I'm Kelli Miller, a Realtor with Compass. I grew up just up the coast in Encinitas, and Cardiff has always been one of my favorite places in North County. It's a small town, but it can be a hard one to price. Last year the median sale west of the freeway was $3,000,000 and east of it was $1,738,375, so a lot of what I do here is help people understand exactly what they're looking at.
If you're thinking about buying or selling in Cardiff, I would love to hear what you have in mind.
Cardiff is small, but where you are in it makes a big difference. Price per square foot runs roughly double west of Interstate 5 compared with east of it. Here's how I think about the different parts of town. The numbers come from the 95 homes that sold in 92007 over the past year, grouped by street rather than by any official boundary.
The avenue grid between San Elijo Avenue and the freeway: Manchester, Cambridge, Montgomery, Oxford, Newport, Edinburg, Wales. You can walk to Seaside Market, the 101 and the beach, though you'll have to cross the railroad tracks to get to the sand. A mix of 1920s cottages, 1950s ranch houses and new builds on the same block.
35 sales · median $3,000,000
top sale $4,500,000 (San Elijo Ave)
Fifteen streets named for composers, Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Rubenstein, Chopin, Verdi, Liszt. Roughly 600 detached homes on streets that wind up the hillside with ocean peeks a few blocks off. Getting to the sand means crossing the tracks at Chesterfield.
6 sales · median $3,575,000
range $1,780,000 – $6,400,000
Elevated lots with the widest ocean views in Cardiff and the largest houses. Very few homes sell here in a year, so one sale can set the tone. 1506 Summit Avenue closed at $9,300,000 in August 2026, the highest 92007 sale of the past twelve months.
top 92007 sale, 12 mo
$9,300,000 · 4,150 sq ft
Woodlake, Evergreen, Caminito Septimo, Sea Village. Attached homes and 1970s tract houses on larger, flatter lots. Cardiff Cove alone has 176 attached units, which makes it the part of Cardiff with the most homes changing hands, and the most realistic way into the 92007 zip code.
52 sales · median $1,738,375
entry point around $830,000
Spread across the zip rather than concentrated in one pocket. These move faster than detached houses: a median of 42 days from list to close against 63 for detached, and a slightly higher share closing over asking.
37 sales · median $1,500,000
median $1,049 / sq ft
Fifty-six detached sales in the past year, from a 1,013 sq ft house on Emma Drive at $1,315,000 to Summit Avenue at $9,300,000. They make up about half the market, and this is where the gap between asking and sold price is widest.
56 sales · median $2,725,000
median $1,244 / sq ft
For beaches, parks, the lagoon and a full breakdown of all thirteen Cardiff areas, see the Cardiff by the Sea city guide.
A third of Cardiff sales last year closed above asking, and the typical home went from listed to closed in 54 days. When the right house comes up, you’ll usually have a few days to decide. Having your loan fully underwritten ahead of time lets you write a clean offer quickly.
The railroad runs between most of Cardiff and the sand, and Chesterfield Drive is the crossing most people use. “Three blocks from the beach” can mean a two-minute walk or a ten-minute detour depending on which side of the tracks you’re on. I’m always happy to walk it with you.
Much of west Cardiff is in the California Coastal Zone, so an addition, a second story or an ADU can need a Coastal Development Permit on top of the City of Encinitas approval. It’s worth knowing before you write an offer.
With only seven homes on the market and a wide range of prices, appraisers don’t have many comparable sales to work with here. I send the supporting sales to the appraiser up front so we aren’t trying to argue value after the fact.
The median home that sold here last year was built in 1980 and was 1,881 square feet, and a quarter of them were built before 1970. Older sewer lines, original electrical panels and unpermitted additions are common and usually fixable, but it’s much better to price them into your offer than to find them in escrow. Our mortgage calculator is a good place to start on the numbers.
The median Cardiff sale last year closed at 100% of its asking price. The seven homes on the market right now have been listed for a median of 91 days. In my experience, the difference between those two groups is almost always the starting price.
Of the 95 homes that sold last year, 44 closed below their asking price, and the largest discount was 13%. A price reduction also shows up in every buyer’s search, and 14% of the homes listed in Cardiff right now have already had one.
Cardiff homes sell on light, ocean views and outdoor space, and that’s hard to capture at noon. We shoot in the late afternoon, when most of these houses look their best.
A Compass Private Exclusive lets us share your home with serious buyers before it goes on the MLS, so there’s no public days-on-market count while we test the price. It’s a good option if you’re unsure about pricing, or if you’d rather your neighbors not know yet.
Price is only one part of a strong offer. I lay out the financing, contingency periods, appraisal gap coverage and close date for each one so you can compare the whole picture. You can see some of our recent closings on our sold homes page.
I grew up in Encinitas, just up the coast, so Cardiff was part of my life long before it was part of my job. Donuts at VG’s, walks on the San Elijo Lagoon trail, and Swami’s on a good south swell.
I played Division I softball at the University of Vermont, earned my MBA at USC’s Marshall School of Business, and came back to North County to sell real estate here. I have two young kids, so I understand what a move asks of a family, and I always return calls the same day.
Negotiation is the part of the job I’m best at. What my clients tell me they remember most is that nothing came as a surprise. Most of my business now comes from past clients and their referrals, and that means a lot to me.
Last year I ranked 59th in sales volume among more than 20,000 agents in San Diego County. Most of that work is along this stretch of coast, and I’ve closed four homes in Cardiff since 2022. I update the market numbers on this page every month, whether or not I have a home for sale here.
Certifications
Over the past 4 years, Kelli has helped me buy and sell 3 different homes. She knows the market, was able to price my homes competitively and helped me purchase homes in a very competitive market. She has consistently been professional and gracious.
I've had 4 buying and selling transactions with Kelli and they were all amazing. She's a hard worker, good negotiator and knows how to get past even the most difficult counterpart broker. She's very responsive and knowledgeable.
Having sold 12 homes in our lives I can say the experience with Kelli was the ultimate. Her promptness to our queries was of the highest level. Kelli's knowledge of the market was invaluable in allowing us to receive a fair price for the sale of our home.
Kelli has a ton of connections in every trade, which is amazing when remodeling or needing quality contractors you can trust. Above all, Kelli has a wonderful personality and does everything with integrity.
We've closed four homes in Cardiff since 2022, most recently this July, representing both buyers and sellers.
| Address | Closed | Sold price | Beds | Size | vs. asking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 960 Woodlake Dr | Jul 10, 2026 | $1,500,000 | 3 bd | 1,176 sf | +0.1% |
| 2144 Edinburg Ave | Feb 5, 2024 | $2,200,000 | 3 bd | 2,506 sf | — |
| 761 Ocean Crest Rd | May 3, 2023 | $2,200,000 | 4 bd | 2,728 sf | −4.3% |
| 1557 Summit Ave | Mar 22, 2022 | $2,375,000 | 3 bd | 1,333 sf | +31.9% |
960 Woodlake Drive listed on May 4 at $1,499,000, went into escrow on June 8 and fell out the next day. We had a buyer who had been watching the area, so when it came back on the market on June 9 we wrote an offer that week. It closed on July 10 at $1,500,000.
1557 Summit Avenue sold for 31.9% over its asking price in March 2022. That was a very different market, and I wouldn't expect a result like that today.
Closings by KM Coastal at Compass. Full collection on our sold homes page.
Updated September 8, 2026. Closings from San Diego MLS (92007, all property types, close of escrow 9/2025–9/2026, n=95). Inventory, days on market and Market Action Index from the Altos Research 92007 report. I refresh this section monthly.
The number you'll often see quoted for Cardiff is $4,349,000. That's the median asking price of the seven homes for sale today. With so few listings, one or two expensive homes can move that number a lot, so it doesn't tell you much about what homes here actually sell for.
Here's what buyers paid over the past year:
Asking price tells you about the handful of homes for sale this week. Sold price tells you about the market.
These two numbers can look like they disagree. The Market Action Index of 51 points to a strong seller's market, while the homes listed today have been on the market for a median of 91 days. Both are true. There isn't much for sale in Cardiff and demand is strong, but most of the current listings are priced near the top of the range and buyers are waiting. Half of last year's sales closed at or above asking, and those were the homes priced in line with recent sales.
95 closed sales in 92007, all property types.
Detached houses ran a median of $2,725,000 across 56 sales. Townhomes, twinhomes and condos ran $1,500,000 across 37 sales. About two thirds of last year's sales landed between $1,500,000 and $3,500,000.
This is every home that closed in 92007 in the seven weeks before September 8, listed by any brokerage, most recent first. I've included the ones that sold below asking too.
| Address | Type | Asked | Sold | Diff | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 Bruceala Ct | Detached | $3,099,900 | $3,100,000 | list | Sep 3, 2026 |
| 1129 Woodlake Dr | Townhome | $1,198,000 | $1,210,000 | +1.0% | Aug 31, 2026 |
| 926 Nolbey St | Detached | $1,599,000 | $1,625,000 | +1.6% | Aug 30, 2026 |
| 2309–11 Oxford Ave | Detached | $3,000,000 | $3,217,000 | +7.2% | Aug 30, 2026 |
| 2704 MacKinnon Ranch Rd | Detached | $2,850,000 | $2,840,000 | −0.4% | Aug 26, 2026 |
| 2152 Manchester Ave | Detached | $2,700,000 | $2,850,000 | +5.6% | Aug 25, 2026 |
| 962 Woodgrove Dr | Townhome | $1,399,900 | $1,221,000 | −12.8% | Aug 20, 2026 |
| 353 Dublin Dr | Twinhome | $1,750,000 | $1,746,750 | −0.2% | Aug 16, 2026 |
| 1506 Summit Ave | Detached | $9,950,000 | $9,300,000 | −6.5% | Aug 10, 2026 |
| 1974 Manchester Ave | Detached | $2,699,000 | $2,575,000 | −4.6% | Jul 31, 2026 |
| 2111 Edinburg Ave | Townhome | $3,125,000 | $3,000,000 | −4.0% | Jul 26, 2026 |
| 941 Nolbey St | Detached | $3,250,000 | $3,000,000 | −7.7% | Jul 21, 2026 |
Source: San Diego MLS, all closed sales in 92007 regardless of listing brokerage. Data is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Over the twelve months to September 2026, the median sale in 92007 was $2,324,800 across 95 homes. Detached houses had a median of $2,725,000, and townhomes, twinhomes and condos had a median of $1,500,000. About two thirds of the homes that sold were between $1,500,000 and $3,500,000. The lowest sale was $830,000 and the highest was $9,300,000.
Most sites quote the median asking price of the homes for sale right now, and Cardiff only has seven of those. Today that number is $4,349,000. The median price homes actually sold for over the past year is $2,324,800. With so few listings, one or two expensive homes can move the asking-price median a lot in a single week, so it's worth checking which number you're looking at.
The typical Cardiff home went from listed to closed in 54 days last year, which is about three weeks on the market plus a 30-day escrow. Townhomes and condos were faster at 42 days, and detached homes took 63. The homes on the market right now have been listed for a median of 91 days, and in most cases that comes down to where they were priced.
No. Cardiff is one of the five communities that make up the City of Encinitas, along with Old Encinitas, New Encinitas, Leucadia and Olivenhain. It has its own zip code, 92007, and its own elementary school district, which is why it works like its own market even though it isn't its own city.
Cardiff School District covers the elementary years with two campuses, Cardiff Elementary and Ada W. Harris Elementary. Middle and high school fall under San Dieguito Union High School District. Attendance boundaries are set by address and do change, so it's a good idea to confirm the assignment for a specific home with the district directly.
It depends on what you're looking for. The Market Action Index is at 51, which is a seller's market, but the seven homes listed today have been on the market for a median of 91 days, so there can be more room to negotiate on those than the headline numbers suggest. New listings priced in line with recent sales still move quickly, and 34% of last year's sales closed above asking. I usually look at it home by home rather than for the market as a whole.
With only seven homes for sale, pricing in Cardiff comes down to recent sales and knowing which streets compare to which. That local knowledge matters most in two places: setting the list price, and supporting the appraisal.
If you’re thinking about selling, I would love to come see your home. That’s the only way I can give you an accurate opinion of value. If you’re buying, tell me what you’re looking for and I’ll let you know what’s realistic in Cardiff right now.
I’m happy to hop on a call whenever works for you.
Kelli Miller
Realtor, Compass · North County Coastal · DRE 01840131
858.784.1674
miller.kelli@gmail.com
KMcoastal.com
@kmcoastal
Kelli Miller, Realtor, DRE 01840131. Compass is a licensed real estate broker, DRE 01527365. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Market data compiled 8 September 2026 from San Diego MLS closed sales in 92007 and the Altos Research 92007 market report. Information is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. Figures describe past transactions and are not a prediction of future results. School attendance boundaries are set by the districts and are subject to change.
