West Coast Tech Hubs Go Toe-to-Toe in High-End Housing Showdown  

San Francisco and Seattle share a lot in common: Both sit along the Pacific Coast, both are progressive cities with highly educated populations, and perhaps most significantly, both are world-renowned technology hubs whose growth helped fuel the rise of luxury housing markets in their metros.

As global centers of innovation, San Francisco and Seattle attract cadres of highly paid professionals seeking to buy lavish homes with amenities to match, causing prices in that top tier of the market to soar. 

Upscale properties in San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area—home to the Silicon Valley elite— have a higher starting price compared to those in Seattle, but the gap between the two markets has narrowed significantly over the past decade, shrinking from 93% in 2016 to just 49% today, according to new research from Realtor.com®. 

Demand for trophy properties remains robust in both metros, with listings at the peak of the market spending less time waiting for a buyer than nationally, with 65 days in Seattle and 66 days in San Francisco. In contrast, the typical luxury dwelling anywhere in the U.S. lingers unsold for 78 days.

There is, however, a key difference between the two West Coast housing markets: Seattle's has followed a slow-and-steady trajectory characterized by gradual, sustained home price appreciation. 

San Francisco's premium housing sector, on the other hand, has been much more volatile, marked by drastic cyclical swings and sharper adjustments. 

Realtor.com senior economist Anthony Smith explains that U.S. economic geography historically has been shaped by dominant industries, from the storied financial institutions of New York City to the manufacturing and farming strongholds of the Midwest.

"In the modern economy, no industry has shaped regional fortunes more decisively than technology," says Smith.

The tech industry’s impact on the San Francisco Bay Area is difficult to overstate: Roughly 15% of the region's workforce is employed in Silicon Valley in one capacity or another, making technology the area's largest labor sector. 

In Seattle, tech industry workers make up 13% of the total metro employment. Nationally, that figure is 8%. 

This comparison highlights the Bay Area’s dominant role as a global technology epicenter anchored by such household names as Apple, Google, and Meta. 

"Its influence extends well beyond Silicon Valley, setting global standards for innovation, venture capital, and compensation," adds Smith. 

But Seattle is not far behind, being home to a host of powerful industry players led by Microsoft and Amazon. 

Seattle's luxury market is playing catch-up

As of last month, the entry point to the luxury tier of Seattle’s housing market was $1.79 million.

In other words, buyers needed to bring to the table close to $2 million just to crack the Washington metro's top 10% of real estate. 

Michael Orbino, managing broker at Team Foster Builder + Developer Services at Compass, tells Realtor.com that it is a world apart from Seattle's modest blue-collar roots revolving around shipbuilding, fishing, and trade.

"It wasn’t until Microsoft in the '80s–'90s, followed by Amazon in the 2000s, that the area changed dramatically," says Orbino. Arriving tech workers who accumulated a lot of wealth in a short period of time through IPOs or stock options began snapping up formerly middle-class homes in Seattle's most sought-after waterfront neighborhoods, and upgrading them into more luxurious digs.

"They still remain very modest compared to what you would expect to find in Florida, Texas, Atlanta, and even much of Southern California," notes Orbino. "We don’t have large gated communities, and very little of our ultraluxury and beyond would be called a 'mansion,' which is a word [that is] almost never used in our area."

Seattle continues trailing San Francisco in median luxury asking prices, but it has been catching up. 

In 2016, the typical luxury home in Seattle cost $1.25 million, or $1.6 million less than in San Francisco. 

In November 2025, top-tier homes in San Francisco still commanded higher prices compared to Seattle, but the difference between the two metros' luxury threshold has shrunk to $870,000.

"Seattle’s luxury market has followed a fundamentally different path than San Francisco’s over the past decade," says Smith. "Rather than experiencing sharp run-ups followed by pronounced corrections, Seattle has posted steadier, more incremental appreciation."

Since June 2016, the entry point for luxury homes in Seattle rose by about 43%, marking a slower pace than the national level of about 50%—but with less volatility seen in many metros following the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Instead, Seattle’s high-end market has expanded gradually and consistently, allowing prices to tick up higher without the dramatic swings seen in other cities, including San Francisco.

Orbino says the lower end of Seattle's luxury market remains relatively resilient from a sales volume perspective, but it is the high luxury segment, which he defines as topping $6 million, that has been especially strong.

The reason for that, according to the broker, is that the entry-level bracket is significantly affected by layoffs in the tech industry, elevated interest rates, property taxes, and high maintenance costs. 

"These buyers usually were making lateral moves or slight move-ups and don’t want to give up a 3% [interest rate] on a $2 million home for a 6% on a $4 million home," says Orbino. 

Meanwhile, wealthier buyers shopping for properties above $6 million have benefited from a surging stock market, given that much of their wealth is equity-based and they tend to borrow against assets instead of relying on traditional mortgages.  

Seattle's most exclusive enclave

Seattle’s most expensive ZIP codes cluster around Lake Washington, with Medina, WA, at the top.

Medina is known for its waterfront estates and ultrahigh net worth residents, among them Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who lives in an immense $130 million "Xanadu 2.0" estate.

The area offers a level of privacy that is uncommon among other luxury markets, Smith says.

Despite its exclusive status, Medina is located just minutes from Seattle's urban core, appealing to tech executives seeking to be close to work while enjoying a more relaxed suburban lifestyle. 

"No one wants to sit in traffic anywhere, but especially in Seattle, which has several bridges, tunnels, and ferries that create choke points," says Orbino. "So 5 miles as the crow flies could mean a 45- to 60-minute commute in some cases. These people want to have free navigation to save time to spend with loved ones, fitness, dining, etc."

According to the broker, affluent buyers want to be within 15 minutes of the city center and live in close proximity to some of the large bodies of water surrounding Seattle, including Lake Washington, Lake Sammamish, and the Puget Sound. 

"Because of that natural beauty, water views or waterfront dictate the highest premium over nearly all other characteristics," he says. "Our ultra- and uber-luxury homes would appear modest compared to many areas of the country. It’s very rare [that] we have homes over 8,000 square feet. Most are ungated and many don’t even have pools or large lots, but they have stunning postcard-style views or are on Lake Washington.”

Medina is one of roughly a half-dozen communities that Orbino says account for 70% of Seattle’s luxury home sales. According to the agent, these enclaves offer not only breathtaking views but also top-tier schools—a major draw for buyers with young children as well as those focused on long-term property values.

San Francisco market's roller-coaster ride

Despite the city's persistent challenges revolving around homelessness, San Francisco’s housing market is one of the most expensive in the U.S. across all price points, and its luxury tier is no exception. The entry price topped $2.6 million as of November, according to Realtor.com data. 

Since 2016, this segment of the "Golden City" market has experienced wild swings in price, with sharp peaks followed by deep troughs, unlike Seattle's more even-keeled trajectory. 

To this day, San Francisco continues to see more pronounced cyclical price changes than Seattle, surging higher in response to growing demand and edging lower during periods of cooling. 

But like in Seattle, exclusive listings continue to sell in San Francisco at a relatively brisk pace even during the slower periods, showing the resilience of luxury demand and flexibility of buyer and seller expectations.  

At the summit of the San Francisco metro sits the suburb of Atheron, CA, where the median home price was just shy of $17 million in November. 

The well-heeled enclave is the current or former home of a string of tech billionaires and celebrities, including Google co-founder Eric Schmidt, late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry. 

Homes in Atherton carry a median size of more than 9,100 square feet, about five times the national median, reflecting a market prioritizing massive estates and privacy.

When comparing the nation's two premier tech hubs, the key takeaway is clear: Seattle’s luxury is more affordable compared to San Francisco's, but that gap is narrowing.

Smith says it is important to remember that the two West Coast luxury markets operate at different stages of maturity. 

"Seattle’s luxury market reflects gradual expansion and structural stability, with prices resetting higher over time and demand remaining reliant across cycle," he says.

On the other hand, San Francisco's high-end real estate segment is much more unstable, with prices going up or down in response to fluctuating buyer demand rather than steady growth.