A Year Ago, Dana Point Sellers Gave Up More Than They Do Now

A year ago, sellers across this territory were still giving up a little ground at the closing table. In the twelve weeks ending August 31, 2025, the median sale-to-list ratio sat at 98.5%. That gap was not huge, but it was real, and buyers who came in a shade under asking often got a yes.

Something has shifted. Over the twelve weeks ending August 30, 2026, that same measure rose to 99%. Homes are closing right around what sellers asked for them, not comfortably beneath it.

Nowhere is that clearer than Dana Point. A year ago, in the twelve weeks ending August 31, 2025, homes there closed at an average of 97.3% of list price. This period, that number rose to 99.9%. That is close to a full point-for-point match between what a Dana Point seller asked and what they got.

Here is the part that makes it interesting, not just a bigger number. Dana Point's median sale price fell about 3% year over year. So homes there are selling for a little less than they did a year ago, and sellers are conceding almost nothing to get there. Fewer dollars, but a firmer floor under what's actually asked.

That is not universal. In Newport Beach, the median sale price rose about 5% year over year, while the average sale-to-list ratio fell about 1.7 percentage points there. Newport Beach homes are fetching more, and sellers there are giving up a bit more room to get the deal done. Two different negotiations, moving in opposite directions, inside the same twelve weeks.

For a buyer touring Dana Point right now, the lesson is plain: a lowball opener is less likely to land than it was a year ago. Sellers there are getting closer to their number, not further from it, even with prices themselves easing back.

For a seller weighing when to list, the reverse read matters too. Getting close to full price is not the same as getting the price you'd have gotten twelve months earlier. Both things are true in Dana Point at once, and a plan built on last year's number alone will miss half the picture.

What's worth watching next: whether Dana Point's sale-to-list strength holds if inventory there loosens, or whether this period's tight ratio reflects a smaller, more resolved pool of sellers who were already close to firm on price. The next window will start to answer that.

This report is built on MLS sold data across the territory (92604, 92614, 92620, 92625, 92629, 92660, 92677, 92679, 92688, 92694), covering all residential sales for the twelve weeks ending August 30, 2026.

Sandi Clark & Debbie Miller