Three homes on Stratford Court in Del Mar have sat for over 40 days. A year ago, that street would have had multiple offers inside a week. That's not a fluke. That's a pattern.
I pulled some numbers from the MLS last month and roughly 30% of active listings in Del Mar's 92014 zip code have had at least one price reduction. That's a real shift from where we were in late 2024. Sellers aren't panicking, but they're adjusting. And if you're a luxury buyer, that adjustment is your opening.
Here's what I think is actually happening. Rates hovering near the high sixes have cooled the entry-level and mid-tier markets, and that psychology bleeds upward. Even cash buyers (who don't care about rates at all) are feeling less urgency because they see days on market climbing. So they wait. And sellers, especially the ones who listed with aggressive pricing in January, are now having a conversation they didn't expect to have in April.
I'll say this plainly. If you're a buyer in the $4M to $8M range looking at coastal Del Mar, you have more leverage this quarter than you've had since early 2023. That doesn't mean you're going to lowball someone and win. It means you can negotiate on terms, on timelines, on concessions that would've gotten your offer tossed six months ago.
The flip side is that Rancho Santa Fe and parts of La Jolla haven't moved the same way. RSF inventory is getting absorbed (I wrote about that recently), and La Jolla's Village and Prospect corridor are still tight because supply there is just permanently limited. Del Mar is its own animal right now.
One thing I'd push back on is the idea that price reductions mean a market is falling apart. They don't. They mean sellers overshot and are correcting. The comps in Del Mar are still strong. Closed prices per square foot along Camino Del Mar are holding. What's changed is the speed, not the value.
So if you've been circling a property down there and waiting for the right moment to make a move, the moment looks a lot like right now.
What's your timeline looking like this quarter?