California Housing Market: Home Prices, Rent and Affordability
The typical California home is worth $764,158, up 0.4% over the past year and up 13.9% over five years, 107.3% above the national $368,697 (Zillow, latest release). That ranks #2 of 50 on price. A 20%-down mortgage runs $3,932 a month and takes about $197,262 of income; the median California household earns $91,905, $105,357 short.
In Los Angeles, the state's largest metro, typical rent is $2,941 a month against a $4,901 principal-and-interest payment on the typical home, so renting is $1,960 a month cheaper before taxes, insurance and maintenance. The market is hot: 24.3% of listings cut their price (national 26.4%), homes go pending in 47 days (national 53), and for-sale inventory is down 5.1% from a year ago.
All figures are Zillow Research's published numbers for August; median household income is from the Census Bureau. How the data works → · Home prices in all 50 states →
California Housing by the Numbers
How much does a house cost in California? The typical home is worth $764,158, the median sale price is $748,333 and the median list price $734,666. The six figures below describe the market this month, each with the national comparison.
How Have California Home Prices Changed?
The typical California home value every month since 2000, with the national typical home as a dashed line. Values rose 0.4% over the past year, are up 13.9% over five years, up 71.1% over ten, and up 306% since January 2000.
Is It Cheaper to Rent or Buy in California?
Two direct answers from the Zillow data. Rent versus buy sets typical asking rent in Los Angeles, the state's largest metro, against the mortgage payment on the typical home there, since Zillow publishes rents by metro rather than by state. The affordability gap is the income needed to buy the typical California home minus what the median household actually earns.
Rent vs. buy · Los Angeles, CA
The payment excludes property tax (0.71% of value in California), insurance and maintenance, all of which push the cost of owning higher; renting builds no equity. If values kept rising at the past five years' pace (13.9%), equity would narrow that gap over a long stay.
Affordability gap · #50 of 50
A $3,932 monthly payment takes 51.3% of the median California household's income before property tax and insurance; lenders generally cap total housing costs near 28–31%. Full budget for your household →
Is California a Buyer's or a Seller's Market?
Market temperature is our label from three Zillow signals compared with the national market: the share of listings with a price cut, days from listing to pending (days on market), and whether homes for sale are up from a year ago. California is hot: it sellers hold the leverage: fewer price cuts, faster sales and shrinking inventory compared with the national market.
Median sale price $748,333 against a median list price of $734,666, so the typical home closes at or above asking.
Where the California market is heading
Compared with a year ago, all three signals point tighter, in sellers' favor: the share of listings with a price cut is down 1.0 points from a year ago to 24.3%, homes take 1 day less to go pending than a year ago (47 now), and the number of homes for sale is down 5.1%. The typical home value rose 0.4% over the same period and is 2.3% below its January 2025 peak of $781,759. We publish no forecasts: these are Zillow's current-month readings, not a prediction of where California home prices go next.
Home Values and Rents in California Cities
Zillow publishes a city-level home value or rent for 20 of the California cities we track. The most expensive is Irvine ($1,492,449) and the cheapest Bakersfield ($388,250). Click a city for its full profile.
| City | Population | Home value | 1 yr | 5 yr | Rent | Rent 1 yr | Value ÷ income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 3,820,963 | $929,572 | -0.4% | ||||
| San Diego | 1,388,312 | $985,158 | -0.4% | ||||
| San Jose | 969,615 | $1,362,808 | -0.6% | ||||
| San Francisco | 808,988 | $1,424,767 | +13.6% | ||||
| Fresno | 545,717 | $388,924 | +0.6% | ||||
| Sacramento | 526,383 | $473,797 | -0.9% | ||||
| Long Beach | 449,496 | $850,917 | +2.5% | ||||
| Oakland | 436,508 | $708,610 | -0.9% | ||||
| Bakersfield | 413,376 | $388,250 | 0.0% | ||||
| Anaheim | 340,505 | $946,371 | +2.7% | ||||
| Stockton | 319,537 | $427,285 | -2.3% | ||||
| Riverside | 318,855 | $645,110 | +0.5% | ||||
| Irvine | 314,615 | $1,492,449 | -1.8% | ||||
| Santa Ana | 310,523 | $868,002 | +3.3% | ||||
| Chula Vista | 274,344 | $849,526 | +0.8% | ||||
| Fremont | 226,211 | $1,447,776 | -2.0% | ||||
| Santa Clarita | 224,039 | $787,700 | -0.9% | ||||
| San Bernardino | 223,706 | $492,161 | +2.0% | ||||
| Modesto | 218,909 | $442,564 | +0.1% | ||||
| Fontana | 215,485 | $633,683 | +0.2% |
Home value and rent are Zillow's city-level indexes; population and median household income are Census ACS. Cities without a Zillow index are omitted. All California cities ranked →
How California Compares With Nearby States
The West states closest to California on price. Each card links to that state's housing page; the compare link puts the two states side by side on every category.
More on California
California dashboard
→Overall rank and grade, every category score, taxes, utilities, safety, schools and all tracked cities.
What you'd keep in California
→Take-home after housing, taxes, childcare, utilities and groceries for your household and income.
Who is moving to California
→IRS migration data: where new residents come from, where leavers go, and what both groups earn.
California Housing Market FAQ
What is the average house price in California?
$764,158 is the typical California home value according to the latest Zillow Research release of the Zillow Home Value Index, which tracks homes in the middle third of the market. The median sale price was $748,333 and the median list price $734,666. That makes California the #2 most expensive state; the national typical home is worth $368,697.
Are home prices dropping in California?
No. The typical California home value rose 0.4% over the past year, though it remains 2.3% below its January 2025 peak of $781,759. Over five years it is up 13.9% and over ten years up 71.1%. Nationally, values rose 1.2% over the year.
How have California home prices changed over the past 1, 5 and 10 years?
+0.4% over one year, +13.9% over five years and +71.1% over ten years for the typical California home value, per the latest Zillow Research release; the national figures are +1.2%, +20.3% and +77.9%. Since January 2000 the typical California home is up 306%. The monthly chart above shows the full series against the national line.
Will the California housing market crash?
We publish no forecasts, so this page cannot answer that; it can show the current readings and the historical worst case. Right now the typical California home value is 2.3% below its January 2025 peak of $781,759 after it rose 0.4% over the past year; 24.3% of listings have cut their price (national 26.4%), homes go pending in 47 days (national 53), and inventory is down 5.1% from a year ago, per Zillow Research. The largest decline in Zillow's monthly series for California was 42.8% from August 2006 to April 2012, and values took 66 months to regain that peak.
Is it a good time to buy a house in California?
The California market is hot right now, which means it sellers hold the leverage: fewer price cuts, faster sales and shrinking inventory compared with the national market. 24.3% of listings cut their price (national 26.4%), homes go pending in 47 days (national 53), and for-sale inventory is down 5.1% from a year ago. Affordability is the constraint: buying the typical home takes $197,262 of income, $105,357 more than the median household earns. Whether the timing is right also depends on mortgage rates and how long you plan to stay.
Is California a buyer's or seller's market?
California leans toward sellers. Fewer listings are cutting prices than the national average (24.3% vs. 26.4%), homes take 47 days to go pending (national 53), and the number of homes for sale is down 5.1% from a year ago at 97K listings. None of those three signals point toward buyers.
What is the average rent in California?
In Los Angeles, California's largest metro, the typical asking rent is $2,941 a month, up 1.6% over the past year and up 20.3% over five years, per the Zillow Observed Rent Index. The national typical rent is $1,948. Among California cities we track, rents range from $1,858 to $4,682 a month.
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in California?
Renting is cheaper month to month in Los Angeles, California's largest metro. Typical rent is $2,941 and the principal-and-interest payment on the typical home with 20% down is $4,901, a difference of $1,960 a month in favor of renting. The payment excludes property tax (0.71% of value in California), insurance and maintenance, and renting builds no equity, so the full answer depends on how long you stay.
How much income do you need to buy a house in California?
About $197,262 a year, using Zillow's assumptions of 20% down at current mortgage rates and a payment of no more than 30% of income. The median California household earns $91,905, so the typical household is $105,357 short. That is the #50 smallest affordability gap of the 50 states. The monthly payment of $3,932 equals 51.3% of the median household's income.
Where are homes cheapest and most expensive in California?
Among the California cities we track with Zillow data, the most expensive typical home is in Irvine ($1,492,449) and the cheapest in Bakersfield ($388,250). Also at the top: Fremont ($1,447,776), San Francisco ($1,424,767), and San Jose ($1,362,808). The city table above lists every tracked California city with its value, one-year change and rent.
How does California compare with nearby states?
In the West, the closest comparisons on price are Hawaii ($833,340, up 1.1% in a year), Washington ($591,879, down 0.3% in a year), and Utah ($534,582, up 1.5% in a year). California's typical home is $764,158, up 0.4%. On affordability, California ranks #50 of 50 versus Hawaii at #49, Washington at #45, and Utah at #37.
How current is the California housing data?
Every figure on this page comes from Zillow Research, which publishes state, metro and city data free each month for the prior month; the latest month shown is August. Median household income is from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. We rebuild the page from the newest Zillow files as they are released.
Home values, rents, mortgage payments, income needed, inventory, price cuts, days to pending and sale and list prices are published by Zillow Research and shown as released, with attribution. Median household income and city populations are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Home prices and housing markets in all 50 states →