South Bay Market Insights

These are the figures we use when a client asks how a city’s market is moving: closed sales of detached homes over the twelve months ending September 2026, from our own analysis of California Regional MLS (CRMLS) data, refreshed each quarter. We lead with how fast homes sell, how close they come to their first asking price and how much is for sale, because those show what a market is doing; price comes after. This edition adds El Segundo, Torrance and San Pedro, and shows Torrance’s Hollywood Riviera on its own because it prices closer to the beach cities than to the rest of Torrance. The neighborhood pages break each city down by MLS area, and this page puts the totals side by side.

Pricing any one home starts with a smaller area than the city. Agents and appraisers look first at recent sales inside the home’s own MLS area, and Redondo Beach alone spans several of those areas. The South Bay MLS Area Map shows every line, with a live search for each area.

How fast do homes sell, and at what share of the asking price?

The beach cities moved in two to three weeks at or close to full asking: a median of 13 days on market in Redondo Beach at 100.0 percent of original list price, 21 days in Hermosa Beach at 97.3 percent, and 22 days in Manhattan Beach at 98.4 percent. Torrance was the quickest market on the list at 12 days and 100.0 percent, with El Segundo at 19.5 days and 98.0 percent and Hollywood Riviera at 21 days and 98.2 percent. Peninsula homes took longer to sell and closed further below their first asking price: 27 days in Palos Verdes Estates at 96.4 percent, 27.5 in Rancho Palos Verdes at 96.8 percent, 21.5 in Rolling Hills Estates at 98.0 percent, and 76 days in Rolling Hills at 90.0 percent, where the figures rest on 19 sales. San Pedro took 24 days at 99.2 percent. Inventory at the end of September ran from 0.9 months in El Segundo to 4.9 months in Rolling Hills, every city below the level generally associated with a balanced market.

How to read the chart, and what each figure means for you

Each city leads with its median days on market, which is what the bar measures, and carries six more figures beneath it. They come from the same twelve months of closed detached-home sales. Each figure below comes with what it measures and how it reads for a seller and for a buyer.

Days on market

The large figure at the right of each row, and the length of the bar. It is the median number of days a home was on the market before it went under contract, counted across every listing period, so a home that was withdrawn and relisted does not start the count over. Sales entered into the MLS after they closed, which were never on the market, are left out. It shows how many buyers are active and how accurately homes are priced. In Neil’s experience, a city that sells a well-priced home in two weeks has buyers waiting for the next listing, and one that takes six weeks gives buyers time to compare.

For a sellerIf your city’s median is two weeks and your house passes a month, buyers have seen it and moved on, and the usual reasons are price, presentation or both. Buyers watch days on market, so a change made in the first few weeks does more than the same change made later.

For a buyerIn a two-week market a well-priced house is usually under contract before any price reduction, so have your financing and your top price settled before you tour. The negotiating room is on the houses that have already passed the median, where the seller has seen the same number you have.

Share of original list

The median sale price as a percentage of the original asking price, not the price after any reduction. At 100 percent the typical home sold for what it first asked; above it, buyers competed; below it, the difference is the sum of price reductions and negotiated discounts. It measures what overpricing costs a seller.

For a sellerA city at 99 or 100 percent rewards pricing right the first time and holding. A city at 92 percent is one where first prices are often wrong, and the eight points are what those sellers gave back. Set your list price to the figure you would accept, since in most of these cities that is what you will get.

For a buyerIt is your benchmark for an opening offer. In a 100 percent city an offer at 90 percent of asking is unlikely to get a counter; in a 92 percent city it may be the start of a conversation. Read it with days on market: a house past the median days in a 97 percent city has room the figure alone does not show.

Months of inventory

How long the homes currently listed would take to sell at the recent pace of closings. We calculate it as the active listings at the end of the period divided by the average monthly closings over the last three months, which catches a turn in the market sooner than a twelve-month average. The conventional benchmark for a balanced market is around six months; below that, supply is short and sellers hold the stronger position, above it the balance shifts to buyers. Every city on this list sits well under the benchmark, which puts sellers in the stronger position on price and on terms.

For a sellerUnder three months you can hold firm on contingencies, timelines and repairs as well as price, and in Neil’s experience that leverage is a good reason to sell while supply is short. As inventory climbs toward six months, each of those terms becomes negotiable again.

For a buyerLow inventory means fewer choices and more competition, so prepare before you shop: financing settled, inspections lined up, terms decided before the house appears. When the figure rises toward six months, waiting starts to pay off and sellers become more open on terms.

Closed sales

The number of detached homes that closed escrow in the period, which is the size of the sample behind every other figure in the row. A small count, such as the 19 in Rolling Hills, means a single estate can move the median and the days on market, while a count in the hundreds gives a steadier picture.

For a sellerFew closings mean few comparables, more room to argue value in either direction, and a longer wait for the buyer who wants exactly what you have. When your city closes a few dozen sales a year, plan the timeline as carefully as the price.

For a buyerIn a low-count city each new listing matters and competition concentrates on it, so be ready before it appears. In a high-count city you can afford to wait for the right house.

Median sale price

Shown beneath each bar. It is the middle closed sale: half of the homes sold for more, half for less. A single very large sale cannot pull it far, so it gives a steady reading of where the center of a city’s market sits.

For a sellerYour house is not the median, but the median tells you whether your intended list price asks buyers to stretch above the city’s center or sits inside it. A price well above the median needs a reason a buyer can see from the curb: the lot, the view, the condition.

For a buyerIt is the fastest test of whether a list price is in line with the city. A house asking a third more than the median is either an exceptional property or an ambitious price, and the rest of this page helps you tell which.

Average

All closed sales added together and divided by their number. A handful of large sales pulls the average up, which is why it sits above the median in every city on the list. The wider the distance between the average and the median, the more the top of the market is pulling the numbers up.

For a sellerIf your house is typical of its city, do not price from the average, because it runs above what most homes there sell for. If your house is at the top of its city, compare it with the handful of sales above the average, since the median understates homes like yours.

For a buyerWhen the average runs far above the median, the top of the market is active and the headline “average price” overstates what most homes there cost. Shop from the median and read the average as a measure of the high end.

Per sq ft

Sale price divided by living area, reported as the median for every city. We show it for completeness. In the Beach Cities and on the Palos Verdes Peninsula much of a home’s value sits in the lot and the view, so on its own it is a loose guide: a modest house on a view lot and a large house without one can both be priced correctly at very different figures per foot.

For a sellerDo not price from it. A small house on a full lot sells for a high per-foot figure and a large house for a lower one, so your real comparison is recent sales of similar homes on similar lots, with similar views, in your own MLS area.

For a buyerTreat it as a rough check. A low per-foot figure on a large house is not a bargain if the land under it is ordinary, and a high one on a small house can be fair when the lot or the view carries the price.

Why don’t we lead with price per square foot?

Because across the South Bay much of a home’s value can sit in the lot and the view, so a modest house on a view lot and a large house without one can both be priced correctly at very different figures per foot. Our piece on why price per square foot is the wrong number on a view lot walks through how appraisers separate the land from the house. Across these markets the median runs from $650 in San Pedro to $1,498 in Manhattan Beach, and inside each city it moves again from one MLS area to the next. How long homes take to sell, how close they come to their first asking price and how much is for sale show where a market is heading sooner, which is why this page leads with those.

What does this mean for a seller?

In Neil’s experience, a Beach Cities home priced at the market draws offers within days, an overpriced one starts to sit within weeks, and a Peninsula listing that sits past the median was often priced for a view it does not quite have. The Peninsula figures also show more room to negotiate and more time to do it. In each of these markets, start with what the last five comparable sales closed for, how long they took and how far they came off their first price. If you are weighing a sale, send us the address and we will show you those five.

Where do these figures come from, and how often are they updated?

Every number on this page is a twelve-month closed-sale figure for detached homes from the California Regional MLS (CRMLS), pulled by us from the MLS on October 2, 2026. The beach cities, Torrance and San Pedro are grouped by MLS area. The four Peninsula cities use the city recorded on each listing, and 28 sales recorded only as “Palos Verdes Peninsula,” the MLS catch-all for the unincorporated Peninsula, are not included in the city rows. Days on market are counted across every listing period, share of list price is measured against the original asking price, and both leave out sales entered into the MLS after they closed. Months of inventory is active listings on September 30 divided by the average monthly closings for July through September. We refresh quarterly; this edition covers October 2025 through September 2026 and was published October 2, 2026. Earlier editions are listed under Past editions and kept as published; the August 2026 edition used InfoSparks figures with different definitions, so compare editions from this one forward. Stats presented here represent the city or area as a whole, not any one individual property. No figure here is an appraisal or an opinion of value for any specific property.