The citywide median price for Long Beach landed at $875,000 in September 2026, down roughly 3.3% from the $905,000 peak recorded in spring (Realtor.com, 2026). That number gets shared on social media, cited by nervous buyers, and used to justify lowball offers in neighborhoods where it simply doesn’t apply. Belmont Shore and Naples are holding differently than Bixby Knolls or Alamitos Beach, and using one number to price a listing or an offer in any of them is how sellers leave money on the table and buyers overpay anyway.
This post breaks the $875K number open. Neighborhood by neighborhood, with days on market and active inventory figures that the generic round-up posts skip.
For ongoing context on how we got here, the Long Beach housing market August 2026 data shows the directional shift that preceded this month’s reading.
Key Takeaways
- The Long Beach median home price fell to $875K in September 2026, down ~3.3% from the spring peak (Realtor.com, 2026)
- Belmont Shore and Naples are holding stronger than the citywide number suggests, with median prices staying above $1M and sub-30-day DOM
- Bixby Knolls and Alamitos Beach are softer, with DOM stretching past 45 days and more negotiating room for buyers
- Active inventory citywide is up roughly 18% year-over-year, but the gains are concentrated in specific pockets
- A citywide median applied to the wrong neighborhood produces mispriced listings and failed offers
What does the $875K median actually measure?
The September 2026 median of $875,000 reflects the middle sale price across all Long Beach residential transactions that closed this month, per Realtor.com data. It tells you what the market looks like from 2,000 feet. It does not tell you what the duplex on Argonne or the bungalow off Termino is actually worth right now.
Medians move when the mix of homes selling shifts. If more entry-level condos close in a given month, the median drops. That’s partly what’s happening in September. Condo activity in the 90804 and 90805 zip codes is pulling the citywide figure down while single-family homes in coastal neighborhoods are still transacting above $1.1M.
The September softness is real but narrower than the headline implies. It’s concentrated in specific price bands and ZIP codes, not spread evenly across the city.
How are Belmont Shore and Naples actually performing?
After 24 years of closings in Long Beach, I’ve watched Belmont Shore shrug off corrections that rattled the rest of the city. September 2026 is following that pattern.
Belmont Shore single-family homes are sitting at a median closer to $1.15M this month, with average days on market around 22 to 26 days. Active listings on and near Second Street and the streets between Livingston and Bayshore remain below 18 units at any given time, which keeps multiple-offer situations alive on well-priced homes. Sellers who price inside the comparable range are still seeing clean offers. Those who stretch 10% above comps are sitting.
Naples is the tighter market of the two. Canal-facing properties on the island are still moving at premiums, with some listings receiving offers within the first two weeks. The limited land supply on Naples Island keeps inventory structurally low regardless of what the broader market does. If you’re a buyer targeting Naples, low inventory here is a feature of the geography, not a sign of a hot economy. Plan your offer accordingly.
For deep background on the Naples market specifically, the Naples Island canal homes buyer’s guide covers what makes these properties behave differently from anywhere else in Long Beach.
What’s happening in Bixby Knolls and Alamitos Beach?
These two neighborhoods are where the September softness is most visible, and where buyers have real leverage if they read the data correctly.
Bixby Knolls is sitting at a median closer to $820K for single-family homes this month, with days on market averaging 47 to 52 days. That’s a meaningful stretch compared to the 30-day pace we saw in early 2025. Active inventory is up noticeably, with roughly 35 to 40 homes listed at any point in September. Sellers in Bixby Knolls who bought in 2020 or 2021 still have equity headroom, but pricing needs to reflect current comps, not peak-year comps.
Alamitos Beach is a different dynamic again. The condo-heavy inventory along Ocean Boulevard and the streets behind it is where the price softness gets concentrated. Some units have been relisted after failing to sell in August. DOM is running past 50 days on several listings. For buyers, that’s negotiating room. For sellers, it’s a signal to look hard at condition and positioning before listing.
Alamitos Beach condo sellers who spent money on interior updates are still moving product. Those who listed as-is at 2024 prices are the ones sitting. The market hasn’t rejected the neighborhood; it’s rejected a specific pricing strategy.
“The sellers I’m working with in Bixby Knolls who adjusted their price in the first two weeks are closing. The ones holding out for spring 2025 comps are still on market,” says Derrick Muska, Broker-Associate at Coldwell Banker Realty in Long Beach.
Is the Long Beach real estate market cooling overall?
The long beach housing market september 2026 is cooling selectively, not uniformly. Citywide active inventory is up approximately 18% year-over-year (California Association of Realtors, 2026), which sounds alarming until you map where those listings are concentrated. The inventory increase is heaviest in the $700K-to-$900K price band, mostly condos and smaller single-family homes in 90802, 90804, and 90805.
Above $1.1M, particularly in Belmont Shore, Naples, and the eastern bluff neighborhoods near Rancho Los Cerritos, supply remains tight. That’s why applying the citywide inventory story to a Belmont Shore listing leads sellers to underprice, and applying it to a Naples buyer’s offer leads them to lowball something that will go fast anyway.
The broader California picture adds context. CAR’s 2026 market data shows that coastal Southern California markets are experiencing a two-speed correction: entry-level and mid-tier inventory is rising while premium coastal supply stays constrained. Long Beach is a textbook example of that split.
What does this mean if you’re buying in Long Beach right now?
Buyers are in a better position in September 2026 than at any point in the past two years, but only in the right neighborhoods and price bands. In Bixby Knolls and Alamitos Beach, you can reasonably ask for seller credits, request inspection contingencies, and negotiate price without blowing up the deal. That was nearly impossible in 2024.
In Belmont Shore and Naples, the calculus is different. Inventory is still low enough that a slow offer or a heavily conditioned offer gets passed over. Pre-approval isn’t optional; it’s the cost of entry before you book a showing. Waiving inspection contingencies came back into practice in 2024 when inventory bottomed below 40 active listings citywide, and in the tighter micro-markets it’s still a factor for competitive properties.
The buyers I’ve seen lose in Belmont Shore this September weren’t outbid by a lot. They were outbid by clean offers. Getting your financing settled before you fall in love with a house is the actual competitive advantage.
For buyers trying to understand the cost side, the home buying process guide for 2026 walks through what to expect from offer to close.
What does this mean if you’re selling in Long Beach right now?
Sellers in the softer pockets need to price for September 2026, not for the market they remember. The 18% inventory increase citywide means buyers have more choices than they did, which means your competition is real. A home that’s priced $40,000 above the current comp set in Alamitos Beach isn’t getting low offers. It’s getting ignored entirely.
In the stronger neighborhoods, the strategy flips. If you’re selling in Belmont Shore or Naples, pricing at or slightly below the top comparable gives you the best shot at multiple offers and a faster close. Pricing above comparable leaves you competing with the handful of overpriced listings that have been sitting since August.
The guide to selling your Long Beach home without bleeding equity covers specific tactics for navigating a softening market without chasing the price down week by week.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Long Beach median home price in September 2026?
The Long Beach median home price is $875,000 in September 2026, down approximately 3.3% from the spring 2026 peak of roughly $905,000, according to Realtor.com tracking. That figure blends condos and single-family homes across all ZIP codes, so neighborhood-level medians vary significantly above and below this number.
Which Long Beach neighborhoods have the lowest days on market in September 2026?
Belmont Shore and Naples are the tightest markets this month, with average days on market running 22 to 26 days for single-family homes. Bixby Knolls and Alamitos Beach are meaningfully slower, with DOM stretching to 47 to 52 days, according to current MLS data tracked through September 2026.
Is Long Beach home prices 2026 trending up or down?
Long Beach home prices are trending modestly downward from the spring 2026 peak, with the citywide median off about 3.3% (Realtor.com, 2026). The decline is concentrated in mid-tier condos and entry-level single-family homes. Coastal and premium neighborhoods like Belmont Shore and Naples have held closer to their peak values through September.
How much inventory is available in the Long Beach real estate market right now?
Citywide active inventory in Long Beach is up roughly 18% year-over-year as of September 2026 (California Association of Realtors, 2026). The increase is concentrated in the $700K to $900K price band, particularly condos in the 90802 and 90804 zip codes. Inventory in Belmont Shore remains below 20 active single-family listings at any given point this month.
Should I wait to buy in Long Beach or move now?
Waiting makes sense only if you’re targeting a neighborhood where inventory is rising and DOM is lengthening, like Bixby Knolls or Alamitos Beach. If you’re targeting Belmont Shore or Naples, waiting assumes supply will increase in neighborhoods where the land constraints make that structurally unlikely. The right answer depends on your specific target, not the citywide headline.
What to do with this information
The $875K median is real. So is the fact that it doesn’t describe Belmont Shore, Naples, Bixby Knolls, or Alamitos Beach equally. If you’re buying, know which market you’re actually shopping in before you calibrate your offer. If you’re selling, price against your neighborhood’s current data, not the city average.
I’ve been tracking these neighborhood-level differences across Long Beach and the surrounding 562 for 24 years, across more than 100 closed transactions. The split between the city’s stronger coastal pockets and its softer inland and condo-heavy areas isn’t new. What’s new is that the gap is wide enough in September 2026 to genuinely matter on the price you write or accept.
If you want a neighborhood-specific read on your address before you make a move, that’s a conversation worth having before you’re under contract.
