Sixty-two days. That's roughly the average days on market right now for a condo in Mission Valley, based on what I've pulled from the MLS over the past few weeks. A year ago that number was closer to thirty. Nobody's writing headlines about it, but the maths has changed.
I've been watching a two-bedroom in the Pinnacle building on Friars Road sit listed for almost seven weeks now. Good unit, decent floor, reasonable price. A year ago it would've had three offers inside a fortnight. Right now it's just sitting there, getting a price reduction and a fresh set of photos like that's going to fix anything.
It won't. The issue isn't the listing. The issue is absorption. There are more condos available in Mission Valley this quarter than we've seen since early 2020, and buyers know it. They're not panicking. They're comparing. They're walking away from showings and coming back a week later with a lower number. And honestly, good for them.
Sellers who adjust to this quickly will do fine. The ones who price based on what their neighbour got last spring are going to watch their listing go stale. Stale listings attract lowball offers. It's a cycle that punishes stubbornness.
For investors, this is where my old financial planning brain kicks in. I spent years building spreadsheets before I ever sold a property, and the rent-to-price ratio in parts of Mission Valley is actually improving right now. Purchase prices are softening while rents have held fairly steady. If you're buying a rental and you can stomach the carrying costs for a bit, the entry point this quarter is better than it was six months ago. Full stop.
Buyers, here's what I'd say. You have leverage you didn't have last year. Use it, but don't get greedy. A reasonable offer with clean terms will still beat a cheeky lowball from someone trying to steal a property. Sellers aren't desperate. They're just more realistic than they were.
The broader point is simple. Mission Valley isn't crashing. Prices aren't falling off a cliff. But the pace has shifted, and pace changes everything about strategy. Whether you're listing, buying, or holding, the playbook from 2023 doesn't apply anymore.
So what's your number? Because the market's finally giving you room to be honest about it.