Southern Californians are giving condos the cold shoulder these days.
With homes so expensive right now, you might expect condos — usually homebuying’s cheaper option — to be selling fast. But according to an April report from Attom, which looked at both new and existing condo sales in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura counties, that’s not the case.
Read more ABC fights back against FCC regulators in dispute over ‘The View’ and equal time rules
The report shows 41,300 Southern California condos sold in the 12 months ended in April, part of a long-running collapse that slashed the sales pace to its slowest in a database dating back to 2005.
Condo purchases are now 25% below average, with every month since December 2002 failing to top the historic norm. Remember, the Federal Reserve ended its cheap-money era in early 2022.
Condos may be cheaper than single-family homes, but affordability is still nothing to brag about. And with the economy on shaky ground, plenty of buyers with homebuying budgets of all sizes are skittish.
Plus, condos have additional challenges: questionable homeowner association finances and difficulty obtaining financing scare off many potential owners.
The price is wrong
Even with all these issues, the median condo price in Southern California hit $685,000 in April — the eighth-highest on record. That’s just 2% shy of the all-time high set in February 2025.
Price growth has hit the brakes, though: Condo values are up just 2% over the past four years, compared with a huge 47% jump in the four years before that.
That left condos 22% cheaper than the median single-family home price of $881,000 in April – a bigger discount than the average 17% gap.
Single-family homes aren’t exactly hot either. Only 126,200 sold in the past year, which is 29% below average — a slightly steeper drop than condos.
Still, it’s hard to pay up for any housing when Southern California’s iffy economy hammers numerous household budgets.
Job growth in Southern California runs 92% below its 10-year average. That translates to Southern California raises at their lowest level since 2018. At the same time, Southern California inflation is at its fastest pace of the year, as the war in Iran boosted gasoline prices.
Read more CSU Transfer Success Pathway enters fourth cohort
Monthly pain
Contemplate what really matters: What a buyer must pay a month.
Let’s do the math. With April’s median condo price, a 6.2% mortgage rate, and 20% down, your monthly payment would be $3,352.
That’s actually 11% better than the peak back in November 2023. Still, it’s 84% higher than what buyers paid in 2018.
Counting counties
Look at the condo market in the six counties, ranked by the depth of their sales drop.
– Los Angeles: 15,300 sales in 12 months, 30% below 22-year average. Pricing? $960,500 median in April – 13th highest – and 6% below the high set in June 2025. Payments? $3,586 monthly, that’s 11% below peak but up 72% since 2018.
– Orange: 7,250 sales, 27% below average. Pricing? $1.38 million median – No. 2 highest – 0.4% below February 2025 high. Payments? $4,037, 9% below peak but up 100% since 2018.
– San Diego: 9,200 sales, 27% below average. Record $1.05 million median – topping the old high of $1.04 million set in May 2025. Payments? $3,352, 12% below peak but up 92% since 2018.
– Ventura: 1,400 sales, 23% below average. Pricing? $950,000 median – No. 3 highest – 0.3% below the November 2025 high. Payments? $3,107, 16% below peak but up 70% since 2018.
– San Bernardino: 2,900 sales, 21% below average. Pricing? $520,500 median – No. 5 highest – 2% below January 2025 high. Payments? $2,813, 15% below peak but up 87% since 2018.
– Riverside: 5,000 sales, 5% below average. Pricing? $614,000 median – No. 22 highest – 3% below February 2025 high. Payments? $2,393, 14% below peak but up 106% since 2018.
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at [email protected]
Read more DNA evidence from Charlie Kirk assassination disputed by defendant’s lawyers
- Try Jonathan Lansner’s Substack collection of economic trends. CLICK HERE!