Lantern Village, Dana Point · CRMLS Closed Sales, January 2022 to September 2026
In Lantern Village you pay for the walk to the harbor, not for square feet.
Lantern Village is the original grid of Lantern streets above Dana Point Harbor, with the Lantern District running through it. The houses are smaller and older than the city's, and a square foot still costs more. New condos are selling for well above everything around them. Here is five years of sales beside the whole city, and the rules that shape what gets built next door.
The short version
Smaller, older houses that cost more per foot than the city.
-
$1.75M
Median Lantern Village house
All of Dana Point: $2.10M. 133 house sales, Jan 2022 to Sep 2026.
-
$1,092
Median price per sq ft
All of Dana Point: $1,037.
-
1,824
Median square feet
All of Dana Point: 2,150. Median house built 1964.
Lantern Village is the original Dana Point: the grid of Lantern streets between Selva Road and the bluff above the harbor, with the Town Center, now branded the Lantern District, running through the middle along Coast Highway and Del Prado. The houses are smaller and older than the Dana Point median, so the total price is lower. A square foot costs more. You are paying for being able to walk to the harbor and the Lantern District, not for size.
Houses, year by year
A foot here has cost more than the city every year since 2022.
1. Price per square foot ran ahead of the city. Lantern Village houses topped the Dana Point median every year, by as much as $140 a foot in 2025. On 16 to 37 house sales a year, a single big sale can move a year, so read the direction.
2. 2024 was the year sellers cut. 43% of Lantern Village houses dropped their price before selling, against 28% across the city. It has come back in line since.
Single-family houses, CRMLS closed sales. *2026 runs through September 4, 2026. "All of Dana Point" includes Lantern Village.
Condos and townhomes
New construction is resetting the top of the condo market.
Condos and townhomes were 88 of the 237 sales here. The biggest change is new building. 18 of those sales were homes built 2018 or later, 14 of them closing in 2026 alone, and they sold for far more per foot than the existing stock.
The new ones sold for a median $2.23M; existing Lantern Village condos and townhomes for $1.37M. Take the new construction out and the existing stock still runs ahead of the city, year after year:
Condominiums and townhouses. Existing Lantern Village sales run 7 to 18 a year, so read the direction, not any single year. *2026 runs through September 4, 2026.
See every number behind these charts
Houses
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lantern Village houses sold | 19 | 33 | 28 | 37 | 16 |
| Dana Point houses sold | 157 | 245 | 243 | 263 | 171 |
| Lantern Village houses median price | $1.54M | $1.65M | $1.67M | $2.40M | $1.88M |
| Dana Point houses median price | $1.95M | $1.90M | $1.99M | $2.39M | $2.73M |
| Lantern Village houses price per sq ft | $912 | $1,052 | $1,009 | $1,250 | $1,320 |
| Dana Point houses price per sq ft | $887 | $983 | $984 | $1,107 | $1,190 |
| Lantern Village houses cut price before selling | 21% | 24% | 43% | 32% | 25% |
| Dana Point houses cut price before selling | 18% | 29% | 28% | 32% | 26% |
| Lantern Village houses median days on market | 12 | 12 | 16 | 23 | 16 |
| Dana Point houses median days on market | 8 | 19 | 18 | 24 | 15 |
Condos and townhomes, all
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lantern Village condos sold | 15 | 15 | 17 | 20 | 21 |
| Dana Point condos sold | 105 | 115 | 128 | 141 | 99 |
| Lantern Village condos median price | $1.35M | $1.23M | $1.55M | $1.49M | $2.15M |
| Dana Point condos median price | $1.10M | $975K | $1.05M | $1.10M | $1.39M |
| Lantern Village condos price per sq ft | $961 | $924 | $937 | $1,012 | $1,417 |
| Dana Point condos price per sq ft | $812 | $808 | $819 | $830 | $979 |
| Lantern Village condos cut price before selling | 13% | 27% | 29% | 40% | 10% |
| Dana Point condos cut price before selling | 21% | 23% | 25% | 26% | 24% |
| Lantern Village condos median days on market | 8 | 11 | 14 | 46 | 0 |
| Dana Point condos median days on market | 9 | 12 | 18 | 25 | 14 |
Medians from CRMLS closed sales, January 2022 through September 4, 2026. Sales with flagged prices are excluded.
The part to know before you buy
The Lantern District has its own rulebook.
The strip between Coast Highway and Del Prado is governed by the Dana Point Town Center Plan, which the City adopted in 2008 after 32 community planning meetings and review by the California Coastal Commission. It covers about 75 acres and aims at a walkable downtown with shops on the ground floor and homes above.
- Height is capped by the voters. In June 2016 Dana Point voters approved Measure H, which amended the 2008 plan to limit Town Center buildings to 40 feet and three stories, applied strictly, and requires story poles staked for 20 days so neighbors can see a proposed building's outline.
- What that means for a buyer. If a view or light matters, look at what the lots around the property could become under the plan, not just what is there now. The City's Community Development department can tell you what is proposed or approved nearby.
- The whole area is coastal. Development in Dana Point's Coastal Zone needs a coastal development permit unless it is specifically exempt, which affects remodels and additions as well as new buildings.
The place
Where Lantern Village comes from.
In 1926 Sidney Woodruff's Dana Point Syndicate bought about 1,388 acres here and built roughly three dozen homes with paved, tree-lined streets and full utilities, most of them in what is now Lantern Village. The Great Depression stopped the rest, including a planned hotel. The streets carry the names of colored lanterns. The story told locally is that ships once used them to advertise their wares in the natural harbor below.
The boundary on this page runs from Selva Road down to the bluff above Dana Point Harbor Drive, and from the back of Blue Lantern and Green Lantern east past Crystal Lantern. It includes the Lantern District strip and the Lantern Bay tracts below Del Prado.
Questions people ask
Lantern Village, answered.
How much does a house in Lantern Village cost?
The median Lantern Village house sold for $1,750,000 from January 2022 to September 2026, for a median 1,824 square feet, or $1,092 a square foot. All of Dana Point: $2,100,000 and $1,037.
How much do Lantern Village condos cost?
Condos and townhomes built before 2018 sold for a median $1,372,500. The 18 sales of homes built 2018 or later sold for a median $2,230,000, or $1,444 a square foot.
What is the Lantern District?
It is the rebranded Dana Point Town Center, about 75 acres along Pacific Coast Highway and Del Prado Avenue, governed by the Town Center Plan the City adopted in 2008.
How tall can buildings be in the Lantern District?
40 feet and three stories. Dana Point voters approved Measure H in June 2016, which amended the Town Center Plan to apply that limit strictly and require story poles staked for 20 days on proposed buildings.
Why are the streets named after lanterns?
The streets carry the names of colored lanterns, which local history says ships once used to advertise their wares in the natural harbor below.
Sources
Where these numbers come from.
- Sales: CRMLS closed sales, Dana Point, January 1, 2022 to September 4, 2026. Lantern Village is defined by a map boundary, not by the MLS subdivision field. New construction means year built 2018 or later. Medians of individual sales.
- Voice of OC, Dana Point Town Center Development Headed to Voters, November 2015 (2008 plan adoption, 75 acres).
- Orange County Registrar of Voters, Measure H, 2015 Town Center Initiative (text: 40 feet, three stories, story poles).
- Ballotpedia, Measure H (June 2016) (result).
- City of Dana Point, Lantern District / Town Center, and Discretionary Permits (coastal development permits).
- History: Dana Point, California.
Run it on a real address
Looking at a home in Lantern Village?
Send me the address. I will pull what that block has actually sold for, beside the city, and check what the lots around it could become under the Town Center Plan. If the view you are paying for is not protected, better to know before the offer. I live in San Clemente. Text or email is the easiest way in.
Phone 949.541.8247
Email [email protected]
Follow Along Instagram · LinkedIn
License Adam Boehrer, Real Estate Agent, DRE #02419464, Pacific Sotheby's International Realty
Keep Reading
- Niguel Shores and the Strand, Dana Point, home prices and association rules.
- Dana Point Home Prices and Market Report, the current citywide median and expected market time.
- San Clemente and Dana Point neighborhoods, every neighborhood guide in one place.
- Coastal Currents, a monthly read on the South Orange County market.