East Bay Area Real Estate Market Update

The first half of 2025 brought a mix of steady prices, increasing inventory, and changing market dynamics across the East Bay. Here's a look at how key cities performed and how regional and national trends have shaped the market so far this year.

Prices Remain Steady Despite Market Changes

Single-family home prices in the East Bay remained relatively unchanged over the past two years. In May 2025, median sale prices decreased by 0.01% year-over-year in Contra Costa County and by 1.46% in Alameda County. Despite an increase in inventory and slower sales, price stability held through the first half of the year.

Inventory Reaches a Two-Year High

Although prices have been incredibly resilient in the East Bay, the future of this stability is very uncertain, as inventories have been growing at a tremendous rate. In the single-family home market, the East Bay saw a new 2-year high in terms of inventory, as the number of active listings grew by 31.42% on a year-over-year basis.

While there are roughly the same number of single-family homes and condos hitting the market, what’s causing inventories to spike is the fact that fewer listings are being sold. We saw 15.57% fewer single-family homes sold in the month of May 2025 when compared to a year ago.

Homes Are Spending More Time on the Market

The East Bay is quite interesting when you look at the amount of time listings are spending on the market. If I told you that the average single-family home in Contra Costa County is spending 40% more time on the market now than it was last year, you’d probably assume that listings are sitting for weeks on end. However, homes are still moving incredibly quickly. Despite spending 40% more time on the market, the average single-family home in Contra Costa County is taken off the market in just 14 days.

Months of Supply Remain Below Balanced Market Levels

When determining whether a market is a buyers’ market or a sellers’ market, we look to the Months of Supply Inventory (MSI) metric. The state of California has historically averaged around three months of MSI, so any area with at or around three months of MSI is considered a “balanced market”. Any market that has lower than three months of MSI is considered a sellers’ market, whereas markets with more than three months of MSI are considered buyers’ markets.

In the East Bay, months of supply for single-family homes remained below that threshold. Alameda County had 2.3 months of supply, while Contra Costa County had 2.8 months of supply.

City-Level Market Trends

Pleasanton’s median list price peaked at $1.875 million in March before dipping slightly to $1.8 million by June. During the same period, inventory more than doubled, increasing from 40 active listings in January to over 100 by late spring.

Livermore’s median price steadily rose from about $1.05 million in January to $1.33 million in June, with homes consistently selling quickly.

Alamo saw its median list price drop from nearly $3 million in March to $2.5 million in June, while the average days on market increased to 31 days, compared to shorter selling times earlier in the year.

Danville’s active listings grew from 42 in January to 120 in June, nearly tripling, while median prices remained close to $2 million.

San Ramon’s median price increased from $1.36 million in January to $1.9 million in June, alongside rising inventory and sales volume.

Other East Bay cities, including Walnut Creek, Concord, and Lafayette, recorded increased inventory and market times that remained relatively short, averaging between seven and sixteen days.

National Trends Mirror Local Patterns

On a national level, active housing inventory increased by 20.83% year-over-year as of April 2025, while existing home sales decreased by 3.38%. The median national sale price increased by 1.82% over the past year, reaching $414,000.

Mortgage rates remained steady in the mid-to-high 6% range. The typical monthly principal and interest payment rose to $2,113, a 3.94% increase from the previous year.

Want Local Market Insights Tailored to You?

If you’re interested in receiving detailed information about how the real estate market has performed in your specific neighborhood or city, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We love talking all things real estate and are passionate about being a valuable resource for our community. Whether you’re buying, selling, or just curious about local trends, we’re here to help you navigate the market with confidence.