One Irvine Condo Stat Just Jumped Nearly 50%

Irvine Condo Market Quiz

Compared to the same period in 2025, what has been the biggest change in the Irvine condo market?

A. Pending Sales
B. Time to Sell
C. Prices

Answer: B — Time to Sell.

While pending sales have declined and prices have softened slightly, the biggest shift has been the amount of time it takes to get a condo sold. The average days on market jumped from 29 days to 43 days, a nearly 50% increase year-over-year.

While much of the conversation lately has focused on interest rates and affordability, the more important story may be what is happening beneath the surface. Buyers are still purchasing condos, but they’re taking longer to make decisions, becoming more selective, and often requiring sellers to be more competitive on pricing and presentation.

The second statistic that caught my attention was pending sales.

Pending condo sales fell from 74 units entering escrow in April 2025 to 54 in April 2026, a decline of 27%. That’s not nearly as dramatic as the slowdown we’ve recently seen in Anaheim, but it’s still a meaningful reduction in buyer activity.

Interestingly, closed sales actually increased from 91 to 104 transactions. In other words, buyers are still closing deals that were negotiated earlier in the year, but fewer new buyers are stepping forward to replace them.

At first glance, Irvine home values appear to be holding up reasonably well.

The median condo sales price declined from $1,290,000 to $1,200,000, while the average sales price declined approximately 4% year-over-year. While nobody likes seeing prices move lower, those numbers are relatively modest considering the changes occurring elsewhere in the market.

However, I think there is another statistic that better explains what’s happening.

The Hidden Trend: Sellers Are Pulling Listings Instead of Cutting Prices

One of the most overlooked trends in today’s market is the growing number of condo listings that never sell at all.

During the first four months of 2025, Irvine recorded approximately 234 cancelled, withdrawn, and expired condo listings.

During the same period in 2026, that number jumped to 318 listings.

That’s an increase of approximately 36% year-over-year.

What does that tell us?

It suggests many sellers are unwilling to chase the market downward.

If a seller lists their condo at a certain price and doesn’t receive the offers they were hoping for, many are simply pulling the listing rather than reducing the price. Some decide to rent the property. Others choose to stay put and wait for market conditions to improve.

This is one of the biggest differences between today’s market and what we experienced during the housing downturn around 2010.

Back then, many sellers didn’t have much of a choice. Short sales, foreclosures, and lender pressure often forced owners to continue lowering prices until a transaction occurred. Today’s Irvine seller is typically in a much stronger financial position. Many owners have significant equity, low fixed mortgage rates, and no urgent need to move.

As a result, instead of seeing dramatic price reductions, we’re seeing a growing number of listings quietly disappear from the market.

Is Irvine a Buyer’s Market Yet?

Not quite.

Inventory has increased from 4.4 months to 4.8 months of supply, which is moving in that direction, but most real estate professionals would still consider a true buyer’s market to be closer to six months of inventory or more.

What we’re seeing today is better described as a transition toward a more balanced market.

Buyers have more choices than they did a year ago. Sellers need stronger pricing and marketing strategies. Yet desirable properties in communities like The Plaza, Avenue One, Watermarke, Marquee, and Lexington continue to attract attention when priced correctly.

The Bottom Line

The biggest change in Irvine isn’t necessarily price.

It’s time.

Listings are taking significantly longer to sell, fewer buyers are entering escrow, and a growing number of sellers are deciding not to sell at all rather than accepting lower offers.

For buyers, that creates more opportunities and a little more negotiating leverage.

For sellers, success increasingly comes down to realistic pricing, professional marketing, and understanding where today’s market is headed rather than where it was a year ago.

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