Best Time to Buy by City

Best Time of Year to Buy a House in San Diego

Updated November 2, 2026

By Vinura Abeysundara

Head of Growth at TurboHome

Reviewed by:

Vinura Abeysundara

Head of Growth at TurboHome

Kevin Kretzmer

Head Agent, California · CalDRE #01997822

The best time to buy a house in San Diego is August. Buyers who went under contract in August paid a median 2.0% below the original asking price, and 64% of homes sold below asking, compared with 0.2% below in March, the most expensive month. That gap is 1.7 percentage points, or about $15,783 on the $923,000 median home in San Diego. The trade-off is choice: April brings about 1,442 new listings a month, December only about 615. Here is the month-by-month data from 16,061 closings in San Diego in our MLS feed.

TurboHome Market Analysis · San Diego, CA · Contracts signed November 2024 through September 2026 · Published November 2026

Key findings

Best month: August. San Diego homes that went under contract in August sold for a median 2.0% below original asking, and 64% sold below the original asking price.
Most expensive month: March, at a median 0.2% below original asking, with 50% of homes selling below asking.
Best vs firmest season: Fall (1.8% below original asking) versus spring (0.7% below original asking).
New listings: April brings about 1,442 new listings a month; December only about 615.
Price cuts: 33.5% of homes that went under contract in August had taken a price cut first, versus 22.6% in March.
Days on market: the typical winter listing sat 16 days, versus 13 in spring.

San Diego home prices by month: what buyers actually paid

"Contract month" is the month the buyer's offer was accepted, not the month the sale closed. That is the date a buyer can actually time. The chart shows how the median sale in San Diego compared with the original asking price in each contract month, and the table below it has every figure.

Below original asking

Median close vs original asking, by month. Every figure is in the table below.

San Diego home prices by month: what buyers actually paid, data table
Contract month	Closings	Median close vs original asking	Sold below original asking	Price cut before sale	Median $/sq ft	Median days on market	Median sale price	Avg new listings per month
January	1,269	0.9% below original asking	54.4%	22.9%	$685	14	$929,500	1,253
February	1,387	0.6% below original asking	51.8%	23.6%	$686	14	$922,000	1,130
March	1,578	0.2% below original asking	50.5%	22.6%	$682	12	$940,000	1,336
April	1,485	0.6% below original asking	52.2%	22.9%	$692	12	$940,000	1,442
May	1,583	1.2% below original asking	56.2%	27.5%	$689	15	$955,000	1,395
June	1,490	1.4% below original asking	58.1%	30.1%	$683	17	$940,000	1,380
July	1,534	1.7% below original asking	61.7%	30.8%	$659	17	$936,250	1,411
August	1,443	2.0% below original asking	64.2%	33.5%	$664	19	$900,000	1,272
September	1,321	1.9% below original asking	62.7%	31.6%	$662	19	$899,000	1,193
October	711	1.6% below original asking	62.0%	34.9%	$656	20	$892,000	1,176
November	1,202	1.8% below original asking	62.0%	33.4%	$671	21	$885,500	824
December	1,058	1.5% below original asking	59.5%	29.8%	$658	21	$890,000	615

New listings swing just as hard. April averages about 1,442 new listings in San Diego, while December averages about 615.

Avg new listings per month

Average new listings per calendar month over two years. Hover a point for its value; every figure is in the table above.

Best season to buy a house in San Diego

Best season to buy a house in San Diego, data table
Season	Median close vs original asking	Sold below original asking	Price cut before sale	Median days on market	Avg new listings per month
Winter	1.0% below original asking	55.2%	25.4%	16	999
Spring	0.7% below original asking	53.0%	24.3%	13	1,391
Summer	1.7% below original asking	61.3%	31.5%	18	1,354
Fall	1.8% below original asking	62.2%	33.3%	20	1,064

Fall was the best season to buy in San Diego: the median home closed 1.8% below original asking, and 62.2% of homes sold below asking. Spring was the firmest, at 0.7% below original asking with 53.0% below asking. Listings sat a median 20 days in fall versus 13 in spring.

Winter is December to February, spring March to May, summer June to August and fall September to November.

Which neighborhoods in San Diego get cheaper in the off-season

Median close vs original asking by season in the neighborhoods with the most closings in San Diego in our feed.

Which neighborhoods in San Diego get cheaper in the off-season, data table
Neighborhood	Closings	Median sale price	Spring	Summer	Fall	Winter
Clairemont Mesa	1,277	$1,110,000	at original asking	1.1% below original asking	1.0% below original asking	0.7% below original asking
Navajo	1,122	$960,000	0.4% below original asking	1.2% below original asking	1.2% below original asking	0.4% below original asking
Rancho Bernardo	1,003	$890,000	1.6% below original asking	2.2% below original asking	3.5% below original asking	1.9% below original asking
Downtown San Diego	923	$715,000	2.9% below original asking	3.6% below original asking	3.3% below original asking	2.5% below original asking
Uptown San Diego	870	$1,000,000	2.0% below original asking	2.0% below original asking	2.3% below original asking	1.1% below original asking
Point Loma	828	$1,450,000	1.0% below original asking	2.8% below original asking	2.5% below original asking	1.8% below original asking

Downtown San Diego was the softest of San Diego's busiest neighborhoods, with the median sale at 3.6% below original asking in summer. Rancho Bernardo moved the most with the seasons, from 1.6% below original asking in spring to 3.5% below original asking in fall. Neighborhood figures rest on fewer closings than the citywide numbers, so read them as direction rather than a price quote.

Why the season matters in San Diego

San Diego's best window is August, when the median home closed 2% below the original asking price, 64% of sales went under asking and listings sat 19 days; March buyers paid roughly full price after 12 days on market. Military PCS season drives a wave of summer listings that gives buyers more to choose from in Clairemont Mesa and Navajo, while Downtown and Rancho Bernardo sell below asking in every season. New listings fall by more than half in December, so the deepest discounts and the widest choice do not line up in San Diego.

Is winter a good time to buy a house in San Diego?

Partly. San Diego winter contracts (December to February) closed a median 1.0% below original asking, softer than spring (0.7% below original asking) but not as soft as fall (1.8% below original asking). December closed a median 1.5% below original asking, with 59.5% of homes selling below asking.

The trade-off is thin inventory. Winter brings about 999 new listings a month versus 1,391 in spring, and December only about 615. The typical winter listing in San Diego sits 16 days versus 13 in spring, so winter sellers have usually had time to rethink their price.

Does the season matter more than mortgage rates?

In San Diego, the spread between the best and worst month to sign a contract was 1.7 percentage points on price, about $15,783 on the $923,000 median home. A 0.5 point move in the 30-year mortgage rate changes the monthly payment on a $923,000 home with 20% down by roughly the same order of magnitude. Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.24% for the week of October 29, 2026.

Watch both. You can't control where rates go, but you can control when you shop and how hard you negotiate, and a flat-fee buyer's agent works the price side in any month.

How to time a purchase in San Diego

Get pre-approved before the slow season. In San Diego that is fall, and a pre-approval lets you move the day a stale listing gets interesting.
Target homes past the median of 16 days on market in San Diego. Sellers who have waited longer than the typical listing are the most open to an offer below asking.
In bidding-season months, shop the soft segments. In spring and March, use the neighborhood table above to find parts of San Diego, such as Downtown San Diego, that still sell below asking.
In the slow months, ask for credits and repairs, not only price. In August, 33.5% of homes that sold had already taken a price cut, so sellers know where the market is.
Keep searching through the holidays. December brings the fewest new listings, about 615, and sellers in San Diego who list then are usually motivated.

Methodology

We looked at closings of single family homes, condos and townhouses in San Diego from our MLS feed, with contracts signed November 2024 through September 2026 and closed by October 31, 2026, and removed outlier ratios. "Median close vs original asking" is the median of close price divided by the original list price, so it includes price cuts made before the sale. Across all 16,061 closings, that ratio was 0.9871 (1.3% below original asking), 57.6% of homes sold below original asking, 28.2% had a price cut before selling, and the median home sold for $923,000 at $675 per square foot after 16 days on market.

New listings are the two-year average per calendar month. Figures are medians unless stated. Published November 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What is the cheapest month to buy a house in San Diego?

August. San Diego homes that went under contract in August sold for a median 2.0% below original asking, and 64% sold below the original asking price. The median listing had been on the market 19 days.

What is the worst month to buy a house in San Diego?

March is the most expensive month. San Diego homes that went under contract in March sold for a median 0.2% below original asking, only 50% sold below asking, and the median listing sat 12 days.

Is winter a good time to buy in San Diego?

Partly. Winter contracts closed a median 1.0% below original asking, 55.2% of homes sold below asking and the typical listing sat 16 days. The catch is choice: about 999 new listings a month, versus 1,391 in spring.

How much can I save by timing my purchase in San Diego?

The gap between the best and most expensive month was 1.7 percentage points, about $15,783 on the $923,000 median home in San Diego. That is a median across 16,061 closings, not a guarantee: the home, the neighborhood and your offer still matter more than the calendar.

When do the most homes come on the market in San Diego?

April brings the most new listings, about 1,442 a month. December brings the fewest, about 615.

Buy in San Diego with a flat-fee buyer's agent

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