Southern Californians are giving condos the cold shoulder these days.<\/p>\n
With homes so expensive right now, you might expect condos \u2014 usually homebuying\u2019s cheaper option \u2014 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\u2019s not the case.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Condos may be cheaper than single-family homes, but affordability is still nothing to brag about.\u00a0And with the economy on shaky ground, plenty of buyers with homebuying budgets of all sizes are skittish.<\/p>\n
Plus, condos have additional challenges: questionable homeowner association finances and difficulty obtaining financing scare off many potential owners.<\/p>\n
The price is wrong<\/p>\n
Even with all these issues, the median condo price in Southern California hit $685,000 in April \u2014 the eighth-highest on record. That\u2019s just 2% shy of the all-time high set in February 2025.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
That left condos 22% cheaper than the median single-family home price of $881,000 in April \u2013 a bigger discount than the average 17% gap.<\/p>\n
Single-family homes aren\u2019t exactly hot either. Only 126,200 sold in the past year, which is 29% below average \u2014 a slightly steeper drop than condos.<\/p>\n
Still, it\u2019s hard to pay up for any housing when Southern California\u2019s iffy economy hammers numerous household budgets.<\/p>\n
Job growth in Southern California runs 92% below its 10-year average. <\/a>That translates to Southern California raises at their lowest level since 2018<\/a>.\u00a0At the same time, Southern California inflation is at its fastest pace of the year<\/a>, as the war in Iran boosted gasoline prices.<\/p>\n Monthly pain<\/p>\n Contemplate what really matters: What a buyer must pay a month.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s do the math. With April\u2019s median condo price, a 6.2% mortgage rate, and 20% down, your monthly payment would be $3,352.<\/p>\n That\u2019s actually 11% better than the peak back in November 2023. Still, it\u2019s 84% higher than what buyers paid in 2018.<\/p>\n Counting counties<\/p>\n Look at the condo market in the six counties, ranked by the depth of their sales drop.<\/p>\n \u2013 Los Angeles: 15,300 sales in 12 months, 30% below 22-year average. Pricing? $960,500 median in April \u2013 13th highest \u2013 and 6% below the high set in June 2025. Payments? $3,586 monthly, that\u2019s 11% below peak but up 72% since 2018.<\/p>\n \u2013 Orange: 7,250 sales, 27% below average. Pricing? $1.38 million median \u2013 No. 2 highest \u2013 0.4% below February 2025 high. Payments? $4,037, 9% below peak but up 100% since 2018.<\/p>\n \u2013 San Diego: 9,200 sales, 27% below average. Record $1.05 million median \u2013 topping the old high of $1.04 million set in May 2025. Payments? $3,352, 12% below peak but up 92% since 2018.<\/p>\n \u2013 Ventura: 1,400 sales, 23% below average. Pricing? $950,000 median \u2013 No. 3 highest \u2013 0.3% below the November 2025 high. Payments? $3,107, 16% below peak but up 70% since 2018.<\/p>\n \u2013 San Bernardino: 2,900 sales, 21% below average. Pricing? $520,500 median \u2013 No. 5 highest \u2013 2% below January 2025 high. Payments? $2,813, 15% below peak but up 87% since 2018.<\/p>\n \u2013 Riverside: 5,000 sales, 5% below average. Pricing? $614,000 median \u2013 No. 22 highest \u2013 3% below February 2025 high. Payments? $2,393, 14% below peak but up 106% since 2018.<\/p>\n Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com<\/a><\/p>\n