A more measured but still-competitive real estate market is developing in Alameda County in 2026, real estate data firms and real estate agents said.
The median price of a home in the county was $1 million in February 2026, down 6% over the previous February, according to real estate website Redfin, while home prices were flat in 2025.
Though price growth has slowed, sales remain competitive, with homes getting snapped up quickly. It’s taking 26 days on average for homes to sell in the county, just one day longer than in 2025. The statewide average is 32 days, according to the California Association of Realtors.
A confluence of factors is behind the slowdown in price growth, according to Bay Area real estate broker Herman Chan.
“During the pandemic, people were buying for their lives. They thought the world was going to end,” Chan said. “The government was trying to buttress the housing market and lowered mortgage interest rates. They were below 3% at one point—free money.”
Dramatic interest rate hikes in 2022 took the wind out of the market’s sales, because when interest rates go up, monthly mortgage payments go up as well. Rates went from around 3% to as much as 7% in 10 months. Buyers lost buying power, and the boom went bust in mid-2022.
Also, layoffs in the tech industry may have reduced tech workers’ purchasing power, historically a big driver of the market.
“People get cautious when they see their colleagues and friends getting pink slips,” Chan pointed out. “It affects your confidence.”
The agent noted that home prices in San Francisco jumped recently because of highly paid artificial intelligence specialists. However, workers whose jobs can be replaced by AI are being let go, with businesses including Amazon describing the technology as a reason for the cuts.
Another factor: The Los Angeles wildfires caused home insurance rates to soar.
“If you are paying more in insurance per month, you can’t afford to pay as much on your mortgage,” Chan said. “And what about maintenance? Labor and materials have not gotten cheaper.” And with gas prices going up, the price to drive to a job site is higher.
Law of supply and demand kicked in, with prices leveling off. The median price for an Alameda County home in 2024 was $1,300,000, dropping to $1,285,700 in 2025, according to the California Association of Realtors—a tad lower, but essentially flat.
However, Chan noted, “Alameda is a huge geographical area. It’s hard to generalize about the county. What’s going on in Livermore and Pleasanton is completely different from what’s happening in Berkeley and Oakland.
“The inner East Bay is a totally different world,” the agent said. Definitions differ, but the area generally includes Berkeley, Oakland and Piedmont. It’s characterized by high density and proximity to the water and major transit hubs.
In February, the median price in Berkeley was $1.6 million; the median price in Piedmont was $2.5 million; and the median price in Oakland was $840,000.
Berkeley has the most competitive housing market in California, according to Redfin. Homes in Berkeley receive seven offers on average and sell in around 15 days, according to the data firm.
“I had an all-cash buyer in Berkeley six months ago,” said Tia Hunnicutt, an agent who specializes in Alameda County. “We had to bid a million dollars over the asking price to land the house.”
Hunnicutt added, “There’s very low inventory in Berkeley.”
“Inventory” refers to the number of homes for sale in a given area at a given time.
Currently, there’s only one month’s worth of homes for sale in Berkeley, said agent Margaret Ann Thomas.
“Three to six months’ worth is considered normal,” Thomas said. As buyers compete for homes, the prices go up and up.
As to why people aren’t selling: “There are people trapped in their homes by the existing capital gains structure,” Hunnicutt explained.
Capital gains taxes are triggered when a seller makes a profit of more than $250,000 on the sale of their home, $500,000 if married filing jointly.
Chan mentioned interest rates as a reason for price moderation, but they also affect peoples’ willingness to sell their homes, Hunnicutt said—another “trap.”
As of late 2025, around 80% of California homeowners had mortgage rates below 5%, according to an affordability report by California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.
The average rate for a new buyer today is around 6.50% for a 30-year loan, according to the analyst’s office.
People say, “‘I’ve had my mortgage for 10 years, and it’s 3.25%, so I’m staying put,’” said Zanna Knight, a Berkeley real estate agent. “People don’t want to sell. It leads to a more constrained housing market.”
While Berkeley is an extreme case, low inventory is the case throughout Alameda County—and one of the biggest reasons the market is so competitive.
Or, the ManageCasa real estate blog put it, California’s housing affordability for 2026 is “technically better, still brutal,” with 82% of California households unable to afford a house at the median price, according to the California Association of Realtors Affordability Index.
It all adds up to the fact that while price growth has slowed, making for a more measured market, it’s still not enough to make things easier for buyers.
Hunnicutt shared some tips for people looking for homes in Alameda County.
“I say to buyers, ‘Maybe you look at a home that isn’t as updated, a home that has fewer bedrooms and fewer bathrooms than your dream house,’” said Hunnicutt.
It’s better to get a starter home, then start earning equity, stop wasting money on rent and get in a position to sell and buy that dream house, the agent noted.
“The full story is that there are different prices in different areas. If the median is around $1.1 million, that means there are as many homes above that price as below,” Hunnicutt said.
The median price is the one above which half the homes are priced and below which the other half cost. It’s more representative than the average, because the market may include extremes like decayed fixer-uppers or luxury homes that distort the average.
“Be strategic about neighborhoods,” Hunnicutt advised. “Within the cities of Alameda County are little villages.”
“Maybe someone says they have to be in Temescal or Rockridge, but then they see the Laurel District or Maxwell Park,” she said, referring to Oakland neighborhoods.
The agent described Maxwell Park as “a cute established neighborhood with lots of homes with character and redwood framing, lovely tree-lined streets. There are lots of little pockets like this.”
As the market continues to moderate, things may improve for buyers, but a former president of the Bay East Association of Realtors said it’s hard to tell.
At present, “If it’s the right home, the right price, people are buying, and they will pay over the asking price,” noted Tracey Esling, who headed up the association in 2025. “If it’s not priced right or maybe not in the price range that people are buying at that time, it will sit and people will get a better price on it.”
Overall, she said, with prices essentially the same for the last two years, minus the dramatic highs and lows of earlier years, “the market is steady.” While the future has yet to be determined, Esling is confident that Alameda County real estate will remain steady—“healthy and steady.”
