San Clemente Real Estate Market Update — September 2026

San Clemente Real Estate Market Update — September 2026

What 55 closed sales reveal about prices, market time, and the very different stories unfolding in 92672 and 92673.

September gave us a good example of why I do not like describing San Clemente with one market number.

Across the city, 55 residential properties closed during the month. The median closed price was $2,200,000. The median time on market was 13 days. And the median sale closed at 100% of the final list price.

Those numbers suggest a market that was still moving.

But the more interesting story appears when you separate 92672 from 92673.

Each of San Clemente's two primary ZIP codes recorded 27 closed sales in September, yet the homes that sold were very different in size, price per square foot and overall price profile.

That is exactly why I think San Clemente market data becomes useful only after you start looking below the citywide average.

September 2026 San Clemente Market at a Glance

The headline number is the $2.2 million median closed price, but I would not use that number by itself to tell a buyer what a San Clemente home costs or to tell a seller what a particular property is worth.

September's closed sales included different property types, sizes, locations and levels of coastal proximity. The mix matters.

Related price guide: What Is the Average Home Price in San Clemente? What Buyers Can Actually Expect to Pay

The Biggest September Story: 92672 and 92673 Were Two Different Markets

This is the part of the September data I think is most useful.

Both ZIP codes recorded exactly 27 closed sales, which gives us a clean side-by-side look at the kinds of properties buyers were purchasing in each part of San Clemente.

92672: Smaller Homes, Much Higher Price Per Square Foot

The median closed price in 92672 was $2,415,000, compared with $1,950,000 in 92673.

What makes that more interesting is the size of the homes involved.

The median 92672 sale was 1,965 square feet. The median 92673 sale was 2,888 square feet.

So in September, the typical 92672 sale was substantially smaller but still sold for a higher median price.

That difference shows up even more clearly in price per square foot: $1,098 median in 92672 versus $729.48 in 92673.

I would not interpret that as one ZIP code being better than the other. I would interpret it as buyers paying for different things.

Much of 92672 includes San Clemente's older coastal, central and southern areas, where beach proximity, walkability, ocean views, scarcity, lot position and street-by-street differences can have an outsized effect on value.

You are often paying more for the location and the coastal experience, not simply for square footage.

My deeper ZIP-code guide: 92672 vs. 92673: Which Part of San Clemente Fits the Way You Want to Live?

92673: More Square Footage for the Money

September's 92673 closings told almost the opposite story.

The median home was 2,888 square feet—923 square feet larger than the median 92672 sale—while the median closed price was $465,000 lower.

That is a significant difference.

Much of 92673 includes newer and master-planned neighborhoods where buyers may be comparing larger floor plans, newer construction, community amenities, yards, gated neighborhoods and hillside settings rather than immediate beach proximity.

For a buyer whose priority is more interior space, a larger planned-community home or certain neighborhood amenities, the September numbers show why 92673 can deliver a very different value proposition.

Again, I would not choose a home based on the ZIP code. But the data confirms what buyers often feel when they start touring both sides of town: the same budget can buy a very different type of property.

Neighborhood guide: Where Should I Live in San Clemente? A Local Guide to Choosing the Right Neighborhood

The 12- and 13-Day Median Market Times Matter More Than the Averages

The citywide average days on market was 37.

If you stopped there, you might assume the typical San Clemente property needed more than a month to sell.

That was not what the median showed.

The median market time was only 13 days citywide. In 92672 it was 12 days, and in 92673 it was 13.

That tells me the market was not uniformly slow.

A smaller group of listings that sat much longer pulled the averages upward—especially in 92673, where the average reached 46 days even though the median was only 13.

For buyers and sellers, I think the median is the more useful reminder here: well-positioned properties were still capable of moving quickly.

September Was Not a Market Where Every Seller Got Their Price

The citywide median sale-to-list ratio was 100%. That sounds very strong—and it is.

But the citywide average was 98.8%.

That difference matters.

It tells us the typical sale was closing right around its final asking price, while enough properties sold below list to pull the average lower.

So I would not describe September as a market where sellers could name any price and expect buyers to pay it.

I would describe it as a market where buyers were still willing to pay strong prices for homes they believed were positioned correctly.

• 92672 median sale-to-list ratio: 100.0%.

• 92673 median sale-to-list ratio: 98.8%.

• 92672 average sale-to-list ratio: 98.6%.

• 92673 average sale-to-list ratio: 98.7%.

Seller pricing guide: How Should I Price My San Clemente Home to Sell? The Strategy Behind the List Price

The 92624 Sale: Interesting, but Not a Trend

There was also one September closing recorded with a 92624 mailing ZIP within the San Clemente search used for this report.

That property closed at $2,800,000 after being listed at $2,550,000, or 109.8% of the final list price. At 1,440 square feet, the reported price per square foot was $1,944.44.

That is an eye-catching sale.

But one closing is not a market segment.

I would treat it as an individual transaction worth noting—not evidence that we can assign a 92624 trend from September.

What September Means for San Clemente Sellers

If I were talking with a San Clemente seller about September, I would focus on three things.

First, the median market time was still short. Serious buyers were not universally sitting on the sidelines.

Second, the difference between the median and average sale-to-list ratios tells me pricing still mattered. Some homes sold at or above asking, but the market was not forgiving every price.

Third, citywide statistics are not enough to price a house. A 1,900-square-foot coastal home in 92672 and a 2,900-square-foot home in 92673 may have completely different buyer pools, comparable sales and price-per-square-foot expectations.

If you are selling, I would want to know the closest competing homes, recent neighborhood sales, lot, condition, view, privacy and street position before I gave you a number.

Home-value guide: What Is My San Clemente Home Worth? How I Determine Real Market Value

What September Means for San Clemente Buyers

For buyers, September's numbers are a reminder not to shop San Clemente from the citywide median.

A $2 million budget can put you into very different conversations depending on location and property type.

In 92672, you may be accepting less interior square footage in exchange for coastal proximity, walkability, views or an older established neighborhood.

In 92673, the same budget may buy substantially more interior space or a newer home in a planned community.

The right choice depends on what you value most.

I also would not assume that a listing with 20 or 30 days on market is automatically weak. The September data shows how dramatically a few slower listings can distort an average. I want to know why that individual property has been sitting and whether the reason creates opportunity or risk.

What I Am Watching Going Into October

I am less interested in predicting the market from one month than I am in watching whether September's patterns continue.

The things I will be watching most closely are:

• Whether the median market time stays in the low teens.

• Whether more listings begin closing below their final asking prices.

• Whether the large price-per-square-foot gap between 92672 and 92673 holds.

• Whether higher-priced coastal and ocean-view properties continue to move at strong premiums.

• How much new inventory comes on compared with the number of homes going pending.

• Whether sellers begin adjusting prices more quickly when the first two weeks do not produce the response they expected.

One month does not define a market. But September gives us a very useful snapshot of how buyers were actually behaving at the closing table.

Frequently Asked Questions About the September 2026 San Clemente Market

How many homes sold in San Clemente in September 2026?

The MLS search used for this report recorded 55 closed residential sales during September 2026: 27 in 92672, 27 in 92673 and one additional closing recorded with a 92624 mailing ZIP.

What was the median San Clemente sale price in September 2026?

The citywide median closed price was $2,200,000 across the 55 residential sales in this September dataset.

How long did San Clemente homes take to sell in September?

The median days on market was 13 citywide. The average was 37 days, which was pulled higher by a smaller number of much longer-market listings.

Were San Clemente homes selling at asking price?

The median sale-to-list ratio was 100% citywide, while the average was 98.8%. That means the middle sale closed at the final list price, but not every property did.

Was 92672 more expensive than 92673 in September?

On a median basis, yes. The median closed price was $2,415,000 in 92672 versus $1,950,000 in 92673. The gap was even larger on a price-per-square-foot basis: $1,098 versus $729.48.

Why was 92672 so much more expensive per square foot?

The September sales mix in 92672 included smaller properties in many of San Clemente's coastal, central and southern areas, where location, beach proximity, views, walkability and scarcity can create higher values per square foot. The exact reason still depends on the individual property.

Did homes sell faster in 92672 or 92673?

The median was almost identical: 12 days in 92672 and 13 days in 92673. The average was 28 days in 92672 and 46 days in 92673, showing that a smaller number of slow sales had more effect on the 92673 average.

Can I use these September numbers to value my home?

They are useful market context, but I would not value a specific San Clemente home from a citywide or ZIP-code median. Neighborhood, tract, street, lot, condition, view, property type and the closest recent sales matter much more.

A Note About the Data

This report is based on closed residential sales in the MLS dataset reviewed for September 2026.

The citywide figures combine different residential property types and should be read as a market snapshot, not as a detached-home-only index.

ZIP-code statistics describe the properties that actually closed during the month. Because the mix of property types, sizes and locations can change from month to month, I would be careful about treating one month's median as a permanent value benchmark.

The most useful way to use this data is to understand the direction and character of the market, then move closer to the neighborhood and individual property.

My Bottom Line

September was not a frozen San Clemente market.

The median property sold in 13 days and the median sale closed at 100% of the final asking price.

But the city was not behaving as one uniform market.

92672 and 92673 had the same number of closings, yet the median 92672 property was smaller, more expensive and dramatically higher on a price-per-square-foot basis.

That is the San Clemente market in a nutshell.

The citywide number is useful. The ZIP code is useful. But the closer you get to the actual neighborhood, street, lot and home, the more useful the analysis becomes.

If you are thinking about buying or selling in San Clemente, that is where I would start.

Tom Bertog

Tom Bertog Real Estate | San Clemente, CA

Serving Orange County since 1989