Here's where the Los Angeles market actually stands heading into the end of 2026, pulled directly from my MLS data for September. As with every market I track, single family homes and condos are behaving very differently right now, so I'm breaking both out, citywide and in a few specific neighborhoods.
Citywide: Single Family vs. Condo
Los Angeles single family homes closed September with a median sold price of $1,549,008, a median of 28 days on market, and 4.38 months of inventory, which still puts single family in seller's market territory.
Condos are a different picture entirely: a median sold price of $847,000, 39 days on market, and 7.7 months of inventory, which has just crossed into buyer's market conditions. That's a meaningful shift, and it's consistent with what I'm seeing across every market I track this quarter.
Why Condos Are Slower: Condition and Financing
Condition. Homes and condos that are truly move-in ready are selling fastest. Anything that needs work, a dated kitchen, an older roof, deferred maintenance, is sitting on the market significantly longer, because buyers stretched by today's rates don't have the extra cash to renovate on top of a mortgage payment.
Financing. Condo buildings considered unwarrantable, meaning they can't be financed with a conventional loan, are sitting the longest of anything on the market. High rental ratios, pending litigation, insufficient reserves, or too much commercial space in a building can all trigger this, and once a building loses conventional financing, the buyer pool shrinks down to cash only.
The Rate Environment
On September 16th, the Federal Reserve raised rates to a range of 3.75% to 4%, the first hike in over three years. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate has climbed from around 6.76% before the hike to 7.28% as of October 1st, compared to 6.34% a year ago. That's nearly a full point higher than last year, and it's a direct driver of the slower pace and rising inventory we're seeing, especially in the condo market.
The New Fannie Mae Condo Rule
As of September 1, 2026, every condo purchase requires a full Fannie Mae project review, the limited review option is gone. Expect longer escrow timelines, more HOA documentation, and more buildings getting flagged as unwarrantable. Additional changes are expected in January, so if a condo purchase or sale is on your radar, let's talk now so we can plan around it.
City Spotlights
Culver City: Single family homes are moving fast, just 9 days on market, with 3.1 months of inventory and a median sold price of $1,825,000. Condos tell a different story, at 4.92 months of inventory and up more than 27% year over year, a clear sign of softening demand for attached housing here.
Redondo Beach: Single family inventory is tight at 1.61 months, while condos sit at 2.9 months, still a seller's market overall but with noticeably more breathing room on the condo side.
Torrance: Single family inventory is at 1.54 months, among the tightest in the area, while condos sit at 3.54 months, more than double, underscoring the same single-family-versus-condo divide we're seeing everywhere.
Manhattan Beach: This one bucks the pattern. Single family inventory is at 2.5 months while condos are actually tighter, at 1.6 months, likely because Manhattan Beach's condo buyer pool skews more cash-heavy and less rate-sensitive than most other markets.
My Outlook Through Year End
Los Angeles single family homes remain in seller's market territory, but condos have already moved into buyer's market conditions citywide. Unless buyer confidence adjusts to this higher-rate environment, I expect sales to keep slowing through the end of the year, with turnkey, well-priced homes continuing to move quickly and anything dated, overpriced, or in a financing-challenged building taking considerably longer to sell.
If you're thinking about buying or selling anywhere in LA before year end, let's talk about exactly where your property or target neighborhood fits into all of this.
Costanza Genoese Zerbi is ranked in the top 1.5% of agents nationwide by RealTrends, with rankings dating back to 2017. 600+ closed transactions, $525M+ in career sales, and #1 in Long Beach by sales volume in the 2024 RealTrends rankings.
Costanza Genoese Zerbi & Associates | eXp Realty of Greater Los Angeles | DRE #01941438
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