PORTOLA HILLS LIVING by Kelly Turbeville

Another Happy Seller! 🏡 This Portola Hills condo had been sitting on the market for 45 days with fewer than five showings and no offers before the sellers reached out to me. Instead of hoping for a different outcome, we changed the strategy. ✔️ New photography ✔️ Fresh marketing ✔️ Repositioned the listing ✔️ Consistent follow-up The result? Under contract in less than 30 days. Every home has a story, and sometimes it's not the home that needs to change. It's the marketing behind it. Thank you to my wonderful clients for trusting me with the sale of your investment property and for this incredible review. It means more than you know. If your home isn't getting the attention it deserves, let's have a conversation before you make your next move. 📍Portola Hills | Lake Forest | Orange County SEARCH AVAILABLE PORTOLA HILLS HOMES About Kelly Turbeville Hi, I'm Kelly, a local Realtor, writer, and the voice behind Portola Hills Living . I've been helping buyers an...

  Opportunity Does Present Itself. You Just Have to Be Tapped In. Every market has one. The house everyone wishes they had written an offer on. The one buyers look back at a few months later and say... "We should have bought that one." That is exactly what happened with 28873 Canyon Point in the Portola Hills community of Lake Forest. When we listed this home, I wrote about why I believed it was one of the best opportunities in South Orange County. At the time, it was listed for $525,000 , well below recent neighborhood sales and at a price point that has become increasingly difficult to find in Orange County. Some buyers saw the opportunity. Others kept waiting for "something better." The Numbers Tell the Story 28873 Canyon Point has now officially closed escrow at $520,000. For many buyers, that represents one of the last opportunities to purchase in South Orange County at this price level. Why? Because real estate is rarely about finding the perfect home. It...

  Portola Hills Real Estate: Buyers Found Deals in Q1… But Sellers Need to Pay Attention Now If you’ve been watching the Portola Hills real estate market and assuming nothing is moving unless it’s perfect , that’s not exactly true. The first quarter of 2026 actually told us something important:  Buyers who were paying attention found opportunity.  And that matters. Because while the market didn’t fall apart, it also didn’t behave like the wild “throw a number at the wall and hope” years either. In fact, several homes in Portola Hills sold below what many would consider neighborhood market potential . That means one thing:  The buyers who were active in Q1 had more leverage than people expected. And for sellers? That’s your warning shot. Yes, Inventory Increased; That Changed the Conversation One of the biggest shifts we saw in the first quarter was more inventory hitting the market . When inventory rises, buyers get options. And when buyers get options, they get pick...

While it seems like it is more summer than spring, with the hot weather we have this week.. Today's forecast is 94 degrees and it's March.   We technically haven't even hit Spring yet. That happens next week.    Orange County doesn't really get hit with a seasonal delay in the market.. We have more what I call a holiday hangover market. It doesn't really start to wake up until after Super Bowl weekend.  At that point, inventory is generally the lowest.. as we get closer to April.. Inventory really begins to increase.. With May having the most activity. Listings that come typically after that tend to stay on the market a bit longer.  So the spring window to sell a home in the OC is pretty quick.  Of course, interest rates, world events also all play a role.. Which is what we are actually seeing today in the market.  Below is a quick look at both the Attached Market and Single Family Market.  This is through February. Where we saw the first maj...

As we stepped into 2026, Portola Hills is showing movement. Interest rates have eased to 5.99%, and we’re seeing buyer demand pick up after a slower finish to last year. Inventory is heavier than we typically see at the start of a new year...partly due to a new phase release in The Oaks, ultimately giving buyers more options and sellers more competition.  Below is a quick snapshot of how the market ended in January. J anuary closed with an average sold price of $1,253,273 in Portola Hills, with single-family homes averaging $1,671,000 and attached homes at $793,333. Homes are taking a bit longer to sell; 69 to 85 days on average, and we’re sitting at roughly five months of inventory. That tells us we’re in a more balanced market to start 2026. Buyers have options, but well-priced homes are still achieving strong list-to-sell ratios at 100%. The opportunity isn’t gone; as rates come down... Spring might be reflective of what we say in 2022? The numbers tell the story: more inventory...

If you were a seller, you’ve felt like the market slowed down this summer, you’re not imagining it. Portola Hills homes, which typically sell in under 30 days, took an average of   64 days   to move this quarter. Many sellers were waiting and watching for offers that took a little longer to arrive. But when interest rates dipped, everything shifted.   Purchase applications jumped 30% , and suddenly, those “just-looking” buyers became serious again. The market energy is changing; and that’s something both buyers and sellers should be watching closely. Inventory increased, mostly due to   resales in IronRidge and new builds in The Oaks , which naturally stretches out the average days on market. Still, well-priced and well-presented homes continue to sell quickly — my most recent listings closed in   under two weeks . What It Means for Portola Hills Sellers If you’ve been waiting for the “perfect time” to list, don’t wait much longer. As demand begins to rise and r...