Published October 11, 2026 in Market Update

Permits are up, but the 680 Corridor is still running lean

By Jason Bleier

Real estate, 680 Corridor

The East Bay Times reported on October 8, 2026 that two local counties filed 16,643 multifamily unit permits in the first eight months of the year. That is 82% more than the same stretch a year before. Freaking awesome news for the long game. But those units are not here yet. 🏗️

Today's resale market is a different picture. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 533 homes for sale across the 680 Corridor in the three months ending August 31, 2026. At the same time, 703 homes sold. More buyers than listings. That gap is what owners and buyers are living with right now.

Homes for sale corridor-wide are up 10.6% from a year ago, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. A little more breathing room than last year. But with 703 sales in the same window, that inventory still gets absorbed fast.

What mortgage rates are doing to buyers right now 💸

Freddie Mac put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.40% as of October 8, 2026. The 15-year averaged 6.73%. Realtor.com noted rates climbed above 7% for the first time since January 2025. That cost is real, and it is slowing some buyers down.

Nationally, Realtor.com reported that 20.8% of listings took a price cut in September, the highest share since October 2022. That is a national number, not this corridor. But it tells you buyers have options in some places and are pushing back on price.

ZIP by ZIP: the before and after 🔍

Every ZIP in the 680 Corridor has its own story. Some are tightening. Some are loosening. Let's go through them.

Where it is tightest right now

ZIP 94507 had only 1.4 months of supply, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. That is the leanest in the corridor. Its median sale price hit $3,000,000, up 20.7% from the same three months in 2025. And 41.5% of homes there sold above list. Before and after: 6 days faster than a year ago. Same bones, entirely different energy.

ZIP 94526 is close behind at 1.8 months of supply, down 1.2 months from 2025. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted only 59 homes for sale there, down 32.2% from a year ago. That is a big drop. Sellers there are not dealing with a crowd of competing listings.

Where buyers have a little more room

ZIP 94568 had 150 homes for sale, up 48.5% from a year ago, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. Its median price dipped 1.6% to $1,269,500. Not a collapse. A small correction. Days on market fell 5 days shorter than last year, so homes are still moving.

ZIP 94596 had the steepest price drop: down 14.9% to a median of $1,000,000. The Real Estate Data Aggregator also showed days on market stretched 8 days longer than 2025, to 33 days. More time, more room to negotiate. That is the honest read.

ZIP 94598 is a split story. The median price slipped 1.7%, but 47.9% of homes sold above list. Nearly half. And 50.8% went under contract within two weeks of listing, up 13.3 points from 2025. Prices dipped a little, but the competition did not.

The bigger picture: permits vs. today's supply

The East Bay Times reported 36,600 multifamily permits statewide in the first eight months of 2026. The two-county figure of 16,643 is part of that. Up 82%. That is a real shift in the pipeline.

But permits are not keys. They are plans. The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported U.S. house prices rose 2.6% from July 2025 to July 2026. The 680 Corridor is outpacing that in some ZIPs, lagging in others. The permit boom has not reached the resale shelf yet. 📋

One street can read completely differently from the whole ZIP code. The numbers above are the starting point, not the whole story. If you want to know how your block fits, reply and let's look at it together. Appreciate you. 🙏