Why Fewer Homes Are Selling Now, and What It Means for Your Move
· Market Insight
National resale traffic just hit a 14-month low. That opens doors for Southern California buyers, but changes the playbook for sellers.
According to Mortgage Professional America, existing home sales across the United States have fallen to their lowest level in 14 months. For buyers and sellers in the San Gabriel Valley, Orange County, Riverside County and the Inland Empire, this single fact reshapes what you should expect, how long negotiations will take, and whether you are negotiating from strength or weakness. The headline sounds like bad news. It is not all bad news. It is different news, and it hits buyers and sellers in opposite ways.
A slowdown in national resale activity does not mean your neighborhood is empty. The Shirley Tang Team's MLS feed shows 5,231 active listings across our service area as of today. That represents a jump of over 1,100 listings in just one day, a shift that matters. In cities like Irvine, where median list prices stand at $1,750,000, inventory grew visibly. In Riverside, median prices sit at $699,000 with homes moving in just 2 days on average. In Pasadena, $1,239,000 is the median ask, and homes are sitting 3 days before showing significant interest. What matters to you depends on which side of the transaction you are on.
For buyers, lower national sales volume often signals a shift in negotiating power. When fewer homes are trading hands nationally, sellers cannot rely on pure competition to drive prices up. Homes that would have sold in 48 hours a year ago now may sit for 5 or 6 days, enough time for a buyer to inspect, negotiate, request repairs, or walk away without losing the property to another offer. In some markets in our area, this is already visible: Hacienda Heights saw median prices drop 8.3% from the previous day's snapshot, and Fullerton fell 5.8%. These are not market crashes; they are corrections. For a buyer who has been waiting, they can feel like a window opening. If you have been pre-approved and ready to move, a buyer's market, where you have time to think and the seller needs to be flexible, is the environment where you gain leverage.
Seller: if you list today, understand that you are listing into a market where your buyer pool is more selective and your home will sit longer before the right offer arrives. A slowdown in national sales typically means homes take longer to show, especially at the higher end of the range. Homes in the $1,200,000 to $1,750,000 band in our area, Irvine, Pasadena, Yorba Linda, Arcadia, are seeing 5 to 7 days on market instead of 2 or 3. That is not failure; it is normal in this environment. The homes that sell fastest are in the $600,000 to $900,000 range, where Riverside, Corona, Upland, Ontario and Chino are still moving inventory in 2 to 3 days. If your home is priced above that, you must price it right the first day and be prepared for a longer showing period. Overpricing now is more costly than ever, because the buyer has options and time.
Interest rates remain a ceiling on affordability for anyone borrowing. The Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week of September 10, 2026, showed a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at a national weekly average of 6.76%, and a 15-year fixed at 6.09%, these are national weekly averages, not quotes, and an individual rate depends on credit score, loan size, down payment, property type and occupancy status. For a concrete example: suppose you are buying a $900,000 home in Orange County and putting down 20%, or $180,000. Your loan is $720,000. At 6.76% over 30 years, your monthly payment before property tax and insurance would be roughly $4,650. Property tax in California on that assessed value runs at about 1.1% to 1.25% per year, roughly $990 to $1,125 per month. Insurance, depending on the home and your coverage, could add $100 to $200 per month. Total housing cost: approximately $5,740 to $5,975 per month. Lenders generally want total housing debt to be no more than 28% of gross monthly income, which means you would need gross income of about $20,500 to $21,000 per month, or $246,000 to $252,000 per year. For a current personalized quote reflecting your situation, contact Treasure Mortgage; rates change daily and vary by borrower.
Nationwide, the consumer sentiment index stands at 55.2 as of July 2026 (University of Michigan, via FRED), meaning buyer confidence is muted but not collapsed. California as a state is holding up better than the national average. According to the California Association of REALTORS® (C.A.R.) July 2026 report, Orange County median prices for existing single-family homes were $1,475,000, up 5.4% year-over-year. Riverside County sat at $649,000, up 3% year-over-year. Los Angeles County was $888,120, down 2.6% year-over-year. San Bernardino County median price was $488,280, up 0.4% year-over-year. These are county-level figures and do not represent any individual city, but they show that some of our region is still appreciating despite the national slowdown.
What you should do depends on your timeline. If you are a buyer and you have been waiting for better conditions, this is the moment to get pre-approved and start viewing. You have leverage now that you did not have 18 months ago. If you are a seller, do not panic: homes are still selling in our area, and some neighborhoods (particularly the $600,000 to $900,000 band) are still moving fast. But price correctly on day one, be prepared for a showing period of 4 to 7 days rather than 1 to 2, and make sure your home is move-in ready. Buyers are no longer forgiving of deferred maintenance. If you are considering a 1031 exchange or a purchase tied to a sale, the longer sales cycle means you need to start now, not when you think you are ready. Contact Shirley Tang at 888 Realty (DRE #01845722) for a market analysis tailored to your home, your timeline, and your neighborhood.
Source: Mortgage Professional America, https://www.mpamag.com/us/mortgage-industry/market-updates/existing-home-sales-hit-14-month-low/589349