Spring Is Opening with a Different Tone Than Last Year

February closed faster than I expected. The spring buyer pool is forming earlier this year, and the homes priced cleanly are clearing in two to three weeks. What has changed most is the quality of the conversations. People who paused for two years are coming off the sidelines, and they are working with sharper criteria than they were the last time they looked. The rule has not changed. Pricing right from day one is still the difference between a quiet listing and a competitive one. The window for that conversation, before a home goes on the market, is right now.

What's Happening in the Neighborhood

This Issue  |  Dana Point

Del Prado Place Brings 18 New Condos to the Lantern District

Dana Point, the harbor town between San Clemente and Laguna Beach, runs from the harbor up through Doheny, Salt Creek, and the Headlands. Del Prado Place, a roughly 31,000 square foot mixed-use building on Del Prado Avenue, is bringing 18 new condominium units to the heart of the Lantern District, with completion slated for April. Units run roughly 1,236 to 1,902 square feet, with one-bedroom suites and two-level two-bedroom townhomes, and all of them within walking distance to the harbor. The first new for-sale supply this side of the village in years.

Harbor Phase 3 Demolition Is Now Underway

Phase 3 of the Dana Point Harbor revitalization began demolition in February, including the existing Marina Inn. When this phase finishes, it will deliver more than 100,000 square feet of new waterfront commercial space, plus restaurants, retail, and rooftop decks. Total investment across the harbor project is approaching 600 million dollars. The harbor is getting reshaped on a timeline that will touch the next several years of comps for everything that looks at it.

What's New in Dana Point

The 55th Festival of Whales Just Wrapped at the Harbor

The 55th annual Festival of Whales ran March 6 to 8 down at the harbor. The festival celebrates the gray whale migration along the coast and is one of the longer-running community events in the South County calendar. If you missed it this year, it lands on the same weekend most years, worth putting on the 2027 list.

Doheny Is Quietly the Best Time of Year to Visit

Pre-summer at Doheny State Beach is the locals' window. Less crowded, longer light, surf usually breaking. If you have been considering a move to the coast and have only seen the area in the summer crowds, March is the month that shows you the real version.

Deals Worth Knowing About

Downtown San Clemente Coastal Compound

A compound property in downtown San Clemente, a short walk to Avenida Del Mar, the pier, and T-Street. One double lot holds an architect-designed main home and two additional independent living spaces, each with its own entrance, kitchen, and yard.

A Coastal Home Where the Numbers Favor a Patient Buyer

A South Orange County coastal home where the original financing structure is starting to put real pressure on the timeline. The current asking price reflects a more relaxed conversation than the listing might suggest. The kind of situation worth a quiet phone call before it becomes a public price reduction.

Want to learn more about one of these properties?

By The Numbers

San Clemente Single-Family  |  February 2026

Source: CRMLS via InfoSparks, February 2026 closings.