The Orange County Market,
Beyond the Headlines
The county-wide view — every city, every price band, straight from the MLS. This is the backdrop against which your own neighborhood's numbers actually mean something.
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Five thousand choices, and buyers are choosing carefully
Orange County closed roughly 1,800 home sales in the past thirty days at a median of about $1.23 million, while active inventory sat just one listing shy of five thousand homes. That is 2.8 months of supply — a market with real selection for the first time in years, but still short of balanced. The median sale went under contract in 19 days; the median home still sitting has been listed 46 days. Same county, two very different experiences, and the difference is almost always price.
The numbers, for those who want depth
| Metric | Orange County · 30 days through Aug 1 |
|---|---|
| Homes for sale (active) | 4,999 |
| Closed sales (30 days) | 1,805 |
| Median sold price | $1,225,000 |
| Median asking price (actives) | $1,299,000 |
| Median price per sq ft (sold) | $687 |
| Median days to sell (closed) | 19 |
| Median days on market (current listings) | 46 |
| Under contract — offer accepted, not yet closed | 1,804 |
| Coming soon (in the pipeline) | 137 |
| New to market (30 days) | ~3,000 |
| Months of supply | ~2.8 |
| Top sale (30 days) | $48,500,000 |
Source: CRMLS residential data, county-wide, pulled August 1, 2026 for the trailing 30 days. Medians shown. Single-family homes accounted for 1,144 of the 1,805 closings, with condos, townhomes, and other residential types making up the balance. Fifty MLS city areas are represented. Months of supply is how long today's inventory would take to sell at the current sales pace; under about four months generally favors sellers. This page is rebuilt each month on fresh data.
The pipeline says the pace holds: 1,804 homes were under contract at the snapshot — almost exactly one full month of closings already in escrow — with another 137 staged as coming soon. Meanwhile roughly 3,000 homes came to market in thirty days while about 1,800 closed and a similar number went into escrow — more coming on than clearing off, which is how selection keeps building without anything dramatic happening. Rates near 6.66% are doing neither side any favors.
What the numbers actually say
The county's center of gravity is the $1M–$2M band: 845 of the past month's 1,805 sales closed there, on just 2.2 months of supply — the tightest band in the county. Below a million, supply is thicker and buyers negotiate harder. Above $2 million, the market slows in stages: 3.3 months of supply from $2–3M, 4.3 from $3–5M, and nearly six months above $5 million. The higher you go, the more patience and pricing discipline decide the outcome.
For coastal owners, that gradient is the strategy. The county-wide market your buyers are coming from is faster and tighter than the luxury tier you may be selling in — which is why the same week can be the right time to sell a $1.6M Costa Mesa home and a demanding time to sell an $8M one. Plan for the market you are actually in.
Want this read for your street and price band? Request a private home value review →
One county, five markets
| Price band | For sale | Sold (30 days) | Months of supply |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under $1M | 1,790 | 624 | 2.9 |
| $1M – $2M | 1,836 | 845 | 2.2 |
| $2M – $3M | 598 | 180 | 3.3 |
| $3M – $5M | 395 | 91 | 4.3 |
| $5M and up | 380 | 65 | 5.8 |
The tightest market in Orange County is the $1M–$2M band — nearly half of all sales on the thinnest relative supply. Balanced conditions are conventionally four to six months; only the county's luxury tiers are there.
Browse the county's live MLS feed by band, right here on jadelarney.com: Under $1M · $1M–$2M · $2M–$3M · $3M–$5M · $5M and up. Tap Save Search on any of them and you'll know the day something new hits the market.
The ten busiest cities
Closed sales over the past thirty days, by MLS city area, with each city's own median — a reminder of how wide this county's range really is.
| City | Closed (30 days) | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|
| Irvine | 180 | $1,400,000 |
| Huntington Beach | 125 | $1,305,000 |
| Mission Viejo | 84 | $1,242,000 |
| Anaheim | 77 | $932,000 |
| Orange | 75 | $1,180,000 |
| Santa Ana | 69 | $850,000 |
| Laguna Niguel | 69 | $1,380,000 |
| Fullerton | 69 | $1,125,000 |
| San Clemente | 66 | $1,662,500 |
| Yorba Linda | 60 | $1,316,250 |
For the coastal cities I track house-by-house — Newport Beach, Corona del Mar, Newport Coast, and Costa Mesa — see the dedicated updates on the market update hub. Each city name above opens that city's live listings here on jadelarney.com.
What this means for you
"Is county-wide inventory finally giving buyers a break?"
Selection, yes — five thousand active listings is real choice. Leverage depends on your band: at $1M–$2M you are still competing on 2.2 months of supply, while under $1M and above $2M there is more room to negotiate, especially on listings aging past the 46-day median.
The signal to watchMonths of supply in your price band, not the county headline.
Buyer strategy →"Does a county this size tell me anything about my street?"
It tells you the backdrop: steady demand, growing selection, no rate relief. What it cannot tell you is your street's last three comparables, which is what your price will be built on. Use the county for direction, your neighborhood data for the decision.
The signal to watchYour city's median versus the county's — the gap tells you more than either number alone.
Seller strategy →"I'm 55+, selling coastal, and the county is my search map."
This is where the county view earns its place on this page. A Proposition 19 base transfer works anywhere in California, and for many of my Newport-area clients the right-size home is an Orange County move: Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Mission Viejo, San Clemente. Selling at a coastal median and buying at a county median — at equal or lesser value — is precisely the kind of move Proposition 19 contemplates. General education, not tax or legal advice — we plan this with your CPA or attorney.
The signal to watchThe two-year window between sale and purchase. It closes faster than people expect.
The Prop 19 downsizing plan →Questions I hear every week
Is Orange County a buyer's market or a seller's market right now?
At 2.8 months of supply it is still, technically, a seller's market — but the most balanced one the county has seen in years, and the answer flips by price band. The $1M–$2M core is competitive at 2.2 months; above $5 million, buyers hold most of the cards at nearly six.
Are Orange County home prices dropping?
The data shows a county still clearing its median sale in 19 days at $1.225 million, with the sold and asking medians close together. That looks less like falling prices and more like selective buyers, with overpriced listings sitting while well-priced ones move. Individual cities and bands vary, which is why the city table above matters more than the headline.
Why do you track the whole county if you work the coast?
Because my clients' moves rarely stay inside one city line. The Newport Beach seller is often an Orange County buyer, the Costa Mesa buyer is comparing against Huntington Beach, and every pricing conversation happens against the county backdrop. Reading all of it, monthly, is part of the job.
Can I sell my coastal home and buy anywhere in Orange County under Prop 19?
If you are 55 or older and qualify, Proposition 19 lets you transfer your existing property-tax base to a replacement primary residence anywhere in California — Orange County included. Buying at equal or lesser value than your sale price keeps the transferred base intact, and the purchase generally must occur within two years of the sale. The details are specific, so we plan both transactions together with your CPA or attorney. This is general education, not tax or legal advice.
How current is this data?
It is pulled directly from CRMLS on the first of the month and covers the trailing thirty days. Active-listing counts are a point-in-time snapshot; closed-sale figures may adjust slightly as late-reported closings post. This page is rebuilt every month on fresh data.
What is my home worth against these numbers?
The county median is a backdrop, not an appraisal. A real answer comes from your street's recent comparables, your home's condition, and this month's competition — which is what a private home value review covers. Request one here.
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The county view sets the stage; your decision happens on one street, in one band, on one timeline. If you want these numbers translated into a plan — a sale, a purchase, or a Proposition 19 move that is both — that conversation is the next step.