Every buyer comparing Danville right now has seen the same headline: median sale price around $1.8 million over the three months ending May 2026, down 3.6% year over year, with the typical home going pending in about 12 days. That number is accurate, and it is also misleading.
The citywide figure is an average of two very different Danvilles. One is running warmer than last summer. The other is cooling. Which one you shop in changes what your dollar actually buys, how quickly you have to move, and how much room you have to negotiate.
The number the citywide median hides
Danville is split between two ZIP codes, and the market is behaving differently in each.
In 94506, which covers Blackhawk, Tassajara, the Magee Preserve corridor, and the Mount Diablo foothills on the east side of Camino Tassajara, the median sale price over the three months ending May 2026 was $2.3 million, up 6.2% from the same period last year. Homes there sold in a median of 14 days on 69 May closings.
In 94526, which covers West Side Danville, downtown, Sycamore, and Greenbrook west of Interstate 680, the median was $1.8 million, down 1.8% year over year, with median price per square foot at $775, off 6.1% from last year. Days on market were 14, versus 9 in the same window last year, on 98 May closings.
| Segment (3 mo ending May 2026) | Median sale price | YoY change | Median $/sqft | DOM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danville citywide | $1.80M | −3.6% | $772 | 15 |
| 94506 (east: Blackhawk, Tassajara, Diablo foothills) | $2.30M | +6.2% | — | 14 |
| 94526 (west: Downtown, West Side, Sycamore, Greenbrook) | $1.80M | −1.8% | $775 | 14 |
Two ZIPs sitting minutes apart on the same 680 corridor, and one is delivering price growth while the other is absorbing a modest price-per-foot correction. The citywide median averages them into a decline that neither ZIP actually experienced on its own.
Why $2M looks so different on each side of 680
Below roughly $2.5 million, Danville is a story of condition, lot size, and school pocket, and the two sides of town answer those questions differently.
On the west side in 94526, the $1.8M to $2.2M band tends to buy a partially updated four-bedroom in a walkable Sycamore or Greenbrook pocket, or a smaller West Side home closer to Hartz Avenue where lot size gives way to walk-to-town character. The trade is proximity and community feel against square footage. That is why West Side Danville can post a rising price-per-square-foot number even when the neighborhood's median sale price wobbles from month to month on small transaction counts. Buyers pay a premium per foot for the location, and then buy less foot.
On the east side in 94506, the same $2M to $2.5M dollar generally buys more house on a larger parcel, but the school assignment and gate access change materially depending on which side of Blackhawk Road you land on. Entry-level Blackhawk inventory begins in this band. Turnkey Tassajara and Alamo Creek homes with newer construction sit here too. This is the tier that has been running fastest across the city, and it is the primary reason 94506's median is climbing while the west side softens.
The reader takeaway: at $2.2 million, a buyer choosing between a West Side cottage and a Blackhawk entry-gate home is making a lifestyle trade, not a price-quality trade. The comps do not translate across the 680 line.
The Magee Preserve anchor, and what it does to Blackhawk resale
The other force pulling on 94506 is a new-construction ceiling that did not exist five years ago.
Magee Preserve, the Davidon Homes community at 104 Brumby Street off Blackhawk Road, is in its final release. The seven remaining homes range from approximately 4,050 to over 5,600 square feet, and pricing starts at $3,698,000. The site itself is worth understanding: the Town of Danville approved 69 single-family residential parcels and seven attached secondary dwelling units on 29 acres, with 381 acres of the 410-acre property retained as permanent open space.
That last figure is the mechanism. Buyers at the $3.5 million and up level in 94506 now have a live builder alternative on protected acreage. That has two effects on resale.
First, it caps how aggressively a resale seller in Blackhawk or the surrounding foothills can price a 25 to 40-year-old home against new construction. A 4,700 square foot 1988 Blackhawk estate needing a kitchen and primary suite refresh has to be priced with Magee's move-in ready single-story plans in mind.
For reference, Blackhawk's own resale market has been running at roughly a $2.24 million median over the trailing twelve months with about 30 days on market, well below the Magee list. The gap between resale and new is the renovation budget a buyer expects to spend, plus a discount for taking on a builder from decades ago rather than one under warranty.
Second, it slows the top of the market. The $3.5 million-plus tier in Danville has always required the right buyer. With Magee absorbing part of that pool at a defined finish level, older estates in Diablo, Saddleback, and the Deer Ridge corridor sit longer. The Altos Research market action index for Danville was 43 on June 6, 2026, technically still the seller's zone, but down from 45 the prior month and trending lower.
The frictions that only surface in a transaction
The macro split matters, but the deal-level friction is where the boutique work happens. From the current data and inventory patterns, three items catch buyers off guard when they cross from portal-browsing to writing an offer.
Blackhawk sub-community HOA structure. The community holds six distinct gated sub-associations: Hidden Oaks, Oakridge, Saddleback, Silver Oak, Silver Maple, and Blackhawk Country Club estates. Each has its own HOA, its own fee structure, and its own architectural review rules. A buyer preapproved on a $2.4 million target price can be moved outside their monthly budget by a single sub-community's dues line. Hidden Oaks was completed in 1978 with 206 homes on mostly half-acre lots. Saddleback's minimum lot size is five acres. Those parcel sizes drive very different insurance, landscape, and reserve-fund realities.
Country club membership is a separate transaction. Diablo Country Club membership does not transfer automatically with a home purchase in Diablo. A buyer who is buying the neighborhood specifically for the club is running two clocks: the escrow and the membership application. The same principle applies at Blackhawk. Verify status before removing contingencies.
94506 versus 94526 comp files do not overlap cleanly. An appraiser working a Sycamore Valley home in 94506 will pull differently than one working a West Side home in 94526, even when the two homes are physically close and similar in size. Buyers who cross-shop the two ZIPs need to expect that their lender's appraisal will follow the ZIP, not the driving distance.
A price-band read for the summer
For readers scanning quickly, the band-by-band pattern in the current data looks like this.
- $1.6M to $2.0M: Mostly 94526 territory. Condition varies widely. Turnkey moves in under two weeks. Homes needing systems updates sit and see price reductions.
- $2.0M to $2.5M: The fastest-moving band citywide. Entry Blackhawk inventory, updated Sycamore and Greenbrook homes, and larger Tassajara pockets. This is the tier driving 94506's positive year-over-year print.
- $2.5M to $3.5M: Strong remodels, view properties, and interior Blackhawk gates. Buyers here are choosing between updated 94506 resale and remodeled 94526 estates on larger west-side lots.
- $3.5M and up: Anchored by Magee Preserve's $3.7M starting price on 4,050 to 5,600 square foot plans. Resale estates in Diablo and Saddleback compete with that anchor and with each other. Longer days on market. Buyer patience required on both sides.
FAQ
Why is the citywide median down while 94506 is up?
Because 94526 has a larger share of the citywide transaction count in the current window (98 May sales versus 69), and its per-foot values softened by about 6% year over year. The weighted average pulls the citywide number negative even though the east side ran positive.
Is Magee Preserve pulling buyers out of Blackhawk resale?
Some, at the top of the market. Blackhawk's twelve-month median resale of roughly $2.24 million sits well below Magee's $3.7 million list, so the direct competition is at the $3.5M-plus level. Below $3M, Blackhawk resale is competing more with west-side remodels than with Magee.
Does the 94506 versus 94526 split show up in appraisals?
Yes. Appraisers pull comps within a ZIP and school pocket before crossing a corridor like Interstate 680. Two similar homes on either side of the freeway can appraise differently because the comp files reflect different market trends.
Working the split with a boutique advisor
The Danville summer market is not one market. It is two, sitting on either side of a freeway, being averaged into a headline that flatters neither. Pricing a listing on the wrong side of that split leaves value on the table. Writing an offer without understanding it wastes buyer patience.
The Kristy Peixoto Team advises sellers and buyers on complex East Bay properties where the citywide number is the beginning of the conversation, not the end. If you are weighing a Danville move this summer, whether that is preparing a west-side home for market or interpreting a Blackhawk or Magee Preserve comp file, schedule your white-glove consultation and we will build the analysis around your specific parcel and price band.
