The continued lack of affordability in the Penninsula and Silicon Valley housing markets remains the primary factor in our housing market. As workers are priced out of those areas, they continue to look for homes in Contra Costa County with home sales up more than 10 percent in July, according to the California Association of Realtors. Indeed, there are pockets where sales may have slowed with both sales and home prices slipping a bit from June to July in the county. Nonetheless, the median home price stands at $680,000, up 7.6 percent from a year ago.