Pending Sales Hit an October Low: What It Means for SoCal Buyers and Sellers
· Market Insight
Pending home sales fell to the slowest October since 2018. Here is what that means for San Gabriel Valley and Orange County buyers and sellers.
Mortgage Professional America reported today that pending home sales fell to their slowest October since 2018. A pending sale is a home with an accepted offer that has not yet closed, so it is an early signal of how many deals are being signed. It is a national headline, and it says nothing by itself about any one street in Arcadia or Irvine. This article is our local reading of what it means for you, and what to do about it.
Start with what our own MLS feed shows today. We have 5816 active listings across the cities we serve, with an overall median list price of $917,750 and a median of 27 days on market. Yesterday it was 5804 listings and a $918,000 median, so nothing dramatic moved overnight. Slow national sign-ups do not mean prices collapse in a day. They mean buyers have more time and more room to ask questions.
The picture differs sharply by city. In our feed, Arcadia sits at a median list price of $1,538,000 with 42 days on market, and its median was $1,568,500 in the previous snapshot. Diamond Bar shows 43 days and Eastvale 41 days. Chino, by contrast, shows 25 days and Hacienda Heights 27 days. Orange and Tustin both show median list prices lower than the previous snapshot, at $1,199,900 and $1,024,500. Pasadena and Ontario moved up slightly. So a national slowdown is not one local market, and you should read the city you actually want.
If you are a buyer, a slower stretch generally means more negotiating room, but only where homes are sitting. Ask your agent for how long a home has been listed, whether the price has been cut, and what similar homes in the same neighborhood actually sold for. A home that has been listed longer than the typical days on market for its city is where a lower offer, a seller credit toward closing costs, or a longer inspection period is most realistic. Closing costs commonly run about 2-5% of the purchase price, so even a modest credit matters.
Financing is the other half. Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week of 2026-11-05 shows a 30-year fixed average of 7.18% and a 15-year fixed average of 6.57%. These are national weekly averages, not a quote for you. Your own rate depends on credit score, loan size, down payment, property type and occupancy. Please contact Treasure Mortgage for a current personalised quote before you decide what price range is comfortable.
Here is a worked example, with round numbers only. Suppose a $900,000 purchase with 20% down: the down payment is $180,000 (900,000 x 0.20) and the loan is $720,000. Property tax in California is based on a 1% Prop 13 rate, and with local add-ons the effective rate is commonly around 1.1-1.25%, so say 1.2%: $10,800 a year (900,000 x 0.012), or about $900 a month. If a seller credit of 2% covers closing costs, that is $18,000 (900,000 x 0.02) you do not bring to the table. Run this arithmetic on any home before you offer.
Overseas and visa-holding buyers are not shut out by a slow market. A foreign-national loan generally starts at 30% down, is passport-based, and needs no U.S. credit history, no Social Security number and no ITIN. ITIN loans exist, F-1 students can buy and borrow, H-1B holders use the same programs as residents, and a down payment can be a documented gift. For rates on those loan types, please see https://tuhaousa.com/rates/ (English) or https://tuhaousa.com/zh/rates/ (Chinese) rather than relying on any number you hear elsewhere.
If you are a seller, price realistically from day one. In a slower market, a home that starts too high tends to sit, and a later price cut can signal weakness to buyers. Ask for recent closed sales and the current competing listings in your own city, not county or national averages. Expect escrow to typically run about 30-45 days with financing and roughly 14-21 days for cash, so plan your move-out and your next purchase around that. A foreign seller should also know that FIRPTA withholding, commonly 15% of the gross sale price, is taken from proceeds at closing, and it is never a cost to a buyer.
The headline is a reason to be careful, not to panic or to wait blindly. If you are thinking of buying or selling in the San Gabriel Valley, Orange County or the Inland Empire, message Shirley and she will pull the numbers for your specific city and price range, then lay out your options in plain language.
Source: Mortgage Professional America, https://www.mpamag.com/us/mortgage-industry/market-updates/pending-home-sales-plunge-to-slowest-october-since-2018/596538. Rates: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, week of 2026-11-05 (national weekly averages, not a quote).
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