Daly City Housing Market: Tight Supply, but Sellers Still Have to Earn Their Price

Daly City feels tight, but sellers still cannot assume buyers will validate any price. This is still a seller-leaning market in February 2026: supply is low, homes are moving quickly, and many listings are still selling above asking. But buyers are more price-sensitive than they were a year ago. The clearest proof is the pricing split: the median listing price rose to about $1.10 million, up 10% year over year, while the median home price fell to about $1.10 million, down 10%, even as price per square foot climbed. This is not a market where every home sells fast; it is a market where the right home does.

If you’re buying in Daly City, be decisive on the homes that show early traction and stay disciplined on the rest. With just 1.4 months of supply, 16 median days on market, and 68% of listings going off market within two weeks in February, the best homes can still draw quick competition.

But this is not a market where you need to chase every listing. Buyers are still pushing back when pricing gets ahead of the comps. The median home price fell from a year ago, price drops ticked up to 9%, and not every seller is getting last year’s outcome. Use recent closed sales to judge value, not just ambitious asking prices. If a home is stale, overpriced, or misses on condition, negotiation room still exists.

If you’re selling in Daly City, price for the market you have, not the one you remember. Tight supply is still working in your favor, and buyers are paying above list on many homes. But the market is rewarding sharp launch pricing, not optimism.

That matters because the pricing signals are split. The median listing price and listing price per square foot both rose from last year, showing sellers are still testing higher asks. Yet the median home price declined while the average sale-to-list ratio stayed around 1.07 and price per square foot rose to about $817. In plain English: buyers will still pay up for the right home, but they are doing it selectively. If your listing does not get strong response in the first couple of weeks, that is your signal to adjust quickly.

Inventory tightened sharply. Active listings fell from 61 to 43 and months of supply dropped from 3.2 to 1.4, giving buyers fewer choices and helping keep pressure on well-positioned homes.

Homes still moved quickly. Median days on market edged up from 14 to 16 days, which is slightly slower than last February but still fast enough to show that attractive listings are not lingering.

Over-asking sales remained common, but less extreme. The share of homes selling above list slipped from 74% to 63%, telling buyers they have a bit more room to push back on the wrong listings even in a competitive market.

Sellers asked for more, but buyers paid differently. The median listing price rose 10% to about $1.10 million and listing price per square foot increased 2%, while the median home price fell 10% to about $1.10 million and price per square foot rose 10% to about $817. That supports the main market story: pricing is holding up for desirable homes, but buyers are not broadly validating every higher ask.

Price cuts became a little more common. About 9% of listings had a price drop, up from 8% a year earlier, which is a small but clear sign that overpricing is getting exposed faster.

Buyers got more choice in February. New listings rose from 33 to 46 and active inventory increased from 29 to 43, though not enough to turn Daly City into a buyer’s market.

The market sped up. Median days on market fell from 26 to 16, a sign that demand picked up for homes that were priced and presented well.

Contract activity improved. Pending sales rose from 19 in January to 34 in February, showing the market strengthened from its winter low.

Competition intensified on the right listings. The share of homes selling above list jumped from 41% to 63%, which means buyers still need urgency when a home is well-priced.

Pricing stayed competitive, but selective. The median home price fell by about $94,000 from January to February while price drops rose from 7% to 9%, reinforcing that buyers are still sorting between homes worth stretching for and homes that need a reset.

Daly City remains a competitive, seller-leaning market, but pricing power is selective rather than automatic. Home prices are not collapsing, yet the gap between rising asking prices and softer year-over-year median home price tells you buyers are still drawing lines.

The single most important signal in the next monthly update is whether the median home price stays down from a year ago while homes continue to sell quickly and above list. If that pattern strengthens next month, it would confirm that Daly City is still tight but increasingly unforgiving of overpricing. If that gap narrows because the median home price firms up, sellers will have a stronger case that buyer competition is translating into broader pricing power again.