Portola Highlands San Bruno, CA
Mid-century ranch homes high on San Bruno's southwest edge, with bay views from the upper streets.
Living in Portola Highlands
Portola Highlands takes its name from the 1769 Portola Expedition, whose members first saw San Francisco Bay from nearby Sweeney Ridge. The land later became part of Rancho Buri Buri and then Richard George Sneath's dairy; although a few homes date from the 1940s and '50s, development began in earnest in 1963, and its residential streets are named after California counties. About 7 to 10 homes sell each year, many with bay views from the upper streets, with a 12-month median around $1.67M, and the median rose about 61% from 2015–16 to 2024–25.
Parking & walkability: Most homes have a garage and a driveway, and the quiet hillside streets are easy to park on. It's a driving neighborhood, with Skyline Boulevard and Highway 280 close by and Tanforan a few minutes away.
What homes in Portola Highlands are doing
Single-family homes in Portola Highlands sold for a median of about $1.04M in 2015–16 and $1.68M in 2024–25, a 61% increase, roughly in line with San Bruno as a whole (+59%). In 2025, homes here sold quickly (median 14 days on market) and usually above asking (106.5% of list price on average). So far in 2026 (7 sales through September), the median is $1.67M.
Median single-family price, 2015–2026
* 2026 covers January through September. Hollow dots mark years with fewer than 3 single-family sales; treat those medians as rough. 144 single-family sales since 2015.
| Year | Sales | Median price | $/sq ft | Days on market | Sale-to-list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–Sep) | 7 | $1.67M | $802 | 29 | 100.0% |
| 2025 | 10 | $1.69M | $786 | 14 | 106.5% |
| 2024 | 7 | $1.65M | $792 | 11 | 103.3% |
| 2023 | 8 | $1.53M | $817 | 15 | 104.9% |
| 2022 | 13 | $1.55M | $753 | 14 | 100.0% |
| 2021 | 20 | $1.6M | $813 | 13 | 107.7% |
| 2020 | 12 | $1.4M | $703 | 8 | 103.0% |
| 2019 | 10 | $1.41M | $704 | 13 | 106.3% |
| 2018 | 4 | $1.44M | $659 | 17 | 107.1% |
| 2017 | 26 | $1.28M | $627 | 15 | 110.9% |
| 2016 | 9 | $1.1M | $539 | 14 | 116.3% |
| 2015 | 18 | $1.01M | $499 | 12 | 109.0% |
Portola Highlands on the map
Borders are built lot by lot from the county's property lines and where homes have been listed (MLS neighborhood codes), and stay inside official city limits (dashed), so a home or two along an edge may differ from official MLS lines.
Other San Bruno neighborhoods
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Source: MLSListings, Inc. closed sales, 2015–September 2026, summarized by Drew Lehr. Neighborhood figures combine the MLS area(s) that make up Portola Highlands; where there are several, yearly figures are sales-weighted. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.