Your monthly guide to rental conditions in Bay Area. This is our August 2026 report, covering July 2026 rental data: what rents looked like last month, what's driving the market, and what it means if you own a rental home.
Bay Area Rental Market Snapshot — July 2026
Here's where Bay Area rents landed in July 2026, across all property types — apartments, condos, townhomes, and single-family homes.
Bay Area median rent hit $2,967 in July 2026, up 3.7% year-over-year, while homes averaged 37 days on market. July sits at the seasonal peak for leasing competition, so landlords pricing vacancies now have the strongest demand window of the year behind them.
| Metric | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Median Rent (All Types, Bay Area) | $2,967 | -0.4% MoM |
| Avg. Days on Market | 37 days | — |
| Rent Growth YoY | +3.7% | — |
Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, all rental property types, July 2026.
What's Driving Bay Area Rental Market Conditions Right Now
Bay Area Rental Supply and New Construction
The Bay Area's construction pipeline has essentially collapsed, and landlords across every property type are feeling it. Starts are down more than 50% year-over-year, with only about 8,216 units projected to complete regionwide by year-end, and permit activity in 2024 hit roughly 9,100 units, one of the lowest tallies in 15 years and about 75% below 2018's pace. New supply is concentrating in urban infill corridors like SoMa and Treasure Island rather than spreading across the Peninsula or East Bay suburbs, so landlords in Fremont, Sunnyvale, and Mountain View are seeing almost no new competition, while 41,000 shovel-ready affordable units across the nine-county region remain stalled for lack of final funding.
Why People Rent in Bay Area
Bay Area renter demand is getting a structural boost from the return-to-office wave. After two years of tech layoffs, hiring has climbed steadily through H1 2026, especially in AI-adjacent roles, with companies like Anthropic absorbing multiple SoMa buildings and Google continuing to expand in Mountain View, pulling workers back toward transit corridors and tech campuses. Workers who relocated during the remote-work era are returning, and with 30-year mortgage rates sitting at 6.66%, homeownership is out of reach for most of them, so they're renting near BART, Caltrain, and the Peninsula campuses they need to reach three or four days a week.
What This Means for Bay Area Landlords
July was the seasonal peak, and August is still inside the summer leasing window, but demand starts softening meaningfully in September as Q4 approaches, so if you have a vacancy now, price it to lease in the next three to four weeks rather than holding out for top dollar into fall. With rents up 3.7% year-over-year and only 8,216 units completing across the entire region, you have pricing leverage today; use it to secure a strong tenant before the market slows, not to test ceilings you may not hit once summer renters stop moving.
Bay Area Rent by City — July 2026
San Mateo leads the Bay Area table at 27 days on market, with San Francisco, Redwood City, and San Jose close behind at 29 days each, reflecting the renewed demand wave near tech employment corridors. At the other end, Sunnyvale, Oakland, and Santa Clara are sitting at 52, 50, and 48 days respectively, with Sunnyvale posting a slight month-over-month decline of 1.0%, suggesting softer absorption despite its proximity to major tech campuses. Across the metro, the fastest cities are leasing in under a month while the slowest are taking nearly twice as long, so location within the Bay Area is doing more work than the overall market headline.
| City | Median Rent | 2BR Median | 3BR Median | Avg. DOM | MoM Change | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose, CA | $3,081 | $2,982 | $4,517 | 29 days | +0.1% | +6.2% |
| San Francisco, CA | $3,734 | $5,466 | $6,969 | 29 days | +2.1% | +10.7% |
| Oakland, CA | $2,238 | $2,474 | $3,489 | 50 days | -0.5% | +3.2% |
| Fremont, CA | $3,082 | $2,954 | $4,000 | 31 days | -0.1% | +7.1% |
| Hayward, CA | $2,419 | $2,480 | $3,171 | 32 days | +0.0% | -2.6% |
| Sunnyvale, CA | $3,361 | $3,637 | $4,921 | 52 days | -1.0% | +5.4% |
| Santa Clara, CA | $3,303 | $3,166 | $4,971 | 48 days | -0.5% | +8.4% |
| Concord, CA | $2,366 | $2,275 | $3,329 | 37 days | -2.2% | +6.7% |
| Richmond, CA | $2,487 | $2,552 | $3,278 | 46 days | +0.0% | -4.7% |
| Redwood City, CA | $3,034 | $3,461 | $5,717 | 29 days | -5.6% | -5.5% |
| San Mateo, CA | $3,530 | $3,924 | $5,511 | 27 days | +2.7% | +5.7% |
| Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, all property types, July 2026. Median Rent is across all property types. |
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San Jose, CA: The median rent hit $3,081 in June, up 6.2% year-over-year, and homes leased in 29 days, one of the faster paces across the metro. That combination of price growth and tight leasing speed points to a market where supply hasn't kept up with returning tech workers.
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San Francisco, CA: SoMa anchors the city's rental demand, with Uber, OpenAI, Salesforce, and Dropbox all drawing workers who need quick access to BART, Muni, and Caltrain. San Francisco posted the strongest year-over-year gain in this table at +10.7%, with a median rent of $3,734 in June and homes leasing in 29 days, reflecting exactly the kind of in-office re-concentration that has made it the fastest-growing large rental market in the country.
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Oakland, CA: At a median rent of $2,238 in June, Oakland is the most affordable city in this table by a wide margin, but the 50-day DOM is the second-slowest here, and the -0.5% month-over-month dip suggests landlords are working harder to fill vacancies than their counterparts across the bay.
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Fremont, CA: Fremont draws long-term tenants with its school quality, BART access, and proximity to Silicon Valley job centers. The median rent reached $3,082 in June, up 7.1% year-over-year, and homes leased in 31 days, a pace that puts it right alongside San Jose and San Francisco as one of the tightest markets in the region.
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Hayward, CA: The median rent was $2,419 in June, roughly flat month-over-month (+0.0%) and down 2.6% year-over-year, making Hayward the only East Bay city in this table posting an annual rent decline. Homes took 32 days to lease, which is near the metro average, so absorption isn't the problem so much as pricing pressure from competing supply nearby.
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Sunnyvale, CA: Tech campus density keeps Sunnyvale's tenant pool strong, with Google's Mountain View expansion and multiple Sunnyvale campuses generating consistent high-income renter demand. The median rent was $3,361 in June, up 5.4% year-over-year, though the 52-day DOM and -1.0% month-over-month slip suggest the leasing pace has softened slightly even as annual gains hold.
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Santa Clara, CA: The median rent reached $3,303 in June, up a solid 8.4% year-over-year, but the 48-day DOM is the third-slowest in this table. Rents are clearly climbing on an annual basis, yet the slower leasing pace means pricing your vacancy precisely matters more here than in tighter Peninsula markets.
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Concord, CA: The median rent was $2,366 in June, up 6.7% year-over-year, but the -2.2% month-over-month drop is the largest single-month decline in this table. That pullback is worth watching: annual momentum is strong, but June showed landlords were adjusting ask prices to move units in a market where 37-day average DOM indicates competition is stiff enough to require competitive pricing.
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Richmond, CA: The median rent held at $2,487 in June, flat month-over-month but down 4.7% year-over-year, the steepest annual decline in this table. At 46 days DOM, Richmond is also leasing more slowly than most cities here, a combination that points to a market where rents have meaningfully corrected from prior peaks.
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Redwood City, CA: The median rent was $3,034 in June, but the -5.6% month-over-month and -5.5% year-over-year declines stand out as the sharpest drops in this table on both measures. The 29-day DOM shows homes are still leasing quickly when priced right, so the rent pullback likely reflects landlords repricing to stay competitive rather than a collapse in demand.
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San Mateo, CA: San Mateo posted the strongest month-over-month gain in this table at +2.7%, pushing the median rent to $3,530 in June, also the second-highest in the table. At 27 days DOM, the fastest leasing pace here, San Mateo is the tightest market in the group right now, and owners who price at or just below the current median should have little trouble filling vacancies quickly.
Bay Area Rent by Bedroom Count and Property Type — July 2026
Rent by Bedroom Count in Bay Area
Bay Area rents climbed steadily from studios at $2,073 to 4-bedroom rentals at $5,153, a spread of $3,080 across the size tiers. The biggest single jump came between 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom rentals, where the median rose $1,318, from $3,216 to $4,534. By contrast, moving from a studio to a 1-bedroom added $443, and stepping up from a 3-bedroom to a 4-bedroom added only $619, making those transitions relatively modest compared to the 2-to-3-bedroom leap. Renters willing to share a 3-bedroom unit can get substantially more space, but they pay a steep premium to cross that threshold.
| Bedroom Count in Bay Area | Median Rent (July 2026) |
|---|---|
| Studio | $2,073 |
| 1-Bedroom | $2,516 |
| 2-Bedroom | $3,216 |
| 3-Bedroom | $4,534 |
| 4-Bedroom | $5,153 |
| Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, Bay Area, July 2026. |
Rent by Property Type in Bay Area
Single-family homes led all property types in July 2026, with a median rent of $4,161, which was $1,194 (40.2%) above the blended metro median of $2,967. Townhouses weren't far behind at $4,002, a 34.9% premium over the blended figure. The speed gap is equally striking: single-family homes leased in 12 days and townhouses in 15, while apartments sat on the market for 69 days, nearly six times longer. Condos and apartments both priced below the blended median, at $2,697 and $2,703 respectively, a difference of just $6 between them despite coming from distinct product categories.
| Property Type in Bay Area | Median Rent | Avg. Days on Market | MoM Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Property Types (Blended) | $2,967 | 37 days | -0.4% |
| Single Family | $4,161 | 12 days | +0.1% |
| Condo | $2,697 | 20 days | +1.1% |
| Townhouse | $4,002 | 15 days | +0.2% |
| Apartment | $2,703 | 69 days | +0.7% |
| Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, Bay Area, July 2026. |
Data Sources & Methodology
- Rental market data: Median rents, days on market, listing counts, and rent change figures. Sourced from county public records, deed and tax assessor data, and rental listings on publicly accessible platforms.
- Doorstead Platform Data: Internal leasing outcomes from Doorstead-managed rental homes across all property types, including days to lease. Trailing 12 months.
Data refreshed monthly. Doorstead benchmarks reflect managed properties only and may not be representative of the broader Bay Area rental market.