By Christian Leonard, Data Reporter
Feb 2, 2025
https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/home-cash-sales-by-zip-20066008.php
Homes and structures in Rossmoor. The ZIP code containing Rossmoor has the highest rate of cash home sales in the Bay Area, in part because of the difficulty of obtaining home insurance.
Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle
In the Bay Area, where the typical home costs seven figures, affording a monthly mortgage payment is increasingly out of reach for many — especially as home insurance gets harder to come by.
But in a few of the region’s wealthiest ZIP codes, most buyers are avoiding those costs entirely — by buying their home in cash.
That was the case for nearly two-thirds of home sales in Atherton, which has some of the most expensive homes in the country, in 2024. The percentage was up from 2019, when roughly 59% of sales in the city were made in cash, according to data from real estate company Redfin.
But Atherton had only the second highest share of cash sales among Bay Area ZIP codes, among those with at least 50 total sales from January 2024 to November 2024. The 94595 ZIP code in Walnut Creek had a slightly higher percentage: 67%, up from 51% in 2019.
Redfin defines a cash sale as a home purchase with no mortgage loan information on the deed, and its Bay Area data includes San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties (that is, no North Bay counties).
Bay Area ZIP codes by share of home sales made in cash
Through November of each year
In 2024, the 94595 and 94027 ZIP codes, in Walnut Creek and Atherton respectively, had the highest cash home sales, at 66.9% and 65.7%.
ZIP 2019 2024
94595 (Walnut Creek) 50.6% 66.9%
94027 (Atherton) 59.3% 65.7%
94301 (Palo Alto) 45.3% 51.8%
94105 (San Francisco) 35.3% 51.1%
94123 (San Francisco) 33.3% 49.2%
94133 (San Francisco) 35.1% 48.4%
95135 (San Jose) 36.8% 44.1%
94109 (San Francisco) 33.6% 41.7%
94028 (Portola Valley) 29.2% 40.8%
94022 (Los Altos) 38.9% 40%
94115 (San Francisco) 26.1% 39.5%
94705 (Berkeley) 22.8% 38.2%
94025 (Menlo Park) 31.2% 38.2%
95030 (Los Gatos) 27% 38.1%
94118 (San Francisco) 22.8% 37.7%
For ZIP codes with at least 50 sales each year. Data include San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties.
Table: Christian Leonard / The Chronicle Source: Redfin
Walnut Creek’s 94595 ZIP code includes the upscale Rossmoor community. Many residents are retirees who have sold more expensive homes elsewhere before moving there, allowing them to buy their new homes in cash. But part of the rise in cash sales could be because California’s insurance crisis has also made it much harder for buyers there to secure a mortgage. That makes cash purchases — for those who can afford it — a much more straightforward option.
Both Atherton and Rossmoor had rates of cash sales that are much higher than in the Bay Area overall. According to a June 2024 Redfin report, just 28% of home sales made in San Francisco and San Mateo counties were made in cash.
The rate of cash purchases for most of the Bay Area has trailed the U.S. figure for years. In part, that’s because the region’s high home prices mean few but the very wealthy can cover the entire cost of a house. But it’s also because investors with cash looking to “flip” a home stand a better chance of making a profit by purchasing lower-priced homes in other regions, which draw a more competitive pool of buyers, according to Redfin.
Within the Bay Area, the opposite trend holds. Higher home values appear to correlate with more cash purchases, data from Redfin and real estate company Zillow show. In Bay Area ZIP codes where the typical home value is at least $2 million, about 26% of home sales last year were made in cash. The same was true of just 17% of home sales where the typical home value is between $1.2 million and $1.5 million.
Bay Area ZIP codes with higher home values have more home sales made in cash
Share of home sales made in cash, from January 2024 to November 2024
About 26% of home sales made in ZIP codes with typical home values of $2,000,000 or above were made in cash, compared to 17% of those valued at less than $1,500,000
Data includes ZIP codes with at least 50 sales in San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, and Santa Clara counties.
Chart: Christian Leonard / The Chronicle Source: Redfin, Zillow
Home buyers often make all-cash purchases to avoid interest payments or to make their offer more appealing to sellers, said Michael Repka, CEO of Palo Alto-based DeLeon Realty. With mortgage rates still high and the typical home in Atherton valued at more than $7 million, buying a home outright could save the buyer tens of thousands of dollars each month.
That’s why cash sales often follow mortgage rate trends, according to Redfin. When rates jumped in 2022, the share of all-cash buys in the San Francisco metro area grew, from about 20% to more than 26% in 2023.
Christian Leonard
DATA REPORTER
Christian Leonard is a data reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in 2022 as a Hearst Developer Fellow. He previously worked as a senior staff writer at the Outlook News Group, a collection of community newspapers in Los Angeles County. He is a graduate of Biola University, from which he received a bachelor’s degree in journalism and integrated media, and interned at NBC Los Angeles.