Sold Nov 2
$1,435,000
San Joaquin Drive
4 bd · 2 ba · 1,776 sq ft
106.3% of list price
Listing courtesy of Compass
San Diego Neighborhood Guide
Pacific Beach, often called PB, is a beach community on San Diego’s mid-coast between La Jolla and Mission Beach, with more than two miles of sandy shoreline, Crystal Pier, and Mission Bay along its southern edge. It is known for its boardwalk, surf breaks, active street life on Garnet Avenue and Mission Boulevard, and a grid of older cottages, postwar homes and condos. It suits buyers who want an energetic, walkable beach lifestyle.
Quick Facts
| Area | Pacific Beach Community Plan area (City of San Diego) |
|---|---|
| Planning area | Pacific Beach (City of San Diego; Council District 1) |
| ZIP code | 92109 |
| Boundaries | La Jolla to the north, Interstate 5 and Clairemont to the east, Mission Beach and Mission Bay to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west |
| Founded | 1887 (Pacific Beach Company incorporated July 1887; first lots sold December 12, 1887) |
| Home types | Single-family homes, beach cottages, duplexes, townhomes, condominiums and apartments |
| Signature style | Early beach bungalows and cottages, 1940s-50s postwar homes, and low-rise contemporary condos |
| Price tier | Upper |
| Best for | Buyers who want a walkable, social beach town with easy access to Mission Bay and the ocean |
Jeff’s Take
I’ve helped clients buy and lease in Pacific Beach, and it’s where I send first-time buyers who want the beach without a La Jolla price. Condos and older cottages give you a way in.
PB is social and active: the boardwalk, Crystal Pier, Mission Bay and Garnet Avenue. Plenty of residents bike to the beach and barely move the car on weekends.
Who it’s not for: PB is lively, especially near Garnet and the boardwalk. If you want quiet, I’ll point you to Point Loma or the calmer residential streets farther from the beach.
Pacific Beach vs. Point Loma: PB is busier and offers an easier entry price through condos. Point Loma is quieter, with more single-family homes and views over the bay.
What buying in Pacific Beach often looks like
Say you’re buying your first place: a two-bedroom condo a few blocks from the sand. Before we write, I pull the HOA documents, budget and reserve study, check the rental rules and any special assessments, and confirm the building will work for your lender. A great price on a building with weak reserves isn’t a great deal, and catching that early protects your down payment.
Market Snapshot
| Measure | Oct 2026 | Oct 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | $2,622,500 | $2,247,500 | +17% |
| Avg. price per sq. ft. | $1,312 | $1,100 | +19% |
| Homes sold | 10 | 12 | −17% |
| New listings | 16 | 21 | −24% |
| Median days on market | 15 | 10 | +50% |
| % of list price received | 100% | 98% | +2% |
| Months of inventory | 3.4 | 3.8 | −11% |
Single-family homes, ZIP 92109, as of October 2026. Source: San Diego Multiple Listing Service (SDMLS) closed sales, compiled by Jeff Brick. ZIP 92109 also includes Mission Beach.
| Measure | Current listings |
|---|---|
| Median asking price | $2,499,000 |
| Median asking price per sq. ft. | $1,370 |
| Homes for sale | 55 |
| Median days on market (current listings) | 40 |
| Months of supply | 6.5 |
| HouseCanary 1-year price forecast | 2.0% |
Single-family homes, ZIP 92109, listings on the market as of November 3, 2026. Source: HouseCanary Market Insights. Asking prices are what sellers are listing for, not final sale prices.
Jeff’s note (Q4 2026): Single-family homes sold at full asking price in October. For first-time buyers, condos are the way in: the October condo median in 92109 was $848,000 across 10 sales.
A Few Recent Sales
Not every sale, just a few recent closings I picked to show what buyers are actually paying in Pacific Beach right now. Updated monthly · November 2026.
$1,435,000
San Joaquin Drive
4 bd · 2 ba · 1,776 sq ft
106.3% of list price
Listing courtesy of Compass
$1,495,000
Kendall Street
2 bd · 2 ba · 1,661 sq ft
100% of list price
Listing courtesy of Berkshire Hathaway HomeService
$356,500
Diamond Street
1 bd · 1 ba · 653 sq ft
81.6% of list price
Listing courtesy of Coldwell Banker Realty
$590,000
Lamont Street
2 bd · 2 ba · 1,033 sq ft
99.2% of list price
Listing courtesy of Wedgewood Homes Realty
$2,495,000
Haines Street
3 bd · 3 ba · 1,875 sq ft
100% of list price
Listing courtesy of Compass
$2,750,000
Beryl Street
4 bd · 2 ba · 1,538 sq ft
105.8% of list price
Listing courtesy of Compass
$975,000
Parker Place
2 bd · 2 ba · 866 sq ft
100% of list price
Listing courtesy of Property Connection
$880,000
Sapphire Street
2 bd · 2 ba · 972 sq ft
85.9% of list price
Listing courtesy of Dunn
$982,000
Diamond Street
2 bd · 3 ba · 1,192 sq ft
98.2% of list price
Listing courtesy of Compass
$816,000
Cass Street
2 bd · 2 ba · 969 sq ft
98.4% of list price
Listing courtesy of Coldwell Banker Realty
Sold information from the San Diego MLS (SDMLS®), deemed reliable but not guaranteed. These homes may have been listed and sold by other brokerages; they are shown to illustrate the local market, not as Jeff Brick’s own sales. Want the full list of recent sales or a value estimate for your home? Ask Jeff.
History
Before the town was laid out, the Kumeyaay had a large village along Rose Creek. Pacific Beach was born in San Diego’s 1886-1888 boom: the Pacific Beach Company was incorporated in July 1887 by D. C. Reed, R. A. Thomas, O. S. Hubbell and others, City Engineer H. K. Wheeler drew the subdivision map that October, and lots went on sale at the company’s downtown office on December 12, 1887. The San Diego College of Letters opened as a cultural anchor but closed in 1891, and its buildings later housed the San Diego Army and Navy Academy. A rail line linked PB to downtown and later reached La Jolla in 1894. After the boom faded, the area turned to lemon ranching from about 1892 to 1906, until Folsom Bros. Co. began converting ranches to home lots in 1903. Crystal Pier was built in 1927, Crown Point was subdivided in 1926, and wartime aircraft jobs and the postwar boom filled the open land. Mission Bay was dredged into a regional park in the 1950s.
The original developers were the Pacific Beach Company, whose founders included D. C. Reed, R. A. Thomas and O. S. Hubbell, with A. G. Gassen and Charles W. Pauley joining later. In 1892 a new map converted unsold blocks into roughly ten-acre lemon ranch lots. Folsom Bros. Co. acquired much of the area in 1903 and began residential subdivision, and the Pacific Building Company, led by O. W. Cotton, began building houses here in 1907. Crown Point was mapped in 1926 by the Coastlands Company, with lot sales and improvements taken over by the Austin-Rood Company; E. G. Anderson later led its development, and Palmer-Bilt Homes, formed in 1943, built houses for war workers there.
Architecture
Pacific Beach’s housing reflects its stop-and-start growth. The oldest homes are modest frame cottages and California bungalows from the early 1900s, including houses built by the Pacific Building Company starting in 1907, some of which still stand around Missouri and Diamond streets. Small wooden beach cottages once lined the boardwalk, and the 1920s and 1930s brought Spanish and Mission Revival designs, such as a 1933 Mission Revival beach house noted by SOHO. Most of the community was built out after 1930, and wartime and postwar construction added many simple single-story homes, especially in Crown Point. In recent decades, many cottages near the beach have been replaced by duplexes, townhomes and condominiums, all kept low by the 30-foot coastal height limit. A typical block mixes a 1940s or 1950s house, a newer two- or three-story rebuild, and a small apartment building.
Pacific Beach has fewer designated landmarks than older neighborhoods, partly because many early cottages have been replaced. The Kate O. Sessions Nursery Site at Pico Street and Balboa Avenue is City of San Diego Historical Landmark No. 31, honoring the horticulturist whose later nursery was here. Crystal Pier, built in 1927 and stretching 871 feet with its blue-and-white cottages, received SOHO’s Keeper of the Flame award in 2025. Owners of individually designated homes may apply for a Mills Act contract, which can lower property taxes in exchange for preservation.
Living Here
Pacific Beach is primarily residential, laid out on a street grid that dates to the pueblo lands survey, and most of it was built out after 1930. Housing ranges from single-family homes on standard city lots in the north and east, including Crown Point near Mission Bay, to a dense mix of duplexes, townhomes, condominiums and apartments closer to the beach and the Garnet Avenue business district. Buildings are capped at 30 feet under the coastal height limit, so even newer complexes stay low-rise.
Life in PB moves between the boardwalk, the surf and the bay. Garnet Avenue and Mission Boulevard hold a busy mix of bars, restaurants and clothing shops, and the community has about 1,500 businesses. The Pacific Beach Tuesday Farmers Market sets up on Bayard and Hornblend streets from 2 to 7 p.m. Tourmaline Surfing Park draws surfers year-round, and Kate Sessions Park offers ocean views and trails. Capehart Open Space Park serves as the local dog park. Alcohol is banned on city beaches, a rule voters made permanent in 2008.
Getting Around
Walk Score: 74 (Very Walkable) – https://www.walkscore.com/CA/San_Diego/Pacific_Beach · Transit Score: 41 (Some Transit) – https://www.walkscore.com/CA/San_Diego/Pacific_Beach · Bike Score: 63 (Bikeable) – https://www.walkscore.com/CA/San_Diego/Pacific_Beach
Pacific Beach is served by San Diego Unified School District’s Mission Bay High School cluster, which includes Mission Bay High School, Pacific Beach Middle School, and Barnard Asian Pacific Language Academy, Crown Point Junior Music Academy, Pacific Beach Elementary and Kate Sessions Elementary. Because assignments follow attendance boundaries and some programs are magnets, buyers should confirm schools for a specific address with the district.
Pacific Beach and North Pacific Beach, Crystal Pier, the Ocean Front Walk boardwalk, Tourmaline Surfing Park, Kate Sessions Park, Pacific Beach Recreation Center, Fanuel Street Park, Crown Point Park, Capehart Open Space Park (dog park), Palisades Park North and South, Rose Creek and Mission Bay Park.
Explore Pacific Beach
Public and charter schools closest to the heart of Pacific Beach.
San Diego Unified
San Diego Unified
San Diego Unified
San Diego Unified
San Diego Unified
San Diego Unified
School assignment depends on the exact address, so confirm the schools for any home with the school district. Source: California Department of Education, 2024–25 school sites. Report cards link to the official California School Dashboard.
Green space, trails and play areas in and around Pacific Beach.
Park data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Distances are approximate, measured from the center of Pacific Beach.
Pacific Beach sits on the western edge of San Diego’s mid-coastal region. The Pacific Ocean forms its western edge, Mission Bay and Mission Beach lie to the south, and steep hillsides climb north into La Jolla. Interstate 5 marks the eastern edge, with Clairemont and Bay Park beyond. The Crown Point peninsula extends into Mission Bay at its southeast corner.
Local Favorites
Seafood restaurant (since 2010)
1775 Garnet Ave, San Diego, CA 92109
Directions →Breakfast diner (since 1979)
1851 Garnet Ave, San Diego, CA 92109
Directions →Neighborhood bar and burgers (21+)
3786 Ingraham St, San Diego, CA 92109
Directions →Historic pier hotel (pier built 1927)
Crystal Pier at the west end of Garnet Ave, San Diego, CA 92109
Directions →Photos, ratings and links from Google Maps
FAQ
Yes. Pacific Beach has a Walk Score of 74, rated Very Walkable, and a Bike Score of 63. Many residents walk or bike to the beach, the boardwalk and the shops on Garnet Avenue.
PB is lively and social, with a beach-town feel, a busy bar and restaurant scene, and crowds in summer. The streets farther from the beach, and areas like Crown Point near Mission Bay, are noticeably quieter and more residential.
Pacific Beach is in San Diego Unified’s Mission Bay High School cluster, which includes Pacific Beach Middle and several elementary schools such as Pacific Beach Elementary, Kate Sessions Elementary, Crown Point Junior Music Academy and Barnard. Always confirm the assigned schools for a specific address.
The nearest trolley stop is the Balboa Avenue Transit Center just east of Interstate 5, served by the UC San Diego Blue Line since 2021. From there, trains run south to Old Town and downtown.
Pacific Beach dates to 1887, and some early 1900s cottages still stand, though many beach-area homes have been rebuilt. Landmarks include Crystal Pier, built in 1927, and the Kate O. Sessions Nursery Site, a City of San Diego historical landmark.
No. Alcohol has been banned on San Diego city beaches since voters approved a permanent ban in 2008, after a large Labor Day weekend brawl in Pacific Beach the year before led the City Council to adopt a temporary ban.
Mission Beach is a narrow strip between ocean and bay with very compact lots, while Pacific Beach is larger, with more single-family streets and a fuller business district. Both share the same boardwalk and beach culture.
Work With Jeff
Jeff Brick, San Diego REALTOR® at Compass, DRE# 02156850. Million Dollar Service at All Price Points. Call or text 858-324-4448.
Nearby neighborhood guides: La Jolla · Mission Beach · Ocean Beach · Point Loma · Liberty Station
Header photo: dconvertini (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources
Real numbers for your neighborhood from the San Diego MLS, a short note from Jeff, and the homes worth seeing. One email a month. Unsubscribe any time.
Chat with Jeff
Real person, real answers. Usually replies within minutes.
Hi, I'm Jeff. Ask me anything about buying, selling or the San Diego market, and I'll text you back personally.
Got it, thanks! I'll text you shortly at the number you gave. — Jeff
In a hurry? Text or call (858) 324-4448.