Murrieta, California Housing Market

What stands out in Murrieta?

• 3.4% of homes are vacant: among the lowest vacancy of 765 tracked cities. Empty homes are scarce, so well-priced rentals fill.

Is housing keeping up with Murrieta's growth?

The population in Murrieta's ZIP codes grew 8.5% over five years, faster than 81% of the cities we track. Households (+20.5%) grew faster than housing (+17.9%). Demand is outrunning supply. Homes for sale are 25% below 2017–2019 at this time of year.

Is now a good time to buy in Murrieta?

The median asking price is 5.9% below its Feb 2025 peak. You are not buying at the top. Prices stopped falling about a year ago. They are flat now. Waiting will not get you a cheaper house. It might still get you a more motivated seller. Murrieta prices have risen in 87 of the last 111 months. Drops here have been short and shallow. Buying in a slow month has rarely hurt a long hold.

This market is turning. Which way is not settled yet. Check the monthly numbers above before you commit.

How does Murrieta compare with other California markets?

Ranked among the 141 California markets we track:

• Asking price: 58th cheapest of 141. Murrieta is at $715,392. Closest: Redlands and Oakley.
• Buyer competition: 51st least competitive of 138. Murrieta is at 0.37 buyers per home. Closest: Thousand Oaks and Yorba Linda.
• Time on market: 33rd longest time on market of 141. Murrieta is at a median of 58 days on market. Closest: Laguna Niguel and Santa Clarita.
• Price cuts: 45th most price cuts of 141. Murrieta is at 21% of sellers cutting. Closest: Victorville and Escondido.

Who will rent from you in Murrieta?

In Murrieta, 27 out of every 100 households rent. Most own their home. The renter share is shrinking. Five years ago it was 31 in 100. Murrieta added about 600 renter households in five years. Renter households here average 3.0 people. Families rent here. Buy bedrooms. Studios will sit.

The median Murrieta household earns $120,103 a year. Incomes here have grown 4.9% a year since 2019. Incomes are rising faster than home prices. Affordability is improving. A typical home costs 6.0 times the median income. Most locals cannot buy. That keeps rental demand deep. It also caps the rent they can pay. At 30% of income, a tenant on the median income can pay about $3,003 a month.

To see what one Murrieta address would rent for and cash flow, run it through the app.

When do Murrieta prices dip?

Across 9 full years, Murrieta asking prices ran lowest in January, about 3.0% below the year's average. They peaked in December. The most homes for sale show up in September, about 18% above the yearly average. Shop in September for choice, and expect the softest asking prices in January.

What numbers should you underwrite a Murrieta deal with?

• Price growth to assume — +3.3%/yr. Murrieta grew 5.8% a year over the decade. Ignore that rate. Most of it landed in the 2020 and 2021 boom. Without the boom, Murrieta grows about 3.3% a year. That is the number to type in. Prices fell 1.9% over the last year. Use it for timing. The five-year rate is the better guide.
• Comp on price per square foot — $319/sqft. The typical Murrieta listing shrank from 2,895 to 2,483 sqft since Jul 2016. So median price hides real growth: 79% per sqft versus 64% on the median. Comp on median price and you will overpay for small homes.
• Competition when you exit — -6%. Homes for sale in Murrieta are down 6% on last year, so your resale faces less competition than today's comps did.

Read how population change affects rentals and how we read these numbers, then run the numbers on a deal.

What is the median home price in Murrieta?

The median asking price in Murrieta is about $715,000 as of Sep 2026, down 1.3% from a year ago. This is the asking price on homes listed for sale. Sites that report sold prices or estimated home values will show a different number. Our Murrieta figures cover the 3 ZIP codes with a Murrieta mailing address, which can reach past city limits.

Is Murrieta a buyer's or seller's market in 2026?

Neither side has the upper hand in Murrieta right now. We compare Murrieta with 2017–2019 at this time of year: the typical listing has been up 37% more days; there are 25% fewer homes for sale; 21% of sellers have cut their price, against 28% then.

Are Murrieta home prices going up or down?

The median asking price is 5.9% below its Feb 2025 peak. You are not buying at the top. Prices stopped falling about a year ago. They are flat now. Waiting will not get you a cheaper house. It might still get you a more motivated seller.

Are there more homes for sale in Murrieta than before the pandemic?

No. There are 382 homes for sale, 25% fewer than in 2017–2019 at this time of year.

What is the fair market rent in Murrieta?

HUD's fiscal year 2026 fair market rent for Riverside County is $2,201 a month for 2 bedrooms and $2,912 for 3 bedrooms. The figures include tenant-paid utilities and cover the whole county.