Where things stand: the Los Alamitos median is +20.6% from a year ago and has compounded about +6.3% a year over five years and +7.4% a year over ten. With 3.2 months of supply and 29 active listings (37 a year earlier), it is still a seller's market by the numbers. Orange County as a whole is +0.6% year over year. The statewide forecast from the California Association of Realtors calls for 2026 prices up 3.6% and sales up 2%, on mortgage rates easing toward 6%. Nobody can promise Los Alamitos will track that, and small markets never move in a straight line, but the local supply picture is the part that doesn't change: a small city with little room to build.
The trend so far
| Period | Median sale price | Change to now | Per sq ft | Change to now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Now Jul–Sep 2026 | $1,471,799 | – | $692 | – |
| 1 year earlier Jul–Sep 2025 | $1,220,000 | +20.6% | $653 | +5.9% |
| 3 years earlier Jul–Sep 2023 | $1,005,000 | +46.4% | $625 | +10.6% |
| 5 years earlier Jul–Sep 2021 | $1,082,500 | +36.0% | $576 | +20.1% |
| 10 years earlier Jul–Sep 2016 | $721,000 | +104.1% | $406 | +70.3% |
Three-month medians. Compound annual growth: +13.6% over 3 years, +6.3% over 5, +7.4% over 10. Source: Redfin Data Center.
Supply and demand today
Los Alamitos, Jul–Sep 2026. Source: Redfin Data Center.
What the forecasters say
The California Association of Realtors' 2026 forecast (released September 17, 2025) expects, statewide: existing single-family sales up 2.0% to 274,400; the median price up 3.6% to $905,000; the average 30-year fixed rate easing from 6.6% in 2025 to about 6.0%; active listings up nearly 10%; and housing affordability improving slightly, to 18% of households able to afford a median-priced home. Its chief economist named trade tensions, the home insurance crisis and a possible stock-market bubble as the risks.
Orange County's own median is +0.6% year over year by Redfin's count, so the county has been running close to that forecast pace. Los Alamitos is a smaller, higher-priced slice of that market, and its medians swing more from quarter to quarter.
What is particular to Los Alamitos
- Little room to build. Los Alamitos is 4 square miles, a large share of it the Joint Forces Training Base. New homes come from infill and the sites the city rezoned in its 2021-2029 housing element, including a 12-acre tract on Lampson Avenue changed from commercial to residential zoning (a 246-residence mixed-use project was proposed there) and higher densities allowed in the Town Center mixed-use district.
- Two markets in one. Detached homes on the 1950s and 1960s streets behave like Rossmoor; townhomes and condos trade on dues, rules and rates. Watch them separately.
- Employers next door. UCI Health – Los Alamitos (167 beds, the city's largest employer at about 1,100 jobs), the base and the Katella business corridor bring daily demand for homes within a few minutes of work.
- Interest rates. At a $1.2M to $1.4M median, a half-point change in rates moves a payment by roughly $200 to $300 a month, enough to change who can buy.
Four scenarios for the next 12 months
| If the next 12 months bring... | Los Alamitos median would be about | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Statewide forecast pace (C.A.R., +3.6% for 2026) | $1,524,784 | +3.6% |
| Flat | $1,471,799 | +0.0% |
| Soft year (-5%) | $1,398,209 | −5.0% |
| Strong year (+8%) | $1,589,543 | +8.0% |
Arithmetic on today's median ($1,471,799, Jul–Sep 2026), not a prediction. Small markets move more than the state average in both directions; a few large sales can swing a three-month median by 5% or more.
What Eunice watches
- Months of supply. Below 3, expect multiple offers on well-priced homes. Above 5, buyers can negotiate.
- New listings vs sales, month by month (the chart on the recent sales page).
- Price cuts. When the share of listings with a cut climbs past a third, sellers are ahead of buyers.
- Mortgage rates and, for 2026, whether the easing C.A.R. expects actually arrives.
If you're thinking about selling in the next year, the useful question isn't "will prices go up?" but "what will my home sell for in the market we have?" That's a conversation, not a chart: ask for a free valuation.
Talk to Eunice about a home in Los Alamitos
Call or text (562) 714-1565, email hello@homesbyeunice.com, or start online.
Questions people ask
Will Los Alamitos home prices go up in 2026?
No one can promise it. The statewide forecast is for prices up about 3.6%; Los Alamitos's median is +20.6% year over year with 3.2 months of supply. The scenario table on this page shows what different outcomes would mean in dollars.
Is Los Alamitos a buyer's or seller's market?
By the numbers it is still a seller's market by the numbers: 3.2 months of supply, 25.0% of homes sold above list and a median 99.6% sale-to-list ratio in Jul–Sep 2026.
Is it a good time to sell in Los Alamitos?
Late winter and spring usually bring the most buyers; the seasonality table on the recent-sales page shows which closing months have brought the highest sale-to-list ratios. The bigger lever is preparation and pricing, which Eunice will walk you through.
Where do these forecasts come from?
The California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) publishes a statewide forecast each autumn; the local figures are Redfin Data Center readings. Eunice reports them; she doesn't make her own predictions.
- C.A.R. 2026 California Housing Market Forecast (Sept. 17, 2025)
- Los Alamitos, California (Wikipedia)
- Seal Beach Sun: Los Al approves housing element rezoning (March 2023)
- City of Los Alamitos 2021-2029 Housing Element (adopted March 2023), California HCD
- UCI Health – Los Alamitos (Wikipedia)
- Los Alamitos housing market (Redfin Data Center)
- Orange County housing market (Redfin Data Center)