A Hot Day in a Hot Housing Market

Last Wednesday was the last Wednesday of winter but for our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays group it felt more like summer. The region’s recent heat wave was at its peak so a walk in the center of town was what we wanted to do.

Spring was about to start, and it was time for our annual spring check of the Piedmont real estate market. Everyone enjoys seeing homes that are for sale, so even in the hot weather there was a strong turnout of 49 walkers and two K-9 best friends at the Exedra for the tour.

Walkers and Piedmont real estate professionals Stacey Isaacs and Max Becker were going to take us to see a set houses that were on the market. Before we started walking, some information on the national and local real estate markets was provided.

According to National Association of Realtors data, the national median price of a home was $398,000, up .3% versus a year ago. Stacey said that Realtor.com had the national media price a little higher at $418,000 and it had increased by 423% from its price 36 years ago in 1990. However, the median household income has only increased by 274% during that time, so the home price-to-income ratio is 4.9 times now, versus 3.1 times back then. The typical down payment is now $41,800 versus $8,200 in 1990, and it takes 9.7 years to save that amount now versus 3.2 years then. Not surprisingly, the typical age of first time home purchasers is 40 years now versus 30 in 1990.

People usually care more about their local real estate market and Stacey continued with some Piedmont-specific data. The number of homes sold in Piedmont in 2025 was almost identical to 2024, 109 versus 108. As of last week, 17 had been sold this year, and the number often increases each week. The median price of a Piedmont home in 2025 was $2,680K, but so far this year the median price is about $3,000K. The median price per square foot is $1,108 this year versus $1,028 last year. In 2026, $11,750,000 was the price of the home with highest published price and $1,080,000 was the lowest price. And this year 25% of homes have sold for amounts over their list prices.

Stacey went on to say that for the first time in many years there are an equal number of homeowners with mortgage interest rates over 6% as those with interest rates under 3%. This normalizes these “higher” rates and buyers are out in large numbers. The passage of State Proposition 19 has also increased the numbers of long time homeowners who are willing to move/sell now because those over 55 can take their current low Proposition 13 tax basis with them anywhere in California. So, many older homeowners are now more willing to downsize, or move closer to family, because of this new flexibility.

Stacey finished up her initial comments saying that over 90% of homes in the inner East Bay are prepped and staged prior to sale. She recommends only those improvements that have a high return on investment of at least three dollars returned for every dollar spent.

Max provided more interesting local information. In the Oakland part of the 94611 Zip code, but not Piedmont, the area saw over 15% declines in average and median sales prices, average price per square foot, and the number of properties sold. This is likely because the area is hilly and forested, and people being more fire conscious with limited insurers in high fire severity zones. It may also reflect the need for workers to be back in the office and the lack of public transportation options in some 94611 neighborhoods. Piedmont had the largest increase in average sales price last year with an 18.3% increase. The median sales price was up 9.8% and the average cost per square foot was up 6.8%.

Interestingly, sales in the Lamorinda cities were flat in 2025 compared to 2024. There was a 23% increase in the number of homes sold in Orinda, but a 15.9% decrease in Moraga. The two cities different proximities to BART was probably a factor.

After a group photo at the Exedra with Stacey and Max, we were ready to see some homes. There were eight houses that we could walk to on this hot morning. The first one was at 15 Blair Avenue. It was a listing that Stacey and her business partner, Anna Bahnson, were just putting on the market. We went down Magnolia Avenue past the new Piedmont Community Pool that we would have a tour of the following Wednesday with Piedmont Recreation Department Director Chelle Putzer. We continued to El Cerrito Avenue, across Oakland Avenue to Blair Avenue and Stacey’s listing.

Anna and their team members, Amy Ortega and Luis, who was on a 20 foot ladder fearlessly cleaning second story windows, were getting the house “show ready” and greeted us. This 4 bedroom/2 bath, 2,240 square foot was built in 1911, has been owned by the same family for 60 years, and been refreshed beautifully for the sale. It will be listed at $1,950K. Stacey invited us to go inside and take a look. Cold water and donut holes were there to refresh us too.

After inspecting the upstairs, downstairs, and all the chambers, we exited the house and climbed up Blair to Bonita Avenue and our second home at 231 Bonita. It was built in 1896; is a 4 bedroom/4+ bath, updated Craftsman and was listed for $3,040,000. Stacey said it had been on the market for two weeks, had 15 offers, and was going pending that morning, probably for significantly more than the list price.

Next Max led us back to Blair and up to 136 Waldo Avenue. He represented the buyers on the purchase of this 5 bedroom/3 bath, classic design, 3,173 square foot home that was built in 1927. It was listed at $3,295K and sold the previous week for $3,850K. Max grew up nearby and knew the selling family from his Piedmont school days, which made being involved in the sale all the more fun for him.

We went over to Park Way and across Highland up to Mesa Avenue to see 15 Mesa. This is a 3+ bedroom/3 bath, 2,780 square foot, updated Craftsman that was built in 1908, and listed for $2,328K the prior week. It had an open house the coming weekend and multiple offers were expected.

Walking over to Moraga Avenue let us to see 633 Moraga, a 4 bedrooms/3.5 bath home, built in 1962, and listed for $1,648K. Stacey said being on a busy street, like Moraga, can reduce the list price of a home.

Our tour’s grand finale was Monte Avenue. The street had three homes to see. The first was 19 Monte, which would be open the coming Sunday too. This 1910 brown shingle, 4 bedrooms/3.5 bath is listed for $3,595K. Right next door is 23 Monte, a 1923-built, 4 bedroom/4 bath, 3,372 square foot home. It was listed for $2,495K, but is pending at probably a higher price. Further down the block was the last home on the morning’s tour, 110 Monte. There was no FOR SALE sign on it yet, but Max knew it was coming on the market soon. It is a wonderful, sophisticated Italianate, 5 bedroom/3 bath, 4,442 square foot home built in 1906 that we knew would soon draw lots of buyer attention.

That did it, eight beautiful homes in about 90 minutes on our very own Piedmont spring real estate tour expertly guided by Stacey Isaacs and Max Becker. We expressed our thanks to Stacey and Max for taking us to these beautiful homes and all the information they share. Both said they would be happy to answer additional questions The temperature was getting higher, so it was time for us to return to the Exedra via Pala and Highland. It was a hot day, but not as hot as the Piedmont real estate market.