When people think of California’s luxury housing markets, headline-grabbing destinations like Beverly Hills and the tech-fueled enclaves of Silicon Valley overrun with billionaires come to mind. But Orange County has been quietly staging a luxury surge of its own.
Located about 35 miles southeast of the bustle of downtown Los Angeles, Orange County is worlds apart from the high-octane big-city living.
Dotted with wealthy coastal enclaves, Orange County is synonymous with stunning beaches and spectacularly expensive mansions overlooking the ocean.
Affluent buyers with a taste for quiet luxury and privacy have taken notice of OC’s well-heeled—often gated—communities, sending the median listing price in the region surging more than 70% over the past decade, from roughly $800,000 in October 2016 to $1.36 million last month, housing data analysis by Realtor.com® economists reveals.
“There’s a lot of homes selling [for] $2,000 to $3,000 a square foot in the most desirable communities, and that’s rivaling prices in L.A.,” Paul Daftarian, Orange County’s leading record-setting power broker and co-founder of The Daftarian Group, tells Realtor.com. “So this is kind of a coming of age for us. …There’s been an explosion of wealthy people.”
For context, the typical home in Orange County in October cost about $230,000 more than one in L.A. but roughly $53,000 less than a property in San Jose, CA, which is the nation’s most expensive market.
“I think what COVID did was it really made people realize this is definitely a resort destination,” Daftarian says. “It’s a very great place to raise a family. It’s safe, clean, stress-free living. It’s beautiful. It’s become much more luxurious.”
And it’s not just buyers from other parts of California who have been flocking to the OC. According to Daftarian, the region is also seeing a major influx of foreign buyers, specifically from Asia.
However, Orange County’s market has been showing some softness lately, with the median listing price in the area ticking down 1.1% from September and 2.3% compared to October 2024.
Realtor.com Senior Economist Anthony Smith says this short-term downward trajectory reflects what he calls a “modest correction after years of steady growth.”
The county’s luxury tier shows similar broader resilience coupled with recent easing across all price points, offering high-net-worth buyers some breathing room.
For example, the top 10% of listings currently begin at just under $45 million, down 8.4% year over year. The top 5% tier starts at about $72 million, representing a 7.7% decline from last year.
At the ultraluxury level, the top 1% starts at an eye-popping $19.9 million, representing an annual drop of more than 13%.
“While all luxury tiers remain below their early-2024 peaks, the rate of decline is slowing, suggesting that pricing across the broader Orange County luxury market may be finding a floor and entering the early stages of stabilization,” says Smith.
By comparison, national luxury housing tiers have seen more modest declines, ranging from 2.1% for the top 5% to 3.3% for the top 1%.
It’s important to point out that Orange County’s housing market is far from monolithic, with significant variations in pricing across some of its most sought-after cities.
“In smaller, high-demand cities where active listings often number in the low hundreds, even modest shifts in the makeup of available homes can produce large swings in median prices,” says Smith.
Daftarian agrees, stressing that even though some of the communities are located “just minutes apart,” their housing markets “function completely differently from one another,” he says.
Dana Point
Dana Point, CA, a city of 32,000 people known as the “dolphin- and whale-watching capital of the world” for its flourishing marine life, has seen its median listing price nearly double in a decade, climbing to $2.68 million last month—a level that would qualify as luxury in many markets.
But Dana Point’s own luxury benchmarks are far higher, with the entry price point into the top 10% of the local market exceeding $10 million, down nearly a third from a year ago.
“Unlike the broader county, Dana Point’s ultraluxury segment has not yet found a pricing bottom, with the top 1% experiencing double-digit year-over-year declines for more than a year,” says Smith, adding that prices across the coastal city’s luxury tiers peaked between late 2023 and early 2024.
Daftarian explains that in the last three to five years, Dana Point has experienced something of a “renaissance” thanks to a flurry of new construction in neighborhoods like the Strand and Monarch Beach. He says homes in those coveted areas that sold for $1,000 to $1,500 per square foot in 2020 have since doubled in price.
Newport Beach
Sitting 20 miles north of Dana Point along the Pacific Coast, Newport Beach, CA, is an upscale boater’s and fisherman’s paradise, but its housing market tells a more nuanced story.
The typical for-sale home in the charming beach town was $4.76 million in October, up 6.3% from the same period last year—and nearly double compared to October 2016.
However, the city’s higher-priced market segments remain under pressure.
The top 10% of homes starts at nearly $13 million, down 2.7% year over year; the top 5% at $17.5 million, down 18.6%; and the ultraexpensive top 1% at $25.19 million, down more than 55% from last year.
“The ultraluxury segment in Newport Beach has experienced double-digit declines for 12 consecutive months, with no clear signs of a rebound yet,” notes Smith.
Daftarian says that Newport Beach has many teardown properties ripe for development, and he predicts that in a few years’ time there will be new trophy properties going up and hitting the market there and in other nearby communities.
Laguna Beach
On the other hand, Laguna Beach, CA, a well-established playground of the wealthy—renowned for its natural beauty and vibrant art scene—has been on an upward trajectory.
The median listing price in town stands at $4.13 million, up from $2.79 million nine years ago. Perhaps most tellingly, all luxury tiers in Laguna Beach saw annual increases in October, with the top 1% of the market beginning at $44.9 million after a year-over-year gain of more than 35%.
“Laguna Beach stands out as a rare pocket of luxury appreciation within an otherwise cooling Orange County high-end market,” says Smith, explaining that the city’s high-end market segments are moving counter to the broader countrywide trend.
Given its reputation as a long-established in-demand enclave, Laguna Beach continues to attract deep-pocketed homebuyers even as neighboring markets such as Dana Point and Newport Beach struggle to find their sweet spot in the post-peak years.
According to Smith, these varying trends within one county highlight a combination of tight inventory, post-peak price easing, and differences in market maturity.
Daftarian adds that Laguna Beach has stricter planning and building codes than some of its counterparts, making it a less hospitable environment for developers. As a result, fewer new homes are coming to market, driving up prices for existing properties.
The agent predicts that prices across Orange County will stay firm in the future, citing one crucial factor: Demand continues to outpace supply, particularly for trophy properties.
“It’s a new era for Orange County,” says Daftarian.