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Palo Alto’s housing market posted solid gains in 2025, with year-over-year increases in inventory, prices and overall activity. But those gains were uneven, with some neighborhoods surging while others cooled.
Citywide, new listings of single-family homes jumped 10.5% compared to 2024. Inventory increased in all but five of the city’s 13 neighborhoods, including one neighborhood where the number of homes on the market surged by 120%.
Prices also climbed. Palo Alto’s median sales price reached $3.8 million, up about 5.1% from last year and 15% from 2023, setting a new annual record.
The strongest gains were concentrated at the top of the market. Homes priced at $8 million and above accounted for 6.4% of all sales in 2025, marking a record year for the city’s ultra-luxury segment. A total of 25 homes sold above that threshold through the multiple listing service — five more than in 2024, nine more than the pandemic-era peak in 2021 and more than double the 10-year average. Old Palo Alto and Crescent Park led the surge, with median sales prices in both neighborhoods reaching $6 million for the first time.
Sales activity also increased with eight, or more than half, of the city’s 13 neighborhoods closing more deals. Overall, closed and pending sales were up 8.2%% by the start of December. About 35.1% of buyers paid all cash.
So which neighborhoods saw the biggest gains — and which fell behind?
Here’s a look at sales activity for single-family homes in each of Palo Alto’s 13 neighborhoods from Jan.1 through Dec. 12, 2025, compared to 2024 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 overall median sales price increased 5.1% in 2025. The median home price reached $3.8 million compared to $3.63 in 2024.
• Overall home sales increased 8.2% in 2025 compared to 2024. From Jan. 1 to Dec.12 of this year, 407 single-family homes sold or were pending in Palo Alto compared to 376 in 2024.
• Active listings for single-family homes and townhomes increased 13%. There were 712 new listings in Palo Alto in 2025 compared to 630 in 2024.
• Median sales prices rose in 11 Palo Alto neighborhoods and declined in two.
• Crescent Park and Old Palo Alto came in as the most-expensive neighborhoods in Palo Alto, each with a median sales price of $6 million.
• Homes priced at $5 million and over accounted for 28% of all single-family sales.
• Green Acres saw the sharpest decrease in its median sales price with a 26% year-over-year decline. The median price dropped from $4.87 million in 2024 to $3.6 million in 2025.
• All but four neighborhoods — Professorville, Downtown, South Palo Alto and Ventura – saw the number of single-family homes listed for sale increase.
• Community Center saw the biggest jump in homes on the market with a 120% increase year-over-year. New listings rose from 15 in 2024 to 33 in 2025.
• South Palo Alto saw the sharpest decline in homes on the market with a 24.3% drop year-over-year. Sale listings fell from 111 in 2024 to 84 in 2025.
• Palo Alto Hills, Green Acres, Barron Park, Midtown, College Terrace,Old Palo Alto, Green Gables and Community Center closed more deals in 2025, while Crescent Park, Downtown, South Palo Alto, Ventura and Professorville saw less sales activity.
• Green Gables closed the most deals in 2025, with 49 sales, or about 12% of all home sales citywide.
• For the second consecutive year, Community Center saw the biggest jump in sales activity with a 181.8% increase. Sales rose from 11 in 2024 to 31 in 2025.
• Ventura saw the least activity with seven sales.
