According to the California Association of REALTORS® August 2026 existing-home sales report, released September 16, 2026.
What the report says
C.A.R. said the statewide median price for an existing single-family home was $901,420 in August. That was up 1.6% from $887,210 in July — when the median briefly dipped below $900,000 — and up just 0.1% from $900,620 in August 2025.
Closed sales also improved. Existing single-family sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 269,620, up 2.4% from July and 1.4% from a year earlier. Statewide sales still stayed below the 300,000 annualized mark for a 47th consecutive month.
Key points to know
- Southern California’s regional median was $899,000, up 2.9% from a year earlier. The Los Angeles metro area median was $850,000.
- San Francisco Bay Area median was about $1.27 million, slightly below July and roughly flat with last August.
- Central Valley median was around $500,000. Sacramento County’s median was $549,000.
- The unsold inventory index rose to 3.7 months (from 3.4 in July) — the highest in six months — while the typical home that sold spent a median 28 days on market.
- Statewide sales-to-list was 98.9%. Price per square foot was $428, down from July but up slightly year over year.
Why it matters if you are buying or already own
Crossing $900,000 again after July’s dip is mostly a seasonal bounce and mix of homes sold, not proof that every California neighborhood got more expensive overnight. C.A.R. noted the million-dollar share of sales actually edged down, and price-per-square-foot softened from July.
For shoppers, the practical read is mixed: a little more closed activity in August, more months of supply than in July, and still a wide gap between inland and coastal prices. For owners, a 0.1% year-over-year statewide median move is not a valuation of any one house.
August’s mortgage-rate backdrop in the report (a 6.67% monthly average based on Freddie Mac’s weekly survey) is already stale for September shoppers. C.A.R. flagged that 30-year rates moved above 7% in early September — a higher payment environment than the August closed-sale window.
Important limits
- This is C.A.R.’s statewide and county resale data for existing single-family detached homes, not new construction and not a forecast of your sale price.
- Medians move when the mix of homes sold changes. Smaller counties can swing hard for that reason alone.
- Oregon is not in this report. Local listings, comparable sales, and loan-level numbers still matter more than a statewide median.
Bottom line: August put California’s median back over $900,000 and lifted sales a notch — with a bit more inventory than July. Use it as context, then compare the actual house, the payment, and cash to close under today’s rates.
Source: California Association of REALTORS®: August 2026 Home Sales and Price Report
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