Published November 1, 2026 in Market Update

Laguna Beach moved faster even with mortgage rates above 7%

By Jason & Susan Zwolak

Real estate, Laguna Beach

I was looking at the numbers for Laguna Beach this week, and one thing stood out right away. Median days on market dropped to 69 days in the three months ending August 31, 2026. That is 30 days shorter than the same period a year ago, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. Thirty days is a big move. It tells me serious homes are finding buyers faster than they were.

That speed is showing up in the pending numbers too. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 103 pending sales in ZIP 92651 during those three months. That is up 9.6% from the same stretch in 2025. More homes under contract means more buyers are still committing, even with rates where they are.

Realtor.com reported that mortgage rates topped 7% for the first time since January 2025 in September 2026. CNBC reported the average contract rate on a 30-year fixed loan at 7.37% in late October 2026. Rates that high usually slow things down. In Laguna Beach, the data tells a different story.

Not every home moved fast

The Real Estate Data Aggregator shows that 22.3% of homes went under contract within two weeks of listing. That is up 12.7 points from a year ago, which is a real jump. But it also means most homes did not sell in two weeks. Pricing and preparation still matter a lot here.

The median sale price in ZIP 92651 came in at $3,375,000 for the three months ending August 31, 2026, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. That is up 14% from the same period in 2025. For context, the Federal Housing Finance Agency reported U.S. home prices rose just 2.4% year over year through August 2026. Laguna Beach is running well ahead of that national pace.

Supply tightened while new listings rose

New listings in ZIP 92651 rose 19.2% to 124 homes, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. More sellers came to market. But homes for sale overall fell 22% to 163. Months of supply dropped to 5.3, down 2.2 months from a year ago. Buyers absorbed new supply faster than it built up.

Homes sold for an average of 95.9% of list price, up 1.1 points from last year, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. That is not full price, but it is close. And 9.6% of homes sold above list, up 0.2 points. Not a flood of bidding wars, but a steady share of competitive sales.

One thing I want to be honest about: these are ZIP code numbers. One street in Laguna Beach can read very differently from the whole 92651 picture. A home's condition, its view, its street, all of that changes the math.