property nerds · price ladderfrom the mlsclosed sales 2012–2026by the boyenga team at compass
The price ladder, rung by rung
Line up every home sale in a city from lowest price to highest and read five rungs off the line: the entry price (1 in 10 sales closed at or below it), the lower quarter, the median, the upper quarter and the top end (1 in 10 closed at or above it). Across Silicon Valley the ladder now runs from $755K to $3.90M. Since 2019 the top rung has climbed 51% and the bottom rung 8%.
- entry · 10th percentile$755K+8% since 2019
- median$1.65M+38% since 2019
- top end · 90th percentile$3.90M+51% since 2019
Silicon Valley, 15,237 sales from October 2025 to September 2026, against 16,581 in 2019. Rungs on a log scale.
every city
Every city’s ladder
Each line is one city’s ladder for the last 12 months, drawn on one price scale. Rungs mark the entry price, the lower quarter, the median (the tall rung), the upper quarter and the top end. Turn on 2019 to see where the rungs stood then.
- Silicon Valley$755K$1.65M$3.90M
- Santa Clara County$740K$1.60M$3.73M
- San Mateo County$800K$1.80M$4.45M
entry to top end, last 12 monthsmedian2019 rungs (when shown)
Prices on a log scale, so equal steps are equal percentage changes. * fewer than 100 sales in the last 12 months. San Francisco (gray) is shown alongside; it starts in 2022 and has no 2019 rungs.
since 2012
How the ladder stretched
The five rungs year by year. From 2012 to 2019 the bottom rung climbed fastest across Silicon Valley (2.50× against 1.73× for the top). Since 2019 that has flipped. Pick an area to see its own ladder over time.
entry to top endlower to upper quartermedian2019
Since 2019: entry +8%, median +38%, top end +51%. From 2012 to 2019: entry 2.50×, top end 1.73×. 15,237 sales in the last 12 months.
the table
The entry price in every city
Every city sorted by entry price, with the spread from entry to top end and how much of each city’s sales were houses rather than condos or townhomes.
| area | entry | 25th | median | 75th | top end | spread | houses | entry vs 2019 | top vs 2019 | sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silicon Valley | $755K | $1.13M | $1.65M | $2.58M | $3.90M | 5.2× | 72% | +8% | +51% | 15,237 |
| Santa Clara County | $740K | $1.10M | $1.60M | $2.44M | $3.73M | 5.0× | 70% | +10% | +54% | 10,915 |
| San Mateo County | $800K | $1.20M | $1.80M | $2.84M | $4.45M | 5.6× | 76% | −4% | +46% | 4,322 |
| San Bruno | $418K | $728K | $1.26M | $1.59M | $1.82M | 4.4× | 73% | −3% | +26% | 232 |
| Daly City | $605K | $950K | $1.18M | $1.36M | $1.53M | 2.5× | 80% | −5% | +18% | 423 |
| San Mateo | $615K | $1.10M | $1.68M | $2.45M | $3.16M | 5.1× | 64% | −13% | +44% | 813 |
| San Jose | $650K | $960K | $1.40M | $1.89M | $2.53M | 3.9× | 71% | +7% | +59% | 5,387 |
| Santa Clara | $687K | $1.20M | $1.68M | $2.10M | $2.55M | 3.7× | 63% | −7% | +52% | 670 |
| San Francisco (also shown) | $701K | $1.01M | $1.55M | $2.27M | $3.51M | 5.0× | 51% | — | — | 5,002 |
| South San Francisco | $723K | $949K | $1.25M | $1.43M | $1.65M | 2.3× | 75% | +3% | +28% | 296 |
| Mountain View | $735K | $1.29M | $1.84M | $2.79M | $3.86M | 5.3× | 45% | −18% | +49% | 511 |
| Gilroy | $760K | $899K | $1.10M | $1.40M | $1.76M | 2.3× | 92% | +26% | +45% | 394 |
| East Palo Alto * | $766K | $908K | $1.05M | $1.21M | $1.35M | 1.8× | 89% | +1% | +6% | 92 |
| Foster City | $775K | $1.14M | $1.43M | $1.93M | $2.51M | 3.2× | 33% | −12% | +19% | 222 |
| Campbell | $784K | $1.31M | $1.85M | $2.30M | $2.80M | 3.6× | 67% | +2% | +50% | 272 |
| Millbrae | $790K | $1.25M | $2.04M | $2.50M | $2.89M | 3.7× | 75% | −12% | +23% | 148 |
| Milpitas | $796K | $1.10M | $1.30M | $1.63M | $2.10M | 2.6× | 49% | +8% | +58% | 350 |
| Morgan Hill | $806K | $973K | $1.32M | $1.80M | $2.51M | 3.1× | 75% | +21% | +68% | 458 |
| Sunnyvale | $945K | $1.40M | $1.80M | $2.80M | $3.25M | 3.4× | 59% | −2% | +48% | 859 |
| Los Gatos | $950K | $1.49M | $2.30M | $3.30M | $4.41M | 4.6× | 79% | +14% | +28% | 465 |
| Redwood City | $999K | $1.45M | $2.10M | $2.67M | $3.68M | 3.7× | 83% | +0% | +51% | 612 |
| Burlingame | $1.02M | $1.81M | $2.85M | $3.84M | $4.50M | 4.4× | 79% | −24% | +29% | 239 |
| Cupertino | $1.15M | $1.93M | $3.01M | $3.51M | $4.17M | 3.6× | 73% | −4% | +48% | 278 |
| San Carlos | $1.16M | $1.76M | $2.50M | $3.14M | $3.78M | 3.2× | 78% | +7% | +30% | 327 |
| Menlo Park | $1.26M | $1.98M | $2.90M | $4.60M | $6.75M | 5.4× | 78% | +7% | +61% | 369 |
| Belmont | $1.31M | $1.85M | $2.25M | $2.92M | $3.49M | 2.7× | 86% | +2% | +55% | 196 |
| Palo Alto | $1.40M | $2.27M | $3.44M | $4.60M | $6.75M | 4.8× | 74% | −7% | +46% | 528 |
| Los Altos | $1.81M | $3.59M | $4.55M | $5.59M | $7.03M | 3.9× | 82% | −16% | +56% | 327 |
| Saratoga | $1.87M | $2.79M | $4.00M | $4.90M | $6.29M | 3.4× | 83% | +22% | +50% | 279 |
| Woodside * | $2.20M | $2.89M | $4.06M | $6.50M | $10.41M | 4.7× | 100% | +58% | +40% | 72 |
| Portola Valley * | $2.45M | $3.38M | $4.25M | $6.03M | $8.55M | 3.5× | 100% | +29% | +54% | 79 |
| Monte Sereno * | $3.52M | $3.98M | $4.47M | $5.74M | $6.97M | 2.0× | 100% | +59% | +50% | 40 |
| Los Altos Hills * | $3.88M | $4.50M | $5.46M | $7.00M | $10.16M | 2.6× | 100% | +41% | +58% | 97 |
| Atherton * | $4.08M | $7.30M | $11.30M | $18.00M | $23.44M | 5.7× | 100% | +42% | +51% | 73 |
| Hillsborough | $4.50M | $5.50M | $6.50M | $8.30M | $12.00M | 2.7× | 100% | +52% | +87% | 129 |
Last 12 months = October 2025 – September 2026. 25th and 75th = the lower and upper quarters. Spread = top end ÷ entry price. Houses = single-family houses’ share of all sales; the rest were condos and townhomes. * fewer than 100 sales in the last 12 months: Atherton, East Palo Alto, Los Altos Hills, Monte Sereno, Portola Valley, Woodside.
the method
How the rungs are read
Five percentiles of closed sale prices, from the same archive as our other datasets.
- The rungs
- Percentiles of closed sale prices: the 10th (entry), 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th (top end), interpolated between neighboring sales. Houses, condos and townhomes are counted together.
- The periods
- Calendar years 2012–2025, January–September 2026 and the last 12 months (October 2025 – September 2026). San Francisco starts in 2022.
- Since 2019
- Changes compare the last 12 months with 2019, the last full year before 2020. Dollars are not adjusted for inflation.
- Houses’ share
- The share of sales that were single-family houses; the rest were condos and townhomes. Where that share is low, the entry rung is usually a condo or townhome.
- The data
- Closed sales reported to the MLS, read through the IDX feeds that power our home search. Repeat records (same address and sale date) are removed, and sales that closed below half or above twice the list price are dropped.
- Small towns
- With fewer than 100 sales in 12 months, one sale can move a rung a lot. Those cities are marked and left out of the rankings.
- What it isn’t
- Not an appraisal or a forecast. The rungs describe homes that sold, not homes for sale today.
the data
Download the ladder
Download all five rungs for every area and year, plus the last 12 months.
Boyenga Team. “Silicon Valley Price Ladder: Home Price Percentiles by City, 2012–2026,” from closed MLS sales, October 2026. https://www.boyengateam.com/silicon-valley-price-ladder
What each column means
area- Silicon Valley, a county region, San Francisco or a city.
period- A year (2026 = January–September) or 2025-10..2026-09 for the last 12 months.
sales- Closed sales in the period, repeat records removed.
p10_entry- 10th percentile sale price (entry rung), in dollars rounded to the nearest $1,000: 1 in 10 sales closed at or below it. All price columns are rounded the same way.
p25- 25th percentile sale price (lower quarter).
p50_median- Median sale price.
p75- 75th percentile sale price (upper quarter).
p90_top- 90th percentile sale price (top end): 1 in 10 sales closed at or above it.
house_share- Share of sales that were single-family houses, 0–1.
questions
Questions we hear
What is an entry-level home price?
Here it’s the 10th percentile of closed sale prices: 1 in 10 homes sold at or below it. Across Silicon Valley it was $755K in the last 12 months, from 15,237 sales. The median was $1.65M and the top end (90th percentile) $3.90M.
Where is the entry price lowest?
Among the 25 cities with at least 100 sales in the last 12 months: San Bruno ($418K), Daly City ($605K), San Mateo ($615K) and San Jose ($650K). At that rung most sales are condos and townhomes.
Where is it highest?
Hillsborough ($4.50M), Saratoga ($1.87M) and Los Altos ($1.81M), where most sales were houses.
Has the entry price gone up?
Yes, but slowly lately. Across Silicon Valley the entry price is 8% above 2019, against 38% for the median and 51% for the top end. In all 25 cities with 100+ sales, the top end rose faster than the entry price.
Why did the top rise faster?
Sales data alone can’t say. The bottom rung is often a condo or townhome and the top rung a large house, so part of the gap may be condos lagging houses. Our archive doesn’t split prices by home type, so we can’t measure how much.
Was it always like this?
No. From 2012 to 2019 the entry price rose 2.50× and the top end 1.73× across Silicon Valley, so the ladder narrowed before it stretched.
Does this include condos?
Yes. All home types are counted together, and the houses’ share column shows each city’s mix.
Is this adjusted for inflation?
No. All figures are in the dollars of the day.
Can I download the data?
Yes. The data section has a CSV with every rung for every area and year, plus the last 12 months.
more to learn
Go deeper
- Palo Alto homes at $5M+Where Palo Alto’s top-end houses sold, guide by guide, since 2012.
- Los Altos & Los Altos Hills at $7.5M+The top end of both towns, guide by guide, since 2012.
- Mountain View homes at $3.5M+Where Mountain View’s top-end houses sold, guide by guide.
- Sunnyvale homes at $3.5M+Where Sunnyvale’s top-end houses sold, guide by guide.
- The $1M LineHow many sales still close under $1M, city by city since 2012.
- What $1 Million BuysSquare feet per $1M in every city, 2012 against now.
- Price per Sq Ft MapEvery sale in a city plotted where it happened and shaded by price per square foot.
- Home Price HistoryEvery city’s median price since 2012.
- Then & Now CalculatorYour purchase year and price, at the city’s pace.
- City ScorecardEvery city’s numbers on one spec sheet.
- Data LibraryEvery dataset, with methods and downloads.
Based on closed sales reported to the MLS through our IDX feeds, read in October 2026. Shown as reported and not guaranteed; repeat records are removed. Figures describe past sales, not any single home or a forecast.
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