A Year Ago, This Market Was Still Catching Its Breath

A year ago the territory's median sold price sat at $1,145,000. That was the reading for the twelve weeks ending August 31, 2025. Folks who were watching this market then remember it as fine, not exciting. Solid bones, nothing to brag about.

This period, the twelve weeks ending August 30, 2026, the territory's median sold price rose to $1,270,000. That is not a rounding error. That is the market showing up with better numbers than it had a year ago, full stop.

I'll give you the whole house, not just the front door. The territory's median days on market came in at 47 days this period. Sellers across the territory got a median 99.6% of list price, up from 98.5% the same window a year earlier. About a third of sales across the territory, 33%, went over asking. None of that is guesswork. It's MLS sold data, verified.

Now let me walk you through the rooms, because they don't all look the same.

Poway sold 106 homes this period, up about 6% year over year. Sellers there got an average 99.9% of list price, up from 98.4% a year ago. Homes in Poway took a median 40 days to go to pending.

San Diego's Rancho Bernardo pocket is where the real glow up lives. The median sold price there rose to $1,000,000, a real climb from $828,358 the same window a year ago. Homes sold there numbered 170, up about 4% year over year.

Not every room renovated at the same pace. In San Diego's Rancho Peñasquitos pocket, the median sold price eased to $1,320,959, down about 2% year over year. Sellers there still kept an average sale-to-list ratio near 100% of list price.

In San Diego's Scripps Ranch pocket, homes sold fell about 24% year over year, the one market moving against the grain while every other pocket in the territory sold more homes, not fewer.

That's the tension worth sitting with. Prices climbing across the territory, leverage staying with sellers, but not every corner selling MORE homes to get there. A tighter market doesn't always mean a busier one.

Here's what that means depending on which side of the table you're at. If you're selling, this is a better window than the one your neighbor sold into last year, and the data backs that up plainly. If you're buying, the paperwork friction hasn't gone anywhere. Get preapproved before you fall for a house, not after.

One tip, always: measure your furniture before you sign anything. A pristine kitchen with small kids running through it is a different equation than the listing photos let on.

What I'm watching next: whether Scripps Ranch's falling sales count is a blip or the start of something, and whether Rancho Bernardo's climb holds once more of this year's sales work through the pipeline.

Lydia