Housing market report for September 2021: Southern California

September 2021 highlights

In September, Southern California homes continued to sell at a summer pace or faster, but the competition indicator of sale-to-list price ratio fell in most areas (excepting Irvine). With more inventory hitting the market across the region as sellers hope to move before the holiday season, buyers may want to act fast to take advantage of the slight dip in competition.

Note: We have changed the areas included in our report for San Gabriel Valley. Now included are: Pasadena, Arcadia, La Verne, Rowland Heights, Diamond Bar, West Covina, and Hacienda Heights.

West LA homes sold quickly. Median days on market for single family homes dropped 23% from August to 10 days after rising for two months. This pace is unusually speedy for September, which sat at 13 days in 2020 and 16 in 2019. However, the quick pace is not reflected in competition levels, as sale-to-list price ratio dropped 2%, and median list and sale prices both dropped slightly.
San Gabriel Valley hit a new high median sale price. The median sale price for single family homes increased 4% from August to a multi-year high level of $979,000. Meanwhile, 19% more homes were listed month over month, median days on market increased 17%, and sale-to-list price ratio dropped 1%. These measures point to decreased competition among buyers, indicating that the high sale price may have been driven up by a few expensive properties.
Irvine saw high competition on select homes. Sale-to-list price ratio for single family homes rose 1% to a multi-year high of 103% and homes sold in a median of 7 days, continuing the trend from August. However, 10% fewer homes were listed and median sale price held steady, indicating that the slowdown is beginning.
San Diego saw the effects of seasonal slowing. While single family homes continued to sell in a median of 7 days (for the third month in a row), sale-to-list price ratio dropped 2% and median sale price fell 1%. While the homes that are selling are selling quickly, overall the market has cooled from its peak.

See previous months’ highlights

Competition report

Our research team analyzed the competition in select local areas.