If you own a home in Palos Verdes Estates and are thinking about selling, the first thing I would tell you is not to put too much weight on headlines or citywide averages.

Palos Verdes Estates is too specific for that.

A view, lot, street, orientation, condition and even where a home sits on the hill can dramatically change its value. Two homes a few blocks apart can sell very differently.

That said, the overall market still tells us something important about what buyers are doing.

In April 2026, 17 homes closed in Palos Verdes Estates at a median price of $3,450,000, totaling $65,990,000 in sales. Those homes sold an average of 5% below asking price. There were also 42 homes on the market and another 17 in escrow.

Those numbers tell me we have an active market, but buyers have choices. And when buyers have choices, pricing and presentation matter.

I have been selling real estate throughout the South Bay and Palos Verdes for 22 years, and if there is one thing I have learned, it is that what sellers ask and what buyers are actually willing to pay are two very different things.

Here is what I would want you to know before putting your home on the market.

Seventeen homes closed in April at a median of $3,450,000, selling an average of 5% below asking price, with 42 active listings and another 17 homes in escrow.

Source: MLS, April 2026.

The number I would pay particular attention to is the 5% difference between asking and selling price.

On a $3.6 million home, 5% is $180,000.

That does not mean every seller should automatically price 5% lower. It means buyers are negotiating, and sellers who start too far ahead of the market are giving buyers a reason to wait.

It is an active but more measured market. Homes are selling, but buyers have more negotiating power on price than they did in a stronger seller’s market.

Seventeen sales in a month is real activity. This is not a dead market.

But 42 active listings means buyers have choices, and that changes the way I would approach selling a home today.

When buyers have several homes to choose from, they compare everything: price, view, lot, condition, location and presentation.

The house that stands out gets activity.

The house that starts too high often sits.

And once a home has been on the market for a while, the conversation changes. Instead of asking, “How much do we like this house?” buyers begin asking, “Why hasn’t somebody bought it?”

That is a position I would rather avoid.

One other interesting thing happened in April: every Palos Verdes Estates sale went through the MLS. There were no off-market sales.

That means April’s numbers give us a particularly clear picture of what actually happened in the market.

Absolutely. Malaga Cove, Lunada Bay, Monte Malaga, Valmonte and Margate each have their own pricing characteristics, and a citywide median tells you very little about what a specific home is worth.

Palos Verdes Estates was planned in the 1920s, and you can still see that in the way the city is laid out. The neighborhoods are distinct.

A home in Valmonte is not valued the same way as an ocean-view home in Lunada Bay. Malaga Cove has its own character. Monte Malaga has different views, lots and elevations.

Even within the same neighborhood, one street can trade differently from another.

That is why I am cautious about neighborhood statistics based on only a few monthly sales.

With 17 sales citywide, breaking those numbers into five neighborhoods might leave only three or four sales in each area. A median based on three sales can change dramatically because of one property.

For an individual homeowner, I would much rather look at the homes a buyer would actually compare to yours.

That is how I value a Palos Verdes Estates property.

Yes. Buyers ask about it. The severe movement is in Rancho Palos Verdes around Portuguese Bend, while Palos Verdes Estates is outside that mapped area. Sellers should still be prepared to address the question because buyers have seen the news.

I would not avoid the subject.

Buyers coming from outside the Peninsula may have seen television coverage or drone footage without understanding exactly where the affected area is.

The best response is simply accurate information about location and boundaries.

What I would not do is make broad claims about what the landslide has or has not done to property values outside the affected area. The right answer comes from looking at actual comparable sales.

Homeowners should also understand that standard California homeowners insurance policies generally exclude earth movement, including landslide. If you own hillside property, speak directly with your insurance professional about your specific coverage.

Your home’s value depends far more on its view, lot, location, orientation and condition than on the $3,450,000 citywide median.

If you own a home in Palos Verdes Estates, I would not value it using the city median.

The listings you see online are asking prices. They tell you what sellers hope to receive.

Closed sales tell you what buyers were actually willing to pay.

And right now that distinction matters because April’s closed sales averaged approximately 5% below asking price.

Most PVE homeowners already have a pretty good sense of their neighborhood. You may know what the house down the street sold for. You probably know which homes have better views and which streets command more money.

The difficult part is looking at your own home the same way a buyer will.

You know what you spent remodeling the kitchen. You remember what your neighbor received in 2022. You know every improvement you have made.

A buyer sees something different.

They see the view, natural light, lot, street, floor plan and condition. They notice the things they can change and, more importantly, the things they cannot.

My job is to figure out where your home fits against the properties those buyers are considering right now.

The biggest risk is not simply that your home takes longer to sell. It is that you lose the strongest period of buyer attention and eventually have to negotiate from a weaker position.

The first few weeks of a listing matter.

That is when the home is new. Buyers who have been waiting for something in your neighborhood see it immediately. Agents send it to clients. People come through the open house because they have not seen it before.

If the price is substantially above what the market supports, those buyers often wait.

Then the home accumulates days on market.

Eventually there is usually a price reduction, but by then you are trying to recreate the excitement the property had when it first came on.

I would rather price a home intelligently from the beginning and create competition than spend six weeks trying to convince buyers that an unrealistic price was right.

Spring and summer generally bring more activity because families want to move before school starts. But homes sell here throughout the year, and the best time to sell is ultimately the time that works for your life.

I get this question constantly.

Yes, spring is traditionally busy. Palos Verdes is heavily influenced by the school calendar, and more families tend to be looking during spring and early summer.

But I would not tell someone to wait six months solely because the calendar says April is better than October.

A serious buyer looking in November may have fewer homes to choose from.

Most sellers have much more control over pricing, preparation and presentation than they do over the market itself.

If your life says it is time to sell, I would focus on getting those things right rather than trying to pick the perfect month.

Most homeowners do not sell because a market report told them to. They sell because something in their life changed. In those situations, good planning becomes even more important.

Maybe the kids are gone and you simply do not need the house anymore.

Maybe you want to move closer to family.

Maybe you inherited a property.

Maybe there is a divorce, a job change or another major transition.

These sales can involve decisions that go well beyond the real estate itself, and rushing them usually does not help.

Longtime Palos Verdes homeowners should also understand several financial issues before selling. This is general information, not tax or legal advice, so speak with your CPA, attorney and escrow professional about your specific situation.

• Capital gains. If you have owned your home for decades, the gain may be substantial. The federal home-sale exclusion may not cover the entire amount, so tax planning before the sale can matter.
• Your property tax basis. Proposition 19 may allow California homeowners age 55 and older to transfer their property tax basis to another California residence, subject to its requirements. For longtime owners, this can make a significant difference when considering downsizing or relocating.
• Transfer taxes. Measure ULA applies to property within the City of Los Angeles. Palos Verdes Estates is a separately incorporated city and is not subject to the City of Los Angeles ULA tax. Peninsula sellers are still subject to applicable county documentary transfer taxes. Confirm current amounts with your escrow officer.

Presentation usually gives you a better return than remodeling. Paint, landscaping, cleaning, staging and excellent photography can dramatically change how buyers respond to a home.

I would be very careful about doing a major remodel immediately before selling.

You are spending your money to choose finishes for a buyer you have never met.

I would rather put the money into the things buyers notice immediately:

• Light and cleanliness. Fresh paint, clean windows, decluttering and a deep clean can completely change how a home feels.
• The view. If you are selling a view property, make sure buyers can actually see the view. Overgrown trees and landscaping can hide one of the home's most valuable features.
• The first impression. Landscaping, the walkway, front door and entry matter. Buyers begin forming an opinion before they ever reach the living room.
• Deferred maintenance. Fix the obvious items. A sticking door or damaged trim may be minor, but buyers sometimes interpret small neglected items as evidence of larger problems.
• Professional staging and photography. At this price point, your first showing is online. A buyer may decide whether to see your home based entirely on what they see on their phone or computer.

I am particularly stubborn about that last one because I have seen what happens when it is done poorly.

I have taken over listings that had already been on the market and gone nowhere.

There was nothing fundamentally wrong with the house. The photography was poor, the presentation was weak, and the listing agent worked outside the area and was rarely available to show it.

We staged the home, brought in a professional photographer, marketed it properly, personally handled the open houses and put the property in front of our brokerage and buyer network.

The home sold quickly.

The house did not change.

The way it was presented did.

Usually, yes — particularly if the home is vacant, dated or has rooms whose size and function are difficult to understand from photographs.

Staging is not about filling a house with trendy furniture.

Good staging helps buyers understand the space.

It can make a large room feel warmer, help define an unusual floor plan and give online photographs more impact.

There are situations where staging is unnecessary, but on a multi-million-dollar property I would make that decision based on how the home will photograph and show — not simply on the cost of staging.

Usually, yes — particularly if the home is vacant, dated or has rooms whose size and function are difficult to understand from photographs.

Staging is not about filling a house with trendy furniture.

Good staging helps buyers understand the space.

It can make a large room feel warmer, help define an unusual floor plan and give online photographs more impact.

There are situations where staging is unnecessary, but on a multi-million-dollar property I would make that decision based on how the home will photograph and show — not simply on the cost of staging.

Ask what they have actually sold, how they would price your specific property, how they plan to market it and who will personally be handling your listing once the agreement is signed.

I am obviously not a neutral party here, so I will keep this simple.

If I were helping a family member choose an agent, I would want answers to a few things.

Can the agent explain why your street may trade differently from another street nearby?

Can they explain their recommended price using comparable sales rather than a citywide average?

What is the actual marketing plan beyond putting the property in the MLS?

How will the home be presented online?

And who is actually going to show up?

That last question is worth asking.

Who will be standing in your home during the open house?

Not whose name is on the sign.

Who is actually talking to buyers about the home, neighborhood, schools, location, view and property?

For my listings, I believe being present matters.

I have been selling real estate for 22 years and have completed more than 200 transactions throughout the South Bay and Palos Verdes. My office is in Malaga Cove Plaza, and I personally stay involved in the pricing, preparation, marketing and showing of the homes I represent.                                                                                                                                             

I think sellers deserve that.