San Mateo housing inventory tracker: September 2026

This is the September 2026 edition of our San Mateo housing inventory tracker. The headline: 132 active listings, up 18 listings month over month and -7.7% year over year. Single family homes made up 44% of what was listed, condos 48%.

TurboHome Market Analysis · San Mateo, California · Data through September 2026

Key findings

• San Mateo had 132 active listings in September 2026, -7.7% versus 143 in September 2025 and +15.8% versus 114 in August 2026.
• Single family homes: 58 active in September 2026 versus 71 a year earlier (-18.3%). Condos: 63 versus 57 (+10.5%).
• Townhouses: 9 active versus 13 a year earlier (-30.8%).
• Condos made up 48% of active inventory and single family homes 44%.
• The 24-month high was 149 in Apr 2025 and the low was 62 in Dec 2025.
• Downtown San Mateo had the most active listings of any tracked neighborhood (11 in September 2026, versus 12 in August).

Chart 1: San Mateo active listings by property type, Oct 2024 to September 2026

• All active listings
• Single family
• Condo
• Townhouse

Chart 2: San Mateo active listings by neighborhood, September 2026 vs August 2026

• Sep 2026
• Aug 2026

1. Downtown San Mateo1112
2. Mariner's Isle118
3. Fiesta Gardens83
4. San Mateo Village89
5. Sunnybrae / 19th Ave. Park70
6. Beresford Manor64
7. San Mateo Terrace64
8. North Shoreview54

051015

Market context

The South Bay is the soft spot in the Bay Area right now. Compass reported Santa Clara County active listings up 15% in September 2026, price cuts up 49%, and the single-family median down 4%, while San Mateo County tightened with a 9% median gain and 63% of sales closing above list (source). Redfin's four-week data through October 18 showed the San Jose metro median sale price down 4.7% year over year with new listings up 17.7% (source). Zillow data cited by first tuesday put San Jose metro inventory at roughly 3,000 listings in September, up 10.5% from 2,700 a year earlier (source).

Nationally, the backdrop is weak demand and slowly building supply. Freddie Mac's survey put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.32% on October 22, 2026, down from 7.40% the week before but well above 6.19% a year earlier (source). Redfin counted 281,749 pending sales in the four weeks ending October 18, down 14.4% from a year ago and the lowest level in its records, while active listings nationwide were up 2.1% (source).

What it means for buyers in San Mateo

Buyers in San Mateo are working with a thinner menu. Active listings were 132 in September 2026, 7.7% below a year earlier, so well priced homes in the most wanted neighborhoods still draw multiple offers. Get fully underwritten before touring, decide your walk-away number in advance, and widen your search to neighborhoods like Mariner's Isle and Fiesta Gardens where the listing count is holding up.

What it means for sellers in San Mateo

Sellers in San Mateo are in a relatively strong position on supply. Fewer competing listings than last September means a well prepared, correctly priced home should attract attention quickly. That does not mean any price works: higher mortgage rates have cut the pool of qualified buyers, so the homes that sit are the ones priced above recent comparable sales. Downtown San Mateo has the most competing listings, so sellers there should be the most disciplined on price.

How TurboHome helps

TurboHome is a flat fee brokerage licensed in California and Texas. Our in-house, licensed local agents handle touring, analysis, offers, negotiation, and closing, and we split the buyer side commission with you. You can take your TurboHome Rebate as cash at closing, use it to strengthen your offer, or use it to buy down your mortgage rate, which matters when rates sit above 7%. In a tighter San Mateo market, that rebate is money you keep rather than money that goes to a traditional commission. Talk to a TurboHome agent about buying in San Mateo or read how the buyer rebate works in California.

Methodology

TurboHome analysis of MLS data via Snowflake. Active listing counts are month-end snapshots of listings with an active status inside San Mateo city limits, from Oct 2024 through September 2026, the latest complete month. Deleted or withdrawn records are excluded. Property types shown are single family residences, condominiums, and townhouses; the all listings total also includes other residential types such as duplexes and manufactured homes, so the three columns do not sum to the total. Neighborhood counts cover neighborhoods with at least 5 active listings in September 2026 and are limited to the 8 largest by current count. Neighborhood figures are compared month over month only, because the share of listings assigned to a named neighborhood has grown over the past year and a year over year neighborhood comparison would overstate the change. All figures are aggregates; no individual listing data is published. Counts come from the MLS feeds TurboHome tracks and can differ from county or metro figures published by local Realtor associations, which use different boundaries and definitions.

FAQ

Related pages

• Redwood City housing inventory tracker: September 2026
• San Jose housing inventory tracker: September 2026
• TurboHome buyer rebate in California
• San Francisco housing market
• TurboHome vs Redfin

About the Author

Vinura Abeysundara

Vinura Abeysundara is a real estate and growth professional with experience scaling homebuying platforms across Canada and the United States. Formerly Head of Growth at Zown, he now works with TurboHome and writes about homebuyer savings, flat-fee real estate, commissions, and technology in real estate.

View Vinura on LinkedIn

About Kevin Kretzmer

Head Agent, California

Kevin Kretzmer leads TurboHome's California agent team and reviews California and national buyer guidance for practical brokerage accuracy.

View Kevin's profile