Title
Carmel-by-the-Sea real estate market stats
Over October 2025 – September 2026, 85 single-family homes sold in Carmel-by-the-Sea (▼ 5.6% vs the prior 12 months). Monthly median sale prices averaged $3.47M (▲ 9.2%), price per square foot averaged $2,146 (▼ 2.1%), and homes took a median of about 45 days to sell. Inventory stood at 3.7 months.
Carmel-by-the-Sea is small: about 113 single-family homes sell in a typical year (81–151 a year over the last decade), so a single month can swing sharply. Headline figures use trailing 12 months, and charts default to a 12-month rolling line.
Explore the market
Explore 20 market stats, month by month from January 2002 through September 2026 (297 months). Switch the time range, view raw months, or see prices in today's dollars.
Teardowns & rebuilds
Compiled by hand from the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea's monthly building reports and design review records. No owner or applicant names are published.
| Year | Main-house demolitions | New single-family home permits | Demo + rebuild | Demo/rebuild cases approved in design review | Median size, existing → proposed | Monthly reports available |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1261 → 2250 sq ft (n=1) | 10 of 12 |
| 2022 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1324 → 1473 sq ft (n=1) | 10 of 12 |
| 2023 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | 11 of 12 |
| 2024 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 0 | — | 11 of 12 |
| 2025 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 946 → 1588 sq ft (n=3) | 12 of 12 |
| 2026* | 4 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 1768 → 2557 sq ft (n=6) | 9 of 9 |
* Current year is January–September only. Some months' city permit lists were never published, so counts may be low for those years. Size figures come from design review cases with both square-footage numbers available; small samples (n) are shown. Design review decisions are missing for most 2023–24 hearings because the city posted agendas but not minutes.
Design review pipeline
62
approved building projects in design review, February 2021 to August 2026.
Not yet permitted
Roughly 25 have no matching building permit found yet. That figure is approximate: some city permit lists are missing and matching still needs a manual check. 14 projects include an ADU.
Project types
- Addition / remodel: 31
- Demolition + new single-family home: 16
- Substantial alteration: 8
- New single-family home: 3
- New single-family home (vacant lot): 2
- Demolition of SFR (replaced by guest house/pool, not a new SFR): 1
- ADU: 1
Frequently asked questions
What is the median home price in Carmel-by-the-Sea?
Over the 12 months from October 2025 – September 2026, monthly median sale prices for single-family homes in Carmel-by-the-Sea averaged $3.47M, up 9.2% from the prior 12 months. The average sale price was $4.00M.
What is the price per square foot in Carmel-by-the-Sea?
Single-family homes in Carmel-by-the-Sea averaged $2,146 per square foot over October 2025 – September 2026, compared with $2,192 in the prior 12 months.
How long does it take to sell a home in Carmel-by-the-Sea?
Median days to sell averaged 45 days over October 2025 – September 2026, versus 31 days the year before.
How many homes sell in Carmel-by-the-Sea each year?
85 single-family homes sold in Carmel-by-the-Sea over October 2025 – September 2026. From 2002 through 2025, the town averaged 113 sales per year, so single months are noisy.
Is Carmel-by-the-Sea a buyer's or seller's market?
Over October 2025 – September 2026 there were 3.7 months of inventory (average active listings divided by average monthly sales), compared with 4.0 a year earlier. About six months is commonly treated as balanced.
How many teardowns are there in Carmel-by-the-Sea?
City permit reports show 8 main-house demolitions and 9 new single-family home permits in 2025, the high for 2021–2026.
Single-family homes, MLS data compiled by Jonathan Balog, Compass associate broker. Jan 2002 – September 2026. Inflation adjustment: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted (series CUUR0000SA0). BLS did not publish CPI for October 2025; the prior month's value is used. Household income: U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE), median household income, Monterey County, 2002–2024; later years use the 2024 estimate. Permit and design review data: City of Carmel-by-the-Sea public reports and minutes. One June 2014 sale-to-original-price reading (176.4%) is excluded as a likely data error.