California is seeing a glimmer in the housing market as new numbers show home sales hitting an eight-month high, according to the California Association of Realtors®.
Existing, single-family home sales rose in October from both the prior month and a year ago—the highest level since February.
Sales of existing family homes totaled 282,590 in October, up 1.9% from 277,410 in September and up 4.1% from 271,370 in October 2024.
Mortgage interest rates dipped to 6.23% for a 30-year fixed home loan for the week ending Nov. 26, according to Freddie Mac. That’s down from 6.26% the week prior.
“The market is very sensitive to interest rates,” Oscar Wei, deputy chief economist at C.A.R., tells Realtor.com®. “It’s really hard to build momentum, especially since we’re not going into homebuying season. People are still concerned about what’s going to happen with inflation.”
C.A.R. data reveals the median home price edged up 0.4% from $883,640 in September to $886,960 in October—but October’s median price slid 0.2% year over year to $888,740. This is the first time in three months it saw a decline.
California’s median list price still runs higher than the national median list price of $424,200 in October 2025—that is up 0.4% from last year, but down from month to month.
Among counties, Santa Barbara (26.7%) led the way with a 26.7% increase in median home price gains.
It was followed by Trinity (22%) and Mono (18.6%) counties. In all, 23 California counties recorded year over year median home price gains in October 2025.
“Higher-priced homes in California tend to do a little better compared to the more affordable homes and that’s partly because of how the stock market may have fluctuated,” says Wei.
More than half (28) of all counties tracked by C.A.R. posted price decreases from a year ago, with Tuolumne (15.3%) dropping the most, and Lassen (-11%) and Del Norte (-9.9%) recording the second and the third steepest annual price declines in October.
Seasonal sales
Statewide pending home sales edged up 0.8% in October compared with the same time a year ago. This is the third straight annual increase, but they slipped 1.2% from September.
Of the 53 counties tracked by C.A.R., 34 recorded year over year sales improvements in October—with nearly half (16) of those growing by double digits. Trinity County (85.7%), located in the northwestern part of the state, topped the list with the highest sales growth from October 2024 to October 2025. It was followed by Lassen (58.3%) in the northeastern part and Kings County (52.9%) in the Central Valley.
Housing inventory in California fell in October from the previous month, which represents a transition to what is considered the “offseason,” according to C.A.R. The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home in the Golden State was up year over year to 32 days in October 2025 from 25 days in October 2024.
“On a year-over-year basis, we are seeing more active listings, but you have to think about whether it is because of a slowdown in demand,” explains Wei.
“We are going into the offseason, the holiday season, so we are going to see how that goes,” Wei adds. “We’re going to see some seasonal change. That means we’re going to see some slowdown in active listings for the next few months.”