings are -10.5% year over year — less competition than a year ago.

California housing market questions

What is the typical home value in California?

The typical home value in California is $764,158 (Zillow, August 2026). That is a +0.4% change over the past 12 months. The median price of homes that actually sold was $887,400 (Redfin, through May 2026); sale prices skew toward whatever segment is transacting, which is why they differ from the typical-value figure.

Are California home prices going up or down?

California home values are up 0.4% year over year (Zillow, August 2026). Values sit 2.3% below their highest reading in the past two years.

How much income do you need to buy a home in California?

At the current 30-year fixed rate of 7.03%, a $764,158 home with 20.0% down carries roughly $4,079 a month in principal and interest. Using the 28% front-end ratio most lenders underwrite to, that implies a household income of about $174,814 before taxes, insurance, HOA dues, or mortgage insurance are added. California's median household income is $96,334 (Census ACS, 2023), a gap of $78,480 above the median household. These figures are illustrative, not a quote or a pre-approval.

Is it cheaper to rent or buy in California?

Typical asking rent across the largest California cities Zillow publishes rent data for is $2,724 a month (median of 149 cities, Zillow, August 2026). Against a typical home value of $764,158, that is a price-to-rent ratio of 23.4x. Ratios under about 15x generally favour buying if you plan to stay put; above about 20x, renting and investing the difference tends to win over short horizons. Principal and interest alone runs $1,355 more than that typical rent each month, before taxes, insurance, and maintenance.

Which California cities are the most affordable?

Among the largest cities we track in California, the lowest typical home values are in Porterville ($330,293), Tulare ($356,755), Redding ($387,376), Bakersfield ($388,250), Fresno ($388,924). Values are Zillow's typical-home-value index for August 2026.

Which California cities are the most expensive?

The highest typical home values among the largest California cities are in Newport Beach ($3.70M), Palo Alto ($3.56M), Sunnyvale ($1.99M), Mountain View ($1.93M), Encinitas ($1.92M). Price per square foot, inventory, and days on market for each are on the individual city pages.

Which California cities are appreciating the fastest?

Over the past 12 months the largest home-value gains among California cities we track were in San Francisco (+11.1%), Newport Beach (+9.1%), Laguna Niguel (+3.3%), Santa Maria (+3.2%), Costa Mesa (+3.2%). Fast appreciation usually reflects constrained supply, in-migration, or a small transaction base — check the individual city page before reading it as a trend.

How long do homes take to sell in California?

Homes in California spent a median of 33 days on market in the last month Redfin published (Redfin, through May 2026). That is 0 days faster than the same month a year earlier. The quickest market among the state's largest cities was Mountain View at 7 days. Redfin stopped publishing public market trackers in June 2026; latest available period is May 2026.

How does California compare to neighboring states?

California's typical home value of $764,158 compares with Nevada at $442,027, Arizona at $417,990, Oregon at $496,113. The U.S. typical home value is $368,697, putting California 107.3% above the national figure. Nevada and Arizona and Oregon are cheaper on a typical-value basis.

Is now a good time to buy in California?

That depends on your timeline, not the headline. The measurable inputs today: a 30-year fixed rate of 7.03%, 3.2 months of supply statewide (Redfin, through May 2026), active listings -14.3% year over year, and home values +0.4% over the past year. Buyers with a five-year-plus horizon are mostly exposed to the payment, not the price, so the rate you can qualify for matters more than the month you buy. Properties Incorporated is an independent data platform, not a brokerage or lender — this is information, not advice.

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