I am curious where you are looking to buy. I bought 2 years back, 3000 sqft in Easy Bay close to a million. Have you looked at places like Hayward Hills, Union City, Dublin, San Ramon etc. ?
Yes, Castro Valley, Hayward Hills, etc. Selfishly speaking, the issue with moving further out means longer commute + plus distance from the kids school, etc. At that point, I might as well move out of state.