The Local Lowdown: April 2026

Michelle Kim | May 1, 2026

The Local Lowdown

Quick Take:

Median sale prices rebounded in Sonoma County with a 1.16% year-over-year gain, while Napa County continued to struggle with a 10.61% decline.
Inventory remains significantly constrained, with single-family home inventory down 41.16% and condo inventory down 31.06% on a year-over-year basis.
Listings are moving much faster than last month across all four counties, with days on market dropping sharply as the spring selling season heats up.

Spring brings a mixed bag for home prices

March delivered a tale of two markets across the North Bay's single-family home segment. Sonoma County saw a welcome rebound, with the median single-family home selling for $875,000, a 1.16% increase compared to March 2025. This marks a nice turnaround after several months of flat or declining prices. However, not all counties shared in the good news. Marin County saw a 1.69% decline to $1,750,000, Solano County dropped 3.45% to $578,320, and Napa County experienced a more significant 10.61% decline to $885,000. The condo market was characteristically volatile. Napa County condos saw a remarkable 106.50% year-over-year surge, though this is likely driven by a small number of high-value sales. Meanwhile, Marin County condos fell 22.50%, Solano County declined 18.06%, and Sonoma County dipped 0.81%.

Inventory remains in short supply as spring arrives

Despite the arrival of the spring selling season, inventory levels remain well below historical norms. Single-family home inventory across the North Bay now sits at 2,070 units, down 41.16% compared to March 2025. The condo market tells a similar story, with just 293 units available, a 31.06% year-over-year decline. The good news is that sales activity is picking up. Single-family home sales increased 5.33% year-over-year, and condo sales jumped 10.61%. New listings are also trending in the right direction, with single-family new listings up 7.77% month-over-month and condo new listings up 16.82%. However, new listings remain well below last year's pace, down 31.69% for single-family homes and 8.09% for condos. Until more sellers enter the market, buyers will continue to face stiff competition.

Homes are flying off the market as spring heats up

March brought a dramatic acceleration in the pace of sales across the North Bay. Single-family homes in all four counties saw significant month-over-month improvements in days on market. Napa County led the way with a 38.75% decrease, bringing the median days on market down to 49. Marin County followed closely with a 31.82% drop to just 15 days, Sonoma County improved 26.67% to 33 days, and Solano County tightened 25.58% to 32 days. On a year-over-year basis, most single-family markets are roughly in line with last year, with Sonoma and Solano Counties each up about 3% and Marin up 7.14%. Napa County is the outlier, with days on market still 63.33% higher than March 2025. The condo market saw mixed results, with Napa County condos moving 72.77% faster year-over-year while Solano County condos are taking 243.48% longer to sell.

Seller's market conditions strengthen heading into spring

When determining whether a market is a buyers' market or a sellers' market, we look to the Months of Supply Inventory (MSI) metric. The state of California has historically averaged around three months of MSI, so any area with at or around three months of MSI is considered a balanced market. Any market that has lower than three months of MSI is considered a seller's market, whereas markets with more than three months of MSI are considered buyers' markets.

March saw inventory tighten further across the North Bay, reinforcing seller's market conditions in most segments. The single-family home market is now firmly in seller's territory in three of the four counties. Marin County has just 1.8 months of supply, down 58.14% year-over-year. Solano County sits at 2.2 months (down 31.25%), and Sonoma County has 2.3 months of supply (down 51.06%). Napa County remains more balanced at 5.5 months, though this represents a 27.63% year-over-year decline. The condo market has also continued to tighten, with Sonoma County at 3 months (down 36.17%), Marin County at 3.2 months (down 39.62%), Solano County at 3.5 months (down 28.57%), and Napa County at 5 months (down 35.90%). As we move deeper into the spring selling season, sellers continue to hold the upper hand in most North Bay markets.