North San Diego Market Report

The San Diego housing market has a quarter fewer homes for sale than a year ago.

902 single-family homes were for sale in the City of San Diego in September, against 1,192 a year earlier. Months of supply fell from 2.9 to 2.2. The median sale was $1.19M, and closings came in at 99.5% of list. The shelf is thinner, and buyers are still paying close to full price. This is the current read on the city, pulled straight from the MLS, and it is not the same thing as the county.

Latest available reading: San Diego, September 2026 single-family, pulled October 29, 2026.

By the Numbers

The current read on San Diego.

Single-family homes only. September 2026 is the newest month; the comparisons are to September 2025 and the two months before.

City of San Diego · Pace and Supply

2.2

Months of Supply

Single-family, September. Was 2.9 a year ago. The same as August.
902

Homes on the Market

Active single-family listings in September. Was 1,192 a year ago, down 24%.
14

Median Days in MLS

September closings. Was 18 a year ago. August ran 11.

City of San Diego Closings · September 2026

$1.19M

Median Sales Price

390 closings. July was $1.275M and August $1.25M. Was $1,128,500 a year ago.
99.5%

Of List Price Received

Median for September closings. It was 100% in every month from February through August.
390

Closed Sales

Was 422 a year ago. Provisional: September counts get revised upward on later pulls.

Source: California Regional MLS via InfoSparks (ShowingTime Plus), residential single-family, September 2026, pulled October 29, 2026.

The Read

A thinner shelf, steady buyers, and the first soft month in a while.

First, a definition, because it matters here. This page is the City of San Diego, not San Diego County. The city is the biggest single piece of the county market, with 902 of the county's 3,387 single-family listings in September and 390 of its 1,218 closings. But the two run on different numbers. The city's median was $1.19M in September. The county's was $1.075M.

Supply is the headline. 2.2 months, down from 2.9 a year ago and flat with August. Under three months reads as a seller's market, and the city has been under three in every month since September 2025.

The drop came from the listing side. 902 homes for sale against 1,192 a year earlier, down 24%. Closings barely moved: 1,290 across July, August and September, against 1,319 over the same months in 2025, a 2% dip. Fewer homes on the shelf. Roughly the same buyers taking them off it.

September is the first month this year that looked a little soft on price. The median closing came in at 99.5% of list, after seven straight months at 100%. The median price was $1.19M, against $1.275M in July and $1.25M in August, the lowest since February. One month is not a turn. July through September ran $1.19M to $1.275M, against $1,128,500 to $1.21M over the same months a year earlier, so the year-over-year picture is still higher.

Homes are still moving. September's median closing spent 14 days active in the MLS, against 18 a year earlier. Well-priced homes in this city do not sit.

One honest caveat on the counts. September is the newest month in this pull, and its pending, new-listing and closed-sale counts get revised upward on later pulls as late entries land, so treat those three as floors. Supply, price and pace are firm.

In Context

How the city sits against the county, Oceanside and Carlsbad.

Single-family homes, September 2026, measured the same way across all four areas. Under three months of supply is generally read as a seller's market, three to six as balanced, and over six as a buyer's market.

Area	Median Price	Months of Supply	Supply a Year Ago	Active Listings	Median Days in MLS	% of List Received
San Diego County	$1.075M	2.6	3.5	3,387	16	100.0%
Oceanside	$890K	2.2	3.0	212	13	100.0%
Carlsbad	$1.875M	1.7	4.1	103	12	98.4%
San Diego (city)	$1.19M	2.2	2.9	902	14	99.5%

The City of San Diego and Oceanside are tied on supply at 2.2 months, between Carlsbad at 1.7 and the county at 2.6. All four are under three months, and all four are tighter than a year ago. On price the city sits in the middle: $1.19M, above Oceanside's $890,000 and the county's $1.075M, and well below Carlsbad's $1.875M.

Source: California Regional MLS via InfoSparks (ShowingTime Plus), residential single-family, September 2026, pulled October 29, 2026. San Diego (city) is the City of San Diego, not the county.

The City

San Diego is 52 markets wearing one name.

The City of San Diego plans itself as 52 community planning areas, covered by 49 community plans, per the City Planning Department. They run from La Jolla and Pacific Beach on the coast to Rancho Bernardo and Mira Mesa inland. A single citywide median blends all of them, which is why it tells you very little about any one street.

The planning map also decides something concrete for anyone buying for rental income: which short-term rental license pool a home falls into.

Thinking about buying here for rental income? Read the rules first, because in Oceanside, Carlsbad and the City of San Diego alike, the short-term rental permit belongs to the operator, not the house, and it does not survive the sale. The buyer applies from scratch. Oceanside caps non-hosted rentals at 480 and confines them to the Coastal Zone, and has banned them in R-1 zoning outside it since December 2023. Carlsbad allows them only in the Coastal Zone and the La Costa Resort area, with no published cap and 248 permitted properties citywide. San Diego had 807 Tier 3 whole-home licenses left as of October 23, 2026, while Mission Beach's Tier 4 pool is full at 1,099. The full city-by-city breakdown, with the phone numbers to call before your contingencies expire, is on my San Diego County short-term rental rules page.

Keep reading:

Questions people ask

San Diego, answered.

How much is a house in San Diego?

The median single-family home in the City of San Diego sold for $1.19M in September 2026, on 390 closings, per CRMLS via InfoSparks. Across San Diego County as a whole, the single-family median was $1.075M.

What is the current housing market in San Diego like?

Tight, and a little softer on price in September. The City of San Diego had 2.2 months of single-family supply in September 2026, down from 2.9 a year ago, with 902 homes for sale against 1,192, per CRMLS via InfoSparks. Homes spent a median of 14 days in the MLS and closed at 99.5% of list, after seven straight months at 100%.

Is San Diego a buyer's or seller's market?

A seller's market, by the usual yardstick. The City of San Diego had 2.2 months of single-family supply in September 2026, per CRMLS via InfoSparks, and under three months is generally read as a seller's market. It has been under three months in every month since September 2025.

Are home prices dropping in San Diego?

Not on the year. The September 2026 single-family median of $1.19M was above September 2025's $1,128,500, per CRMLS via InfoSparks. It was below July's $1.275M and August's $1.25M, and closings slipped to 99.5% of list from 100%, so September was a softer month. At 390 to 460 sales a month the median moves with the mix of neighborhoods closing, so one month is not a trend.

How long do homes take to sell in San Diego?

Single-family homes that closed in September 2026 spent a median of 14 days active in the MLS, per CRMLS via InfoSparks, down from 18 days a year earlier. At the current pace, the city's 902 active listings represent about 2.2 months of supply.

What is the property tax rate in San Diego?

Proposition 13 limits the base rate to 1% of a property's full cash value, a home is generally reassessed when it sells, and between sales its assessed value can rise no more than 2% a year, per the San Diego County Auditor and Controller. Voter-approved debt for schools and local districts is added on top. In the Auditor's Fiscal Year 2025-26 tax rate book, the newest it has published, the City of San Diego's 219 tax rate areas total between 1.03103% and 1.28214%, and the most common rate, used by 71 of them, is 1.25114%. Special taxes such as Mello-Roos and other special assessments are billed on the same tax bill and are not based on property value.

Is it expensive to live in San Diego?

For housing, yes. The City of San Diego's September 2026 single-family median of $1.19M is above the $1.075M median across San Diego County, per CRMLS via InfoSparks. At the city's most common 1.25114% tax rate, property tax on a home bought at that median runs about $14,900 a year before any special assessments.

Sources: California Regional MLS via InfoSparks (ShowingTime Plus), residential single-family, September 2026, pulled October 29, 2026. Tax rates: San Diego County Auditor and Controller, Property Valuations, Tax Rates, Fiscal Year 2025-26 (Table 27, tax rate by tax rate area), the newest edition on the Auditor's tax rate book page as of October 29, 2026. Community planning areas: City of San Diego Planning Department, Community Plans.

What is your San Diego home actually worth in this market?

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The citywide number is a starting point, not an answer. If you want the read on a specific street, text or email is the easiest way to start.

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