DRE #02250755“I help Bay Area buyers and sellers make confident moves with the latest market data, real local expertise, and the patience to find what's actually right for you, not the fastest close.”
DRE #02250755“I help Bay Area buyers and sellers make confident moves with the latest market data, real local expertise, and the patience to find what's actually right for you, not the fastest close.”
Data through Sep 2026
Atherton favors sellers and competition is intensifying. Here's the picture:
Based on 21 homes sold in the 3 months ending September 2026. Includes all residential types (SFH, condo, townhouse, multi-family, and others). Updated weekly.
Data through September 2026
See how prices, monthly costs, and mortgage rates have moved in Atherton.
Includes principal, interest, estimated CA property tax (~1.25%), and estimated insurance (~$2,200/yr). HOA fees not included.
The median sale price in Atherton is $11.99M — up 26% from $9.50M in October 2021. Over that stretch, the median peaked at $22.20M in February 2026 and bottomed at $5.91M in September 2024. That puts today's price about 31% above the area's 5-year average of $9.16M. Atherton averages only about 7 sales a month, so these swings partly reflect which specific homes happened to sell — treat the long-run direction as rough, not precise.
What buyers actually pay has moved more than the sticker price suggests: a typical monthly payment (20% down, principal & interest) is about $64,032 today, up 96% from $32,619 in October 2021. Most of that increase comes from mortgage rates (3.1% then vs. 7.0% now), not prices — at October 2021 rates, today's median would run about $41,183/mo.
Seasonally, the three months ending in June have been the busiest stretch for closings in Atherton over the past 5 years (about 27 sales in that window on average, vs. 14 for the stretch ending in February), while competition has run hottest in the stretch ending in May (40% of homes selling over asking on average). That's an average across just 5 observations per month, so treat it as a tendency, not a rule.
Atherton favors sellers and competition is intensifying. Buyers should prepare strong offers and expect limited room to negotiate on well-priced listings.
At $11.99M, Atherton's median is roughly 7 times the Bay Area median of $1.77M. Atherton sits at the very top of the regional market.
Atherton currently favors sellers:
Buyer strategy: well-priced homes still move quickly, but there is modest room for strong offers. Come in pre-approved with a clear plan.
At $11.99M with 20% down at 7.4%, the monthly cost breakdown:
Most buyers at this tier pay a meaningful share in cash, which reduces monthly carrying costs.
→“Mel did an amazing job helping us buy our first home. When we first met her, we had done literally zero of the steps needed to buy a house, and 28 days later we closed.”
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“Mel did an incredible job helping me find and purchase my first home! She was very responsive, professional, and knowledgeable.”
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