Silicon Valley Home Prices by City: May 2026 Data

Atherton’s median price jumped 34.4% this year. Nine miles away in Los Altos, prices fell 7%. Same county, same month, two completely different markets.

That’s the story every month on Silicon Valley Market Watch: there’s no single “Silicon Valley housing market.” There are 10, and they don’t move together. Here’s where each one stands as of May 2026.

Why one number can’t describe this county

A countywide average blends a $1.65M San Jose home with an $11.2M Atherton estate and calls the result “the market.” It isn’t. If you’re buying, selling, or tracking your equity, you need the number for your city, not the county’s.

Median home prices by tier

Ultra-luxury: $8M+

Atherton: $11,200,000, up 34.4% year over year. Homes here sit 34 days on market on average, the slowest pace in the county, and only 11 sold last month. This is the smallest, least liquid market SVMW tracks, and it’s also the one that moved the most.

Premium tier: $3.5M to $5M

Los Altos: $4,510,000, down 7.0% year over year. The only city in this tier that’s cheaper than a year ago. 9 days on market, 25 sold.

Palo Alto: $4,300,000, up 3.6%. 11 days on market, 53 sold, still the county’s clearest brand-name market.

Menlo Park: $4,100,000, up 12.8%, the second-biggest gain we tracked this month. 15 days on market, 22 sold.

Saratoga: $4,200,000, down 5.7%. 10 days on market, 23 sold.

Cupertino: $3,550,000, up 5.5%. 14 days on market, 23 sold.

Los Gatos: $3,550,000, up 15.3%, the third double-digit gainer this month. 24 days on market, the second-slowest pace we tracked, and 30 sold.

Mid-tier: $2.5M to $3.5M

Mountain View: $3,080,000, up 19.2%, the biggest year-over-year gain of any city SVMW tracks. It’s also one of the fastest: 9 days on market, 29 sold.

Sunnyvale: $2,781,750, up 3.0%. 9 days on market (tied for the fastest pace in the county) and 56 sold, more than double what Mountain View or Cupertino moved.

Relative value: under $2M

San Jose: $1,650,000, down 6.9%, the only city besides Los Altos and Saratoga to post a year-over-year decline. It’s also the county’s volume leader by a wide margin: 378 homes sold last month, more than 10 times any other tracked city, at 16 days on market.

The fastest and slowest markets right now

Mountain View and Sunnyvale are tied for the fastest pace in the county at 9 days on market. Atherton is the slowest at 34 days, with Los Gatos next at 24. If you’re competing for a home in Mountain View or Sunnyvale, expect to move fast. If you’re shopping Atherton or Los Gatos, you have more room to think.

Where the volume is

San Jose alone sold 378 homes last month. Every other city SVMW tracks sold under 60. That’s not a footnote: it means the county’s “typical” transaction looks nothing like the headline-grabbing luxury sales in Atherton or Los Altos. Most Silicon Valley buyers and sellers are transacting in San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Mountain View, not in the $4M-plus tier that gets the press.

What this means if you’re buying or selling

If you’re pricing a listing or sizing a budget, use your city’s number, not the county’s. A 3.6% gain in Palo Alto and a 19.2% gain in Mountain View are both real, and averaging them together tells you nothing useful about either one. Pair the median with days on market: a low DOM city like Sunnyvale or Mountain View rewards a decisive, well-prepared offer, while a slower market like Atherton or Los Gatos gives you more room to negotiate.

FAQ

Which Silicon Valley city had the biggest price gain in May 2026?
Atherton posted the largest year-over-year gain at 34.4%, followed by Mountain View at 19.2% and Los Gatos at 15.3%. Three cities, Los Altos, Saratoga, and San Jose, saw prices fall year over year.

Which city has the fastest-moving market right now?
Mountain View and Sunnyvale are tied for the fastest pace SVMW tracks, both averaging 9 days on market in May 2026.

Which city sells the most homes?
San Jose, by a wide margin. It sold 378 homes last month, more than 10 times the next-closest city SVMW tracks.

Want to know what your comp package can afford in each of these cities? Run your numbers through our RSU home buying power calculator, free and no sign-up required.

Silicon Valley Market Watch updates this data monthly. Bookmark this page and come back next month for the June 2026 figures.