Median Price To Buy A Home In San Mateo County Is Now Over $2M

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — San Mateo County set an ominous mark in April, becoming the first county in California to have its median sales price of a single-family home exceed $2 million.

According to data from the California Association of Realtors, the median price of a single-family home in San Mateo County increased slightly from $1.985 million in March, but enough to reach the “milestone.” It’s also a 22 percent increase from last April, when the median sales price was $1.64 million.

San Mateo’s neighboring counties, San Francisco ($1.8 million) and Santa Clara ($1.65 million) will likely top $2 million in the near future. A single person living in San Mateo County making up to $102,450 per year would qualify for low-income housing.

Statewide, every county tracked by the California Association of Realtors reported an increase in median price from 2020. All but three of them saw increases of more than 10 percent. The median sales price statewide topped $800,000 for the first time in April.

Dave Walsh, vice president and manager of the Compass San Jose office, said in a news release that homes are being sold at a record pace, but active listings are at historic lows.

"The high demand and shortage of homes for sale, driven by these market factors, continued to drive up home prices and shatter the record-high set just last month,” Walsh said.

Skyrocketing home prices can threaten already-low homeownership levels and make it more difficult for first-time home buyers to get into the market, according to Jordan Levine, vice president and chief economist of the California Association of Realtors.

"As vaccination rates increase and the state reopens fully, higher home prices will hopefully entice prospective sellers who have held off putting their homes on the market during the pandemic to feel more comfortable listing their homes for sale, which would alleviate pressure on home prices,” Levine said.

The month of May, coincidentally, is Affordable Housing Month in San Mateo County.