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Limited inventory and strong buyer demand shaped Palo Alto’s housing market in 2026.
Buyer activity has picked up since fall 2025, while the number of homes coming onto the market has remained low. That has kept competition strong for the limited number of homes that do come up for sale, with some selling for substantially more than the asking price.
During the first eight months of 2026, the number of new single-family-home listings in Palo Alto declined 9% from the same period last year. Yet sales held steady or increased in seven of the city’s 13 neighborhoods.
The combination of fewer listings and continued sales activity points to strong competition among buyers for the homes that do come onto the market. Roughly one-third of homes sold in Palo Alto closed more than $500,000 above asking, and nearly 40% were purchased with all cash during the first eight months of the year. In Old Palo Alto, the year-to-date median sale price reached approximately $9.1 million, up 58% from a year ago.
The citywide numbers, however, mask significant differences among Palo Alto neighborhoods. Some areas saw prices and sales jump, while others experienced declines.
So which neighborhoods saw more activity, fewer sales or higher price tags?
Here’s a look at sales activity for single-family homes in each of Palo Alto’s 13 neighborhoods from January through August 2026 compared with the same period last year, based on data from MLSListings.
(Editor’s note: Sales activity based on neighborhoods and boundaries as defined by MLSListings.)
Palo Alto real estate activity at a glance
• Palo Alto’s median sales price increased 7.8% year over year. The median home price from January to August 2026 was $4.1 million, compared to $3.8 million during the same period in 2025.
• Home sales dipped 6.6% year over year. From January to August 2026, 270 homes sold in Palo Alto, compared to 289 during the same period in 2025.
• New listings decreased 9.2% year over year. There were 366 homes listed for sale in Palo Alto from January to August 2026, compared to 403 during the same period in 2025.
• Median sales prices rose in nine Palo Alto neighborhoods and declined in four.
• Old Palo Alto had the highest median sales price at $9.14 million, followed by Crescent Park at $6.97 million.
• The number of $10-million-plus home sales jumped to 14 in 2026, compared to seven in 2025, with Old Palo Alto accounting for 10 of those sales.
• Ventura saw the sharpest decrease in its median sales price, with a 10.6% year-over-year decline. The median price dropped from $3.22 million in 2025 to $2.88 million in 2026.
HOW DOES PALO ALTO COMPARE WITH OTHER PENINSULA CITIES? SEE HOW HOME PRICES, SALES AND LISTINGS CHANGES IN 2026.
Here’s a look at sales activity for single-family homes in Atherton, Los Altos, Menlo Park and Palo Alto from January through August 2026 compared to the same time period in 2025 based on data from MLSListings.
MEDIAN HOME SALES PRICES:
- Los Altos: $4.92M (+2.5% from $4.8M)
- Menlo Park: $3.58M (+8.5% from $3.3M)
- Palo Alto: $4.125M (+7.8% from $3.825M)
- Atherton: $11.3M (+17.1% from $9.65M)
SALES ACTIVITY (Single-family homes):
- Los Altos: 197 sold (-5.3% from 208)
- Menlo Park: 199 sold (-7.9% from 216)
- Palo Alto: 270 sold (-6.6% from 289)
- Atherton: 57 sold (+3.6% from 55)
NEW LISTINGS (single-family homes):
- Los Altos: 262 listings (+/-0% from 262)
- Menlo Park: 281 listings (+2.2% from 275)
- Palo Alto: 366 listings (-9.2% from 403)
- Atherton: 77 listings (-10.5% from 86)
OVERBIDDING:
Percent of single-family homes sold $1M over-asking (2026 vs 2025)
- Los Altos: 10.6% vs 10.5%
- Menlo Park: 3% vs 0%
- Palo Alto: 6.6% vs 2.7%
- Atherton: 19.3% vs 7.2%
ULTRA-LUXURY HOME SALES:
Number of homes sold over $10M
- Los Altos: 1
- Menlo Park: 6
- Palo Alto: 14
- Atherton: 35
Homes sold without an MLS listing may not appear in the MLS data.
DAYS ON MARKET:
- Los Altos: 8
- Menlo Park: 8
- Palo Alto: 9
- Atherton: 11
—Information compiled by Xin Jiang
• Old Palo Alto saw the biggest jump in its median sales price, with a 57.6% year-over-year increase. The median price rose from $5.8 million to $9.14 million. Green Acres and Barron Park showed the next-largest gains, with 31.4% and 20.9% jumps, respectively.
• Six neighborhoods — Green Acres, Midtown, Old Palo Alto, Green Gables, Community Center and Professorville — saw the number of new listings decrease.
• Ventura saw the biggest jump in new listings, with a 66.7% increase year over year. New listings rose from 15 in 2025 to 25 in 2026.
• Green Gables saw the sharpest decline in new listings, with a 33.3% drop year over year. New listings fell from 48 in 2025 to 32 in 2026. Despite the decline, the neighborhood saw a 66.7% jump in sales, with five homes sold in 2026 compared to three in 2025.
• Palo Alto Hills, Green Acres, South Palo Alto, College Terrace, Crescent Park and Professorville closed more deals in 2026, while Midtown, Old Palo Alto, Community Center and Downtown saw fewer sales. Barron Park and Ventura saw no change.
• South Palo Alto saw the most sales, with 58 homes sold, or about 21% of all home sales citywide.
• Midtown saw the sharpest decline in sales activity, with a 27.5% decrease year over year. Sales fell from 40 in 2025 to 29 in 2026.
• Palo Alto Hills saw the biggest year-over-year jump in home sales, at 71.4%. The neighborhood saw 12 home sales in 2026, compared to seven in 2025.
Contributing writer Xin Jiang is a real estate agent with Compass in Palo Alto.
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