Faro Labs / Markets / Hayward, CA
Hayward real estate investment market
What a typical rental in Hayward, California costs, rents for, and returns: underwritten by Faro's own engine, not a scraped summary.
Returns assume 20% down at 6.75% over 30 years, 7% vacancy, and standard operating costs: Faro's default assumptions, the same ones every report starts from. Home value and rent trends as of 2026-05-31.
Difficult for both
At market rent, a typical Hayward rental runs $3,351 short each month, and home values moved −5.5% over the last year. Neither leg is carrying deals right now, which means the ones that work here are bought well below market rather than at it.
The price a deal actually works at
Faro models five price points for Hayward, from a weak buy to a strong one. The market-rate deal is $843,113; a good buy is $758,802 and a great one $674,490 roughly 20% below market value. Those are the bars a specific listing gets measured against when you run it.
How Hayward compares
Of the 210 markets Faro publishes, Hayward is the 24th most expensive to buy into: 112% above the median covered market, and the 187th strongest on rent-to-price. Within California it's the 21st priciest of 42 markets we cover. On the last year of home-value change it ranks 203rd.
To break even at the default financing, a typical Hayward property would need about $6,875 a month in rent: $4,137 more than the $2,738 the market currently supports.
What each tier costs in Hayward
Faro models five price points per market. A listing gets measured against these bars, not against a national average.
| Tier | Purchase price | Market rent | vs. market rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weak buy | $927,424 | $2,601/mo | +10% |
| Fair buy | $885,269 | $2,683/mo | +5% |
| Market rate | $843,113 | $2,738/mo | — |
| Good buy | $758,802 | $2,875/mo | -10% |
| Great buy | $674,490 | $3,012/mo | -20% |
A typical Hayward deal, underwritten
The market-rate property above, run through the same engine every Faro report uses.
| Purchase price | $843,113 |
|---|---|
| Monthly rent | $2,738 |
| Cash required (20% down + 3% closing) | $193,916 |
| Net operating income | $12,280/yr |
| Monthly cash flow | -$3,351 |
| Cap rate | 1.5% |
| Cash-on-cash return | −20.7% |
| DSCR | 0.23 |
Values are falling here
Home values in Hayward moved 5.5% DOWN over the last year, measured as the median across 4 ZIP codes. That reverses the usual argument for a low-cash-flow buy: there's no appreciation currently carrying the deal, so a property here has to earn its keep on rent, and a typical one produces a $3,351 monthly shortfall. Falling values also mean today's comp-supported price is a moving target. The discount you negotiate matters more than usual.
Rents are climbing faster than prices
Rents rose 3.5% over the last year while home values moved down 5.5%: a 9.0-point gap. When rent growth outruns price growth, yields improve without you doing anything: the same $843,113 property collects more each year against a price that hasn't moved to match. It's the rarer of the two directions and it's what turns a marginal market into a workable one over a hold.
Expensive, and the rent doesn't follow
Hayward is the 24th most expensive of the 210 markets here, 112.3% above the median, but rent only reaches 0.32% of price a month, so the income never scales with the entry cost. A typical property needs $193,916 in cash and still runs $3,351 short each month. Buyers here are underwriting appreciation and the loan paydown, not the rent, whether or not they say so.
Hayward investor questions
Is Hayward a good place to buy rental property?
A typical Hayward rental at $843,113 renting for $2,738 a month returns 1.5% on a cap-rate basis and runs short by $3,351 a month at 20% down. Individual deals vary far more than markets do, which is the whole reason to underwrite a specific address.
Can you cash-flow a rental in Hayward?
Not at the market's own price and rent. A typical property runs $3,351 short each month. It would need about $6,875 in rent to break even. Deals that work here are bought below market rather than at it, which is what the price ladder above is for.
Are Hayward home prices dropping?
Yes: values moved down 5.5% over the last year, taken as the median across 4 ZIP codes in the city. That makes the price you negotiate matter more than usual, since the comp-supported value you're measuring against is itself moving.
Are rents going up in Hayward?
Rents moved up 3.5% over the last year, measured across 4 ZIP codes. The typical market-rate rental sits at $2,738 a month.
Other California markets
Run the numbers yourself
A market average is not a deal.
Paste a real Hayward listing and Faro underwrites that specific property from its own comps, with a target price you can actually offer.
Estimates for analysis and educational use only: not financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. Verify every number independently before making a purchase decision.