San Diego Home Sales Are Rising
- San Diego homes are selling eight days faster than a year ago, with the typical home going under contract in 32 days.
- That’s one of the biggest declines among the 49 most populous U.S. metros. Nationally, homes take 49 days to sell, unchanged from last year.
- Still, Redfin agents say the market is mixed, with turnkey single-family homes selling fast in bidding wars, and condos and townhomes taking longer to get snapped up.
- The best time for buyers to get a deal in San Diego is in mid-September.
San Diego homes are selling faster than they did a year ago, even though buyers in “America’s Finest City” have more negotiating power, with sellers outnumbering buyers by 30.3%.
The typical San Diego home listing finds a buyer after 32 days on the market, eight fewer days than last year. That’s the biggest year-over-year decline San Diego has seen since March 2024.
Among the 49 most populous metros analyzed, only West Palm Beach, FL, where homes sold 16 days faster, and Jacksonville, FL, and Riverside, CA, where they sold nine days faster, posted larger declines. Nationally, the typical home spent 49 days on the market in July, unchanged from a year earlier.
Turnkey Single-Family Homes Are Selling Fastest, While Condo, Townhouse Buyers Have More Room to Negotiate
Buyers are jumping on homes that are clean, updated and ready to live in, Redfin San Diego principal agent Chuck Wheeler said.
“Homes that are presented to the market staged and as turn-key as possible, are selling within days,” Chuck said.
But because San Diego is in a buyer’s market, staging can go a long way, Redfin principal agent Rebecca Roman Stevens added.
“There’s a big difference between walking into an empty, beautiful space versus a staged property that actually feels like a home. I find that when buyers can picture themselves living in a space, they are often ready to pull the trigger and make an offer right away,” she said.
San Diego’s unique dynamic, where single-family homes are selling quickly, but condos are sitting, is proving a boon for people who are looking for a lower-maintenance lifestyle.
Rebecca recently helped sellers list their single-family house in the low-$800,000s, about $100,000 less than the typical home in San Diego sells for. She received two offers in seven days, and the home went for $14,000 above the asking price. She then helped the same clients buy a large condo that had been sitting on the market. They purchased it for $1 million, $15,000 below the asking price, and received $1,750 in seller credits.
The two transactions show why buyers and sellers are having different experiences in the same San Diego metro area, Rebecca says.
“A desirable single-family home may draw competing offers, while a condo, townhouse or other attached property may sit longer because of higher HOA fees, insurance costs or upcoming assessments,” she added.
In 2020, California passed the SB 326 law, also known as the “Balcony Bill,” which requires homeowner associations to inspect and repair exterior structures every nine years. That has caused many HOAs to raise fees or make assessments, Chuck said.
Sellers of single-family homes are going through their own hurdles having to do repairs ahead of time in order to entice buyers.
Chuck recently advised a client to spend about $12,000 on landscaping, fresh paint and other repairs before listing. The home received a full-price offer of $875,000 after 12 days on the market.
“If you have an updated kitchen and an amazing backyard, your house will sell,” Chuck said. “Exterior space in San Diego is almost just as valuable as interior space because of the weather.”
“From an investment standpoint, owning a home in sunny San Diego, where it’s gorgeous all the time, is still a good investment from an appreciation standpoint,” he added. “Nothing is guaranteed, but a buyer looking to settle down and live comfortably will likely get that here.”
San Diego’s overall market is tilted toward buyers and the best time to get a deal is in mid-September.
Chuck said buyers are asking sellers to cover closing costs or buy down their mortgage rates. Some condo sellers are even offering to pay a year of HOA dues up front in order to sell their places.
Rebecca is also seeing buyers offer below asking and wanting seller credits upfront.
Those concessions can make a meaningful difference when mortgage rates and monthly housing costs are high, Rebecca and Chuck both said.
San Diego home sellers may find Redfin Early Access, which allows them to start marketing their home as “coming soon” before its official market debut, helpful in determining the right price, especially for unique homes for which there aren’t many comparable recent sales.
| San Diego Housing Market July 2026 Highlights | |
| Metric | July 2026 |
| Median Sale Price | $937,081 |
| Median sale price, Y/Y change | 2.4% |
| Pending sales, Y/Y change | -8.1% |
| Homes sold, Y/Y change | 6.9% |
| New listings, Y/Y change | -2.8% |
| Active listings, Y/Y change | -7.2% |
| Median days on market | 32 |
| Median days on market, Y/Y change | -8 |
| Percent by which sellers outnumber buyers | 30.3% |
