Sold Nov 2
$1,650,000
Caminito Del Cid
3 bd · 3 ba · 1,987 sq ft
97.1% of list price
Listing courtesy of Compass California III
San Diego Neighborhood Guide
La Jolla is a coastal community in the northwest corner of the City of San Diego, set between Pacific Beach and the Torrey Pines bluffs and rising from the ocean to Mount Soledad. It is known for La Jolla Cove, a walkable village of shops and restaurants, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and UC San Diego, and an architectural legacy that runs from 1890s redwood cottages to Irving Gill and mid-century modern homes. It suits buyers who want ocean access, established neighborhoods and a strong sense of place.
Quick Facts
| Area | About 5,718 acres (La Jolla Community Plan area) |
|---|---|
| Planning area | La Jolla (City of San Diego; Council Districts 1 and 2) |
| ZIP codes | 92037, 92092, 92093 |
| Boundaries | Roughly the Pacific Ocean on the west, Pacific Beach on the south, Interstate 5 and Gilman Drive on the east, and UC San Diego and Torrey Pines toward the north; boundaries are informally defined and the 92037 ZIP reaches farther northeast. |
| Founded | 1887 (La Jolla Park subdivision and land auction of April 30, 1887) |
| Home types | Mostly single-family homes, plus condominiums and some apartments near the Village and La Jolla Shores |
| Signature style | Board-and-batten beach cottages, Irving Gill-era early modern work, Spanish Revival, and mid-century modern |
| Price tier | Luxury |
| Best for | Buyers seeking oceanfront and ocean-view living, a walkable village core, and proximity to UC San Diego and the Torrey Pines research area |
Jeff’s Take
I’ve sold and leased a lot of homes in La Jolla, and I never get tired of showing it. The coves, the Village, La Jolla Shores, Mount Soledad and the UC San Diego and Torrey Pines area are all in one community.
This is one of San Diego’s top luxury markets. You’ll find oceanfront estates, view homes on the hillsides, mid-century homes near the Shores and condos close to the Village.
Who it’s not for: prices here run among the highest in the county. If you want the beach at a lower entry point, I’ll show you Pacific Beach next door.
La Jolla vs. Del Mar: both are coastal luxury markets. La Jolla is larger, with more variety and the university nearby. Del Mar is a small city with a compact village and the fairgrounds.
What buying in La Jolla often looks like
Say you find a view home west of I-5 and plan to add a second story. Before we write, I make sure you know about the voter-approved 30-foot coastal height limit and the coastal development rules, so we price the home for what it is today, not what you hope to build. If your plans depend on adding height, we find that out before you’re in contract.
Market Snapshot
| Measure | Oct 2026 | Oct 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | $3,825,000 | $3,289,000 | +16% |
| Avg. price per sq. ft. | $1,337 | $1,279 | +5% |
| Homes sold | 25 | 22 | +14% |
| New listings | 32 | 46 | −30% |
| Median days on market | 27 | 28 | −4% |
| % of list price received | 97% | 100% | −3% |
| Months of inventory | 4.6 | 4.0 | +15% |
Single-family homes, ZIP 92037 (La Jolla), as of October 2026. Source: San Diego Multiple Listing Service (SDMLS) closed sales, compiled by Jeff Brick.
| Measure | Current listings |
|---|---|
| Median asking price | $4,898,000 |
| Median asking price per sq. ft. | $1,457 |
| Homes for sale | 109 |
| Median days on market (current listings) | 81 |
| Months of supply | 6.2 |
| HouseCanary 1-year price forecast | 1.1% |
Single-family homes, ZIP 92037, 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): The median is up 16%, but buyers are negotiating more: homes sold at 97% of asking versus full price a year ago, and inventory is up to 4.6 months. Pricing right from day one matters here.
A Few Recent Sales
Not every sale, just a few recent closings I picked to show what buyers are actually paying in La Jolla right now. Updated monthly · November 2026.
$1,650,000
Caminito Del Cid
3 bd · 3 ba · 1,987 sq ft
97.1% of list price
Listing courtesy of Compass California III
$3,200,000
Agate Street
10 bd · 8 ba
Listing courtesy of Coldwell Banker Realty
$3,825,000
Castellana Road
5 bd · 3 ba · 2,320 sq ft
106.3% of list price
Listing courtesy of Coldwell Banker Realty
$2,950,000
Fay Avenue
3 bd · 4 ba · 2,901 sq ft
93.7% of list price
Listing courtesy of Compass
$2,100,000
Caminito Maritimo
3 bd · 3 ba · 2,310 sq ft
91.5% of list price
Listing courtesy of Compass
$485,000
Via Mallorca
1 ba · 504 sq ft
100% of list price
Listing courtesy of Compass
$1,525,000
La Jolla Boulevard
2 bd · 2 ba · 1,353 sq ft
95.4% of list price
Listing courtesy of Compass
$1,325,000
Caminito Isla
3 bd · 2 ba · 1,700 sq ft
94.7% of list price
Listing courtesy of Compass
$5,600,000
Muirlands Drive
5 bd · 4 ba · 4,046 sq ft
93.4% of list price
Listing courtesy of Compass
$14,750,000
Ruette Nicole
6 bd · 7 ba · 8,216 sq ft
98.7% of list price
Listing courtesy of Compass
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
Long before the town existed, the Kumeyaay knew this shoreline by a name usually translated as “land of holes,” a reference to the sea caves along the north-facing cliffs. The Spanish-sounding name La Jolla likely grew from that word, though some link it to la joya, “the jewel,” and the origin is still debated. The land was part of San Diego’s pueblo lands, and an early La Jolla Park map was drawn in the 1870s. Modern La Jolla dates to the 1880s boom, when Frank T. Botsford and George W. Heald acquired more than 400 acres and held a grand auction of La Jolla Park lots on April 30, 1887, now treated as the community’s founding. A rail line from San Diego through Pacific Beach arrived in 1894, the same year the first post office opened, turning the village into a getaway of cottages and tents. Ellen Browning Scripps settled here in the 1890s and funded many civic institutions. Scripps Institution of Oceanography moved to La Jolla Shores in 1907, La Valencia opened in 1926, and UC San Diego was established in 1960. The 1946 comprehensive plan aimed to keep La Jolla a resort community, and today it is about 99 percent built out.
La Jolla’s first subdivision was La Jolla Park, laid out and sold by Frank T. Botsford and George W. Heald, with the April 1887 auction handled for the Pacific Coast Land Bureau, an agent of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Early growth came in small cottage clusters rather than large tracts: Anna Held’s Green Dragon Colony of the 1890s, Walter Lieber’s group of vacation cottages from 1915, and the Redwood Hollow cottages. Ellen Browning Scripps acted as a patron-builder, commissioning Irving Gill for the Woman’s Club, the Recreation Center and her own home. After World War II, tract architects including William Krisel, Herbert Brownell and Edward Fickett designed homes in the area, while local firms filled hillside lots with custom houses.
Architecture
La Jolla’s oldest houses are simple beach cottages, most built between the 1880s and 1920s, often under 800 square feet, with single-wall redwood board-and-batten construction and front porches. Irving Gill shaped the early twentieth century here with spare, arched, flat-roofed concrete buildings for Ellen Browning Scripps, including the La Jolla Woman’s Club (1914), the Recreation Center (1915) and her 1915 home, now the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. William Templeton Johnson designed the 1921 Athenaeum building, and Rudolf Schindler’s El Pueblo Ribera courtyard houses are a designated landmark. After the war, La Jolla became a center of modern design, with local practices such as Henry Hester and Robert E. Jones, Russell Forester, Dale Naegle, Sim Bruce Richards, and Robert Mosher and Roy Drew, alongside work by Louis Kahn at the Salk Institute and Richard Neutra. A typical street today mixes small early cottages, Spanish Revival homes, mid-century post-and-beam houses and newer contemporary rebuilds.
The La Jolla Park Coastal Historic District, covering about eight acres around La Jolla Cove, Ellen Browning Scripps Park and the Children’s Pool, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in May 2024 with 35 contributing resources. City of San Diego landmarks include Red Roost and Red Rest at 1179 and 1187 Coast Boulevard (No. 101), the La Jolla Woman’s Club at 715 Silverado Street (No. 79), Wisteria Cottage at 780 Prospect Street (No. 166), La Valencia Hotel at 1132 Prospect Street (No. 204), and Schindler’s El Pueblo Ribera on Gravilla Street (No. 117). Owners of designated properties may apply for a Mills Act contract, which can reduce property taxes in exchange for preservation.
Living Here
La Jolla is primarily residential. Until the mid-twentieth century it was mostly small single-family summer cottages along the coast and through the Village, and many of those lots have since been rebuilt with larger homes. Today the housing mix includes oceanfront and hillside single-family homes on and around Mount Soledad, Muirlands and Bird Rock, along with condominiums and apartments concentrated near the Village and La Jolla Shores. Because the community is about 99 percent built out, most new construction is infill or replacement of older homes. The citywide 30-foot coastal height limit west of Interstate 5 keeps building heights low.
Daily life centers on the coast: swimming and snorkeling at La Jolla Shores, walking the Coast Walk and the cove, and watching sea lions and seals near the Children’s Pool. The Village along Prospect Street and Girard Avenue holds long-standing restaurants, galleries, hotels and Warwick’s bookstore. On Sundays the La Jolla Open Aire Market closes part of Girard Avenue next to La Jolla Elementary from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., raising money for the school. Cultural anchors include the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the Athenaeum Music and Arts Library, the La Jolla Music Society and Birch Aquarium at Scripps.
Getting Around
Walk Score: Varies by area: La Jolla Village 52 (Somewhat Walkable); La Jolla Shores 49 (Car-Dependent). Source: https://www.walkscore.com/CA/San_Diego/La_Jolla · Transit Score: La Jolla Village 51; La Jolla Shores 37 (https://www.walkscore.com/CA/San_Diego/La_Jolla) · Bike Score: La Jolla Village 55; La Jolla Shores 58 (https://www.walkscore.com/CA/San_Diego/La_Jolla)
La Jolla is served by San Diego Unified School District. The La Jolla Cluster includes La Jolla High School, Muirlands Middle School, and Bird Rock, La Jolla and Torrey Pines elementary schools; The Preuss School UCSD is a public charter on the UC San Diego campus. La Jolla Country Day School is a well-known private school nearby. School assignments follow attendance boundaries, so buyers should confirm the schools for a specific address with the district.
La Jolla Cove, Ellen Browning Scripps Park, the Children’s Pool, Coast Walk Trail, La Jolla Shores and Kellogg Park, Windansea Beach, Marine Street Beach, Bird Rock, Mount Soledad, Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, Torrey Pines State Beach, Black’s Beach and the Torrey Pines Gliderport.
Explore La Jolla
Public and charter schools closest to the heart of La Jolla.
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 La Jolla.
Park data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Distances are approximate, measured from the center of La Jolla.
La Jolla occupies the coastline and hills at the western edge of San Diego’s north coastal region. Pacific Beach lies directly south, and Mount Soledad rises behind the Village. To the east, Interstate 5 separates it from University City, while the UC San Diego campus and Scripps Institution of Oceanography sit along its northern edge, leading on toward Torrey Pines and Del Mar.
Local Favorites
Oceanfront restaurant at La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club
1950 Spindrift Dr, La Jolla, CA 92037
Directions →Historic hotel (opened 1926) and restaurant
1132 Prospect St, La Jolla, CA 92037
Directions →Sunday farmers market
Girard Ave at Genter St (La Jolla Elementary School), La Jolla, CA 92037
Directions →Photos, ratings and links from Google Maps
FAQ
It depends on the part of La Jolla. The Village and La Jolla Shores score around 50 on Walk Score, with shops, restaurants and the beach within walking distance, while hillside areas such as La Jolla Alta and the Mount Soledad neighborhoods are largely car-dependent.
La Jolla is mostly residential, with a lively village core and quieter neighborhoods on the hills. Daily life revolves around the coast, from morning swims at La Jolla Shores to walks along the cove, and summer brings heavy visitor traffic near the beaches.
Public students attend San Diego Unified schools in the La Jolla Cluster: La Jolla High, Muirlands Middle, and Bird Rock, La Jolla and Torrey Pines elementary schools. Private options include nearby La Jolla Country Day School; confirm assigned schools by address.
Downtown is typically about 15 to 20 minutes away by car without traffic, and San Diego International Airport about 20 to 25 minutes. Summer traffic can stretch those times.
Yes. La Jolla dates to the 1887 La Jolla Park auction, and the La Jolla Park Coastal Historic District around the cove was added to the National Register in 2024. The community also has many city-designated landmarks, including works by Irving Gill.
La Jolla sits west of Interstate 5, where San Diego’s coastal height limit caps buildings at 30 feet. Projects in the coastal zone may also need coastal permits.
La Jolla is quieter and more established, with larger lots, hillside views and a village shopping district, while Pacific Beach is denser, more casual and known for its boardwalk and nightlife. The two share a border and the same 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: Pacific Beach · Mission Beach · Ocean Beach · Point Loma · Liberty Station
Header photo: John D. (CC BY 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.