Barely 5% of homes in San Mateo County sell for $1M or under, making it the least affordable housing market in the Bay Area

Not only are just 5% of homes in the entire county selling for under $1M, San Mateo County also has the lowest number of total sales under $1M in the entire Bay Area. So it comes as no surprise that $1M will likely not be enough to buy a home there. However, if you don't have $1M+ to spend on a house, there's still hope in a number of Bay Area cities.

For contrast, over 95% of homes in Solano County sell for under $1M and the median price is only $580k. This may be the outlier though, as most other counties do not have as high a percentage of homes that sell in that price range.

Below is the list of Bay Area counties and cities where buyers can still purchase a home for $1M or less.

ALAMEDA COUNTY - 1,152 homes (33.19% of total sales)

Top 3 cities with homes sold under $1M

• Oakland - 572 | Median Price: $620k

• Hayward - 175 | Median Price: $850k

• San Leandro - 161 | Median Price: $840k

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY - 2,043 homes (61.20% of total sales)

Top 3 cities with homes sold under $1M

• Antioch - 403 | Median Price: $606k

• Concord - 244 | Median Price: $768k

• Brentwood - 229 | Median Price: $769k

MARIN COUNTY - 102 homes (12.90% of total sales)

Top 3 cities with homes sold under $1M

• Novato - 38 | Median Price: $903k

• San Rafael - 29 | Median Price: $850k

• Fairfax - 8 | Median Price: $935k

NAPA COUNTY - 203 homes (55.62% of total sales)

Top 3 cities with homes sold under $1M

• Napa - 150 | Median Price: $754k

• American Canyon - 43 | Median Price: $760k

• Calistoga - 7 | Median Price: $810k

SANTA CLARA COUNTY - 225 homes (6.27% of total sales)

Top 3 cities with homes sold under $1M

• San Jose - 126 | Median Price: $900k

• Gilroy - 64 | Median Price: $907k

• Morgan Hill - 19 | Median Price: $795k

SAN FRANCISCO - 137 homes (13.06% of total sales)

Top 3 zip codes with homes sold under $1M

• 94112 - 54 | Median Price: $905k

• 94124 - 29 | Median Price: $850k

• 94134 - 28 | Median Price: $932k

SAN MATEO COUNTY - 82 homes (5.22% of total sales)

Top 3 cities with homes sold under $1M

• Daly City - 21 | Median Price: $925k

• East Palo Alto - 19 | Median Price: $875k

• San Bruno - 10 | Median Price: $945k

SOLANO COUNTY - 1,526 homes (95.49% of total sales)

Top 3 cities with homes sold under $1M

• Vallejo - 392 | Median Price: $535k

• Vacaville - 380 | Median Price: $615k

• Fairfield -341 | Median Price: $619k

SONOMA COUNTY - 1,085 homes (70.00% of total sales)

Top 3 cities with homes sold under $1M

• Santa Rosa - 465 | Median Price: $715k

• Rohnert Park - 133 | Median Price: $781k

• Petaluma - 113 | Median Price: $819k

Santa Clara county is not too far behind San Mateo county for being one of the least affordable places. And Contra Costa County has the most homes sold for under $1M than all other counties.

For a full list of all cities with homes that sell for under $1M from each Bay Area county, you can find it in another post here .

For those looking to buy a home for under $1M, will you be considering any of these cities?

Notes about the data: All numbers are of single family homes sold from 10/1/24 - 3/31/25. Median prices shown are from homes that sold $1M or less, NOT from all sales. SF condos were not included due to the varying HOA costs, which may impact selling prices. Source: MLS Data