By Jeff Brick — Board of Directors 2026, San Diego Association of REALTORS® (SDAR) | 2026 President, San Diego Multiple Listing Service (SDMLS)
If you’ve been watching San Diego condo and townhome listings this year, you’ve probably noticed the same thing my clients keep asking me about: more “price reduced” flags, more time on market, and more listings quietly disappearing before they sell. As a San Diego real estate agent who has worked this market since 1999 — and who currently sits on the SDAR Board of Directors and serves as President of SDMLS — I get a front-row seat to exactly what’s happening behind these numbers. Here’s the honest, data-backed breakdown.
The Big Picture: A Two-Track San Diego Market
San Diego real estate isn’t one market right now — it’s two. Detached single-family homes have largely held their value, with tightening inventory (down roughly 12–25% year-over-year in several 2026 reports) because owners with 2020–2021 mortgage rates in the 3% range have little incentive to sell and trade up into a 6%+ rate.
Condos and townhomes are telling a completely different story. Across multiple 2026 market reports pulled from Redfin, Zillow, and San Diego MLS-sourced data:
Attached-home (condo/townhome) inventory is up roughly 5–6% year-over-year, even as detached inventory shrinks.
Countywide condo/townhome median price sits in the $670,000–$675,000 range, essentially flat to slightly down (about -1.5% YoY in several May–June 2026 reports).
Average days on market for attached homes climbed to roughly 40–43 days countywide as of June 2026, up more than 10% from the prior year — and in dense condo corridors like Downtown San Diego (92101), typical time to sell has stretched to 70–90+ days.
Months of supply for condos and townhomes now runs 3–7 months depending on the neighborhood, compared to the 2–3 months that defines a balanced market — pushing several submarkets, including Downtown, Pacific Beach, and parts of Mission Valley, into buyer’s-market territory.
So What Percentage of San Diego Condos and Townhomes Have Had a Price Reduction?
This is the question I set out to answer by cross-referencing active and recently-listed condo and townhome inventory across Zillow, Redfin, Compass, and Homes.com over the trailing 90 days.
The most reliable, apples-to-apples benchmark comes from Zillow’s national price-cut tracking, which found that 26.9% of active listings nationwide carried at least one price reduction as of late 2025, with a median individual cut near $10,000 and cumulative reductions averaging around $25,000 per listing in high-cost markets. San Diego, as one of the more expensive coastal metros in the country, tracks at or above that national baseline — and condo-specific data bears that out even more clearly.
Zooming into San Diego’s condo-heavy submarkets specifically, local MLS-derived reporting for Downtown San Diego puts the number at roughly one in three active condo listings (about 33%) carrying at least one price reduction as of mid-2026. When I cross-referenced that against comparable data patterns on Redfin and Compass for other condo-dense zip codes — Pacific Beach, Mission Valley, North Park, and Bankers Hill — the pattern held consistent: somewhere in the 28–35% range of San Diego condo and townhome listings from the past 90 days have seen at least one price cut, been withdrawn from the market, or expired unsold, noticeably higher than the reduction rate on detached single-family homes in the same neighborhoods.
Bottom line: roughly one in three San Diego condos and townhomes currently on the market has needed a price adjustment (or been pulled) to find a buyer. That’s a meaningful shift from the 2021–2022 frenzy, when price reductions on attached housing were the exception, not the norm.
Why Is This Happening? Five Real Drivers Behind the Trend
As a San Diego real estate agent working this segment daily, here’s what I’m actually seeing drive the numbers — not just theory:
- Rising HOA Dues and Insurance Costs Are Squeezing Condo Value
Homeowners association dues have climbed sharply across San Diego condo buildings, driven by insurance premium increases, reserve-fund catch-up requirements, and California’s SB 326 balcony/exterior elevated element inspection law, which is forcing older buildings to fund overdue structural repairs. Buyers now scrutinize HOA financials as closely as the unit itself, and a building with a special assessment on the horizon will sit — or get repriced — regardless of how nice the unit looks.
- Mortgage Rates Are Still Doing the Heavy Lifting
With 30-year rates hovering in the low-6% range through most of 2026, monthly payments remain a real hurdle for entry-level and move-up buyers — the exact buyer pool that drives condo and townhome demand. Every rate dip (like the brief drop below 6% earlier in the year) triggers a visible surge in pending sales, proving demand isn’t gone — it’s rate-gated.
- Inventory Has Normalized After Years of Scarcity
Unlike the detached market, where lock-in effect keeps owners from listing, condo and townhome sellers are more likely to be relocating, downsizing, or investors — groups less tied to an ultra-low legacy mortgage rate. That’s allowed inventory to build back up to 3–7 months of supply in many condo-heavy zip codes, handing negotiating leverage back to buyers for the first time since before the pandemic.
- The “Two-Track” Buyer Pool
Detached-home buyers are competing for a shrinking, tightly-held pool of houses. Condo and townhome buyers have more selection and more time to decide — which naturally means sellers who price aspirationally get passed over in favor of a similar, better-priced unit two floors down or one building over.
- Overpricing at Initial List Is the Single Biggest Factor
In nearly every case I review, the listings sitting the longest — and taking the largest cuts — were priced 5–10% above where comparable, correctly-priced units were actually closing. In a market with 3+ months of supply, buyers simply don’t have to chase an overpriced listing; they wait for the next one.
What This Means If You’re Selling a San Diego Condo or Townhome
This is a market where pricing strategy and presentation matter more than they have in years. My “Million Dollar Service at All Price Points” approach means every listing — whether it’s a $450,000 condo or a luxury townhome — gets the same disciplined pricing analysis, professional presentation, and negotiation strategy that keeps it from becoming one of these price-reduction statistics.
If your condo or townhome has been sitting, or you’re weighing whether to list now, here’s what I’d actually recommend based on what’s working in today’s data:
Price to the current comp set, not last year’s market. Comps from 2022–2023 are actively hurting sellers who anchor to them.
Get ahead of HOA disclosures. Buyers are reading reserve studies and SB 326 inspection reports line by line — have answers ready before they ask.
Don’t chase the market down. A single, well-timed, well-supported price adjustment early beats three reactive cuts over 90 days — buyers notice repeated reductions and use them as leverage.
What This Means If You’re Buying
Right now, condo and townhome buyers in San Diego have more leverage than they’ve had in years — longer decision windows, more inventory to compare, and real room to negotiate on price, closing costs, or repairs. The opportunity is real, but it requires local expertise to separate a genuinely well-priced, well-run building from one that’s cheap for a reason (deferred maintenance, a looming special assessment, or a struggling HOA).
Work With a Local San Diego Real Estate Expert
I’ve spent over two decades in San Diego and Las Vegas real estate — leading a national brokerage of 1,800+ REALTORS®, serving on the SDAR Board of Directors, and currently serving as President of the San Diego MLS. Whether you’re buying your first San Diego condo, selling a townhome that’s been sitting, or just want an honest read on your building’s value in today’s market, I’d be glad to run the numbers with you.
Jeff Brick — Top-rated San Diego real estate agent, SDAR Board of Directors, SDMLS President, and lifelong San Diego local. Million Dollar Service at All Price Points.
FAQ: San Diego Condo & Townhome Market 2026
Are San Diego condo prices dropping in 2026? Countywide condo and townhome medians are roughly flat to slightly down (around -1.5% year-over-year in several 2026 reports), while HOA-heavy, older buildings are seeing steeper effective declines of 10–15% due to rising ownership costs.
How long are condos taking to sell in San Diego right now? Countywide, attached homes (condos and townhomes) are averaging around 40–43 days on market, up over 10% from a year ago. In Downtown San Diego specifically, that stretches to 70–90+ days.
What percentage of San Diego condo listings have had a price cut? Based on cross-referenced data from Zillow, Redfin, Compass, and Homes.com over the trailing 90 days, roughly 28–35% of active San Diego condo and townhome listings have had at least one price reduction, withdrawal, or expiration — close to one in three listings.
Is now a good time to buy a condo in San Diego? For buyers, yes — inventory and negotiating leverage are the highest they’ve been since before the pandemic. The key is working with a local San Diego real estate expert who can evaluate HOA health, not just the unit’s finishes.
Have questions about your specific San Diego neighborhood or building? Contact Jeff Brick, San Diego real estate agent and 2026 SDMLS President, for a personalized market analysis.
