San Ramon Real Estate Market Update — August 28, 2026
The San Ramon real estate market continues to soften, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's becoming a bad market.
Instead, buying and selling a home in San Ramon has become more intentional than it has been in more than a decade.
Sellers have to think much more carefully about how they prepare, price and present their homes. Buyers, meanwhile, finally have the opportunity to slow down, compare their options and decide whether a home truly offers enough value for the price.
I'm Tony Santoro with Clarkson Santoro Real Estate. We know buying or selling a home can be stressful and confusing, so every week we break down what's actually happening in the San Ramon housing market—and, more importantly, what it means for your options as a homeowner or buyer.
Watch This Week's San Ramon Real Estate Market Update
This Week's San Ramon Real Estate Numbers
HOMES FOR SALE
This week: 72
Last week: 78
AVERAGE ASKING PRICE
This week: $1,916,000
Last week: $1,883,000
NEW PENDING SALES
This week: 9
Last week: 3
AVERAGE PENDING PRICE
This week: $1,497,000
Last week: $1,794,000
CLOSED SALES
This week: 7
Last week: 12
AVERAGE CLOSED PRICE
This week: $1,842,000
Last week: $1,922,000
The headline this week is improving buyer activity combined with falling inventory.
Inventory dropped by six homes, while new pending sales increased from just three last week to nine this week.
Neither number suggests that we've suddenly entered a fast market, but both are moving in a healthier direction as we approach the fall.
Let's take a closer look at what the broader market indicators are telling us.
San Ramon Housing Inventory Drops to 72 Homes
Inventory came back down this week, falling from 78 homes to 72.
More importantly, the shape of this year's inventory trend is beginning to look very similar to what we saw last year.
If that seasonal pattern continues, we should see the number of homes available for sale continue to decline as we move into the fall.
That's important because lower inventory makes it easier for buyer activity to keep pace with the number of homes available.
For sellers, fewer competing listings can certainly help.
But lower inventory doesn't automatically mean every home will sell quickly.
Buyers are still being selective, which means your home has to give them a compelling reason to choose it.
San Ramon Home Sales Are Still Moving Slower Than Normal
Our turnover rate improved this week along with the increase in new pending sales.
We finished with nine new pending homes, compared with only three last week.
That's encouraging.
But our turnover indicator remains well below 50% of what I consider normal for this time of year, so I would still describe San Ramon as a low-turnover housing market.
The seasonal decline in inventory should help that number as we move toward the final quarter of the year.
If pending activity stays reasonably consistent while fewer homes come onto the market, I expect turnover to eventually settle back above the 50% mark.
That would be an improvement.
But it still wouldn't mean we're back to a historically fast San Ramon market.
Are San Ramon Homes Selling Below Asking?
Our over/under asking indicator weakened again this week.
Homes are now closing an average of a little more than $20,000 below asking price, or approximately 1.15% under asking.
That's the largest average gap between asking price and closing price we've seen in San Ramon this year.
I don't think 1.15% under asking is enough by itself to say buyers suddenly have a major advantage.
But this is an indicator worth watching.
If homes begin consistently selling 1.5% or more below asking for several weeks, I think we could make a much stronger argument that negotiating leverage has shifted toward buyers.
For now, we're moving in that direction—but we're not quite there yet.
What Is Happening With San Ramon Home Prices?
Interestingly, while the sale-to-list-price ratio weakened, our 30-day rolling average closing price increased.
Those two trends aren't necessarily contradictory.
In fact, they make sense together.
If our average sales price is increasing, that suggests we're beginning to see more higher-priced homes make it to the closing table.
And those higher price ranges are exactly where we've seen homes struggle the most this year.
Higher-priced homes are also more likely to require price reductions or negotiations before buyers are willing to move forward.
So if more expensive homes continue to close, we could actually see our average sales price increase while the percentage of asking price sellers receive declines.
That's another example of why no single statistic tells the entire story.
What Is the Stock Market Telling Us?
I continue to watch the technology-heavy QQQ ETF because the health of the technology sector can have an outsized impact on buyer confidence here in San Ramon and throughout the Tri-Valley.
QQQ improved slightly this week and continues to show roughly 16% growth for the year.
The continued strength of technology companies—particularly around the ongoing AI boom—has helped maintain a relatively positive outlook for the tech sector even as other parts of the economy have shown signs of weakness.
That's important locally.
A healthy technology industry supports employment, compensation, stock portfolios and overall confidence for an important portion of our buyer pool.
If the technology sector remains healthy, it should continue to provide support for Tri-Valley home values.
Mortgage Rates Continue to Hover in the Same Range
Mortgage rates had another week with almost no meaningful movement, declining by only about 1 basis point.
Rates have spent much of this year hovering somewhere around the 6.5% to 6.75% range.
Obviously, we'd love to see borrowing costs come down.
But there's another important takeaway from the fact that rates have remained elevated for so long:
They haven't killed the San Ramon housing market.
Homes are still selling.
Buyers are still buying.
People are still moving.
Higher rates have simply made everything more difficult.
And when things become more difficult, both buyers and sellers have to make more thoughtful decisions.
What Does This Mean for San Ramon Home Sellers?
For a long time, homeowners didn't have to be exceptionally intentional about preparing a home for sale.
Even before the historically low interest rates created the frenzy we experienced a few years ago, sellers could often put a decent home on the market and expect buyers to show up.
Today's market is different.
Sellers need to be much more thoughtful about how their home will compete.
That means considering:
What improvements are actually worth making before selling
How the home will look in photos and online marketing
Whether the presentation creates an emotional response
How your price compares with competing homes
What buyers are getting for the money
How you create urgency when buyers no longer feel pressured to act
Simply listing a home and hoping buyers fall in love with it isn't a strategy.
You have to determine why a buyer should choose your home instead of the alternatives.
And then build your selling strategy around that answer.
What Does This Mean for San Ramon Home Buyers?
Buyers have something they haven't consistently had in San Ramon for a very long time:
Time to think.
During faster markets, buyers often felt pressure to make almost impulsive decisions.
A home would hit the market.
You would tour it Saturday.
Offers were due Monday.
And buyers had to decide whether to spend well over $1 million on a house while worrying that taking too long to think might mean losing it.
That's not the experience with most homes today.
Buyers can more often step back and ask:
What am I actually getting for the price they're asking?
They can compare homes.
They can evaluate condition.
They can consider location.
They can think about future improvements.
And in many cases, they can negotiate.
That doesn't mean buyers should move slowly on every property. Exceptional homes can still attract competition.
But buyers now have both the luxury and responsibility to be more intentional about the decisions they make.
This Week's San Ramon Market Takeaway
If I had to describe the 2026 San Ramon housing market with one word, I think it would be:
Intentionality.
For a long time, neither side of a real estate transaction had to operate this way.
Sellers didn't always need to be incredibly thoughtful about preparation because demand was strong enough to overcome a lot of mistakes.
Buyers often didn't have the luxury of being thoughtful because the fear of missing out forced them to make decisions quickly.
Today, both sides have more responsibility.
Sellers need to intentionally prepare their homes to stand out.
They need to think about what buyers want, where their home fits into the competition and what will make someone choose their property.
Buyers need to intentionally evaluate value.
They have more opportunity to consider whether a home's condition, location, features and price actually make sense for them.
That's not necessarily a bad housing market.
In many ways, it's a more thoughtful one.
And that's why having the right strategy matters more today than it has in a long time.
The goal isn't simply to sell a house or buy a house.
It's to understand your options well enough to make the best decision for you and your family.
Frequently Asked Questions About the San Ramon Housing Market
Is San Ramon becoming a buyer's market?
Buyers are gaining some negotiating leverage, but I wouldn't call San Ramon a strong buyer's market yet. Homes are now closing about 1.15% below asking on average, which is the largest gap we've seen this year. If that number remains above roughly 1.5% under asking for several weeks, I would see that as stronger evidence that the advantage has shifted toward buyers.
Is San Ramon housing inventory starting to fall?
Yes. Inventory dropped from 78 homes last week to 72 this week. This also follows a seasonal pattern similar to what we saw last year, when inventory began declining as the market moved toward fall.
Are buyers becoming more active in San Ramon?
Buyer activity improved this week, with nine homes going pending compared with just three last week. However, overall turnover remains well below normal, so I wouldn't describe this as a fast market yet.
Are San Ramon home prices falling?
Not necessarily. Our 30-day rolling average sales price actually increased, suggesting we're seeing more higher-priced homes close. At the same time, sellers are accepting slightly more below their asking prices. That's why it's important to look at several market indicators instead of relying on one average price.
Is now a good time to sell a home in San Ramon?
That depends heavily on your individual home and your goals.
Sellers can absolutely succeed in today's market, but preparation, pricing and presentation matter more than they have in years.
Before listing, you should understand your competition and have a clear answer to one important question:
Why should a buyer choose your home?
Wondering What This Market Means for Your Home?
Market statistics tell us what's happening across San Ramon, but they can't tell you exactly what your home is worth or what strategy makes the most sense for your family.
If you're thinking about selling—or simply want to understand your options—we're happy to sit down with you, look at your home and the current market, and help you create a plan.
Selling or buying a home can be stressful and confusing, but it doesn't have to be.