If you are being relocated to the South Bay of Los Angeles, where to look depends on where the office is, what the housing budget is, and whether you want a house on a lot, a townhome near the sand or a view home on the hill. An office near LAX or the El Segundo corridor points you at El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach, each 10 to 45 minutes from the terminals on a Tuesday at 8:00 AM; a job at the Port of Los Angeles or in Torrance points at San Pedro, Torrance and the Palos Verdes Peninsula, where that drive runs 2 to 40 minutes; a Century City or downtown office is 40 minutes to two hours from every market in the table, so that choice rests on budget and housing type.
Chhabria Real Estate Company has sold thousands of homes on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the Beach Cities and the Greater South Bay since 1984, and the first question from a buyer with a start date is always where to look.
How the South Bay markets compare for a relocating buyer
Market figures are closed single family home sales from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026, from our October 6, 2026 pull of California Regional MLS (CRMLS) data. Months of supply is the number of homes for sale on October 19, 2026 divided by that market’s average monthly closings for July through September 2026. Drive times are Google Maps typical ranges for a Tuesday 8:00 AM departure, measured November 2, 2026, from each city hall (details under the table). Each market name opens that market’s own page.
| Market | Months of supply | Median days on market | Share of original asking | Median sale price | To LAX | To Century City | To downtown Los Angeles | To the Port of Los Angeles | School district | Housing stock and rules | One trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Segundo | 0.9 | 19.5 | 98.0% | $2,009,750 | 9 to 18 min | 40 min to 1 hr 30 min | 45 min to 1 hr 20 min | 26 to 40 min | El Segundo Unified | Single family homes and townhomes on city lots west of Pacific Coast Highway. The city runs a Residential Sound Insulation Program and an LAX noise page, and its General Plan Noise Element names LAX flight operations as the dominant noise source, mainly in the northwestern part of the city. | LAX’s runways sit on the city’s northern boundary, and the Chevron El Segundo Refinery, about 1,000 acres, sits inside the city. The 405 is about three quarters of a mile east of the city line. |
| Manhattan Beach | 1.6 | 22 | 98.4% | $3,813,000 | 12 to 26 min | 40 min to 1 hr 20 min | 50 min to 1 hr 30 min | 26 to 45 min | Manhattan Beach Unified | Sand Section walk streets and The Strand, which the Local Coastal Plan keeps for non-vehicular beach access; walk street encroachments are limited to walkways, patios and decks, with fences capped at 42 inches. Residential height limit 30 feet in the coastal zone. The Tree Section sits between Rosecrans Avenue, Sepulveda Boulevard and Manhattan Beach Boulevard. | The Sand and Hill Sections sit west of Sepulveda Boulevard; a freeway trip starts on Rosecrans Avenue or Manhattan Beach Boulevard to the 405, east of the city. |
| Hermosa Beach | 2.2 | 21 | 97.3% | $2,650,000 | 14 to 35 min | 45 min to 1 hr 30 min | 50 min to 1 hr 40 min | 26 to 50 min | Hermosa Beach City School District (TK through 8) | Walk streets and The Strand. Height caps of 25 feet in R-1 and 30 feet in R-2 and R-3; condominiums on the front half of a lot are capped at 25 feet except on walk streets. Lots of 2,100 square feet or less may be covered 70 percent, and R-2 lots under 30 feet wide are single family only. | The school district ends at eighth grade. High school is a choice between Mira Costa in Manhattan Beach and Redondo Union in Redondo Beach, under a 1992 arrangement, not an automatic assignment. |
| Redondo Beach | 1.4 | 13 | 100.0% | $1,675,263 | 18 to 45 min | 55 min to 1 hr 50 min | 55 min to 1 hr 40 min | 24 to 45 min | Redondo Beach Unified | Single family homes are about 54 percent of the housing stock and multi family homes, townhomes included, about 46 percent (2021 to 2029 Housing Element). North Redondo carries most of the townhome stock; South Redondo, the Esplanade and Riviera Village sit south of Torrance Boulevard. | A Redondo Beach 90277 mailing address does not always mean Redondo Beach: the Hollywood Riviera hillside above Riviera Village is inside Torrance, with Torrance schools. |
| Hollywood Riviera | 1.3 | 21 | 98.2% | $2,190,250 | 24 to 55 min | 55 min to 2 hr | 55 min to 1 hr 40 min | 20 to 45 min | Torrance Unified | Hillside homes above Torrance Beach on a 1927 tract, the first houses built in the 1940s and remodeled in every decade since. Inside Torrance city limits whether the address reads Torrance 90505 or Redondo Beach 90277. CRMLS area 128. | Elevation and outlook set value lot by lot, so two homes on one street can sell far apart. |
| Torrance | 1.2 | 12 | 100.0% | $1,292,500 | 20 to 45 min | 50 min to 1 hr 50 min | 50 min to 1 hr 30 min | 18 to 35 min | Torrance Unified | Single family tracts across the city’s MLS areas, with the largest sales count in the table. Torrance Unified’s boundary matches the city limits, so the district answer is the same for every Torrance address. | The Torrance Refinery, a 700 acre PBF Energy site with 166,000 barrels a day of crude capacity, and Zamperini Field, the city’s general aviation airport at 3301 Airport Drive, open 6 AM to 10 PM daily, sit inside the city. |
| Palos Verdes Estates | 1.5 | 27 | 96.4% | $2,950,000 | 26 min to 1 hr 10 min | 1 to 2 hr | 55 min to 1 hr 50 min | 22 to 40 min | Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified | Every exterior change, new structure, landscape and hardscape plan goes through the Palos Verdes Homes Association’s Art Jury, a private corporation formed in 1923, before any city permit. Where the deed restrictions and the city code differ, the more restrictive one prevails. | No freeway crosses the Peninsula. A trip north begins on Palos Verdes Drive and reaches the 405 by Hawthorne Boulevard or Crenshaw Boulevard, which is why the LAX range runs to 1 hour 10 minutes. |
| Rolling Hills Estates | 2.0 | 21.5 | 98.0% | $2,609,000 | 28 min to 1 hr 5 min | 55 min to 2 hr | 55 min to 1 hr 40 min | 16 to 35 min | Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified | A Horse Overlay zone allows up to four horses on a lot with 800 square feet for the first horse and 300 for each additional one, at least 35 feet from any dwelling, with 42 inch three rail fences; front yard fences outside the overlay are capped at 24 inches. | In the overlay, horse keeping areas and bridle trails are part of the lot plan next door as well as on your own lot; the overlay map decides which streets. |
| Rolling Hills | 4.5 | 76 | 90.0% | $4,600,000 | 30 min to 1 hr 5 min | 1 to 2 hr | 55 min to 1 hr 40 min | 14 to 28 min | Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified | One acre minimum lot size, residential zoning only, about three square miles in all. The homeowners association manages access into the city and maintains the roads. | Access runs through association gates, and the market is thin: 19 sales in the window and 8 closings in the last quarter, so a 76 day median and 4.5 months of supply swing with any two listings. |
| Rancho Palos Verdes | 2.9 | 27.5 | 96.8% | $1,900,000 | 35 min to 1 hr 20 min | 1 hr 5 min to 2 hr 10 min | 1 hr to 1 hr 50 min | 22 to 28 min | Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified | Inside the city’s landslide area, Ordinance 692, in force since September 18, 2025, permanently prohibits new residential construction and additions; repairs and same footprint rebuilds are allowed with a Landslide Exception Permit. Outside that area the usual city permits apply. | The Portuguese Bend landslide area: electricity was discontinued indefinitely in the affected zones on September 1, 2024, gas to 29 Seaview homes on September 6, 2024, and the boundary was redrawn in 2025 to add eight properties. Check the city map against the address before offering. |
| Unincorporated Peninsula | 3.0 | 16 | 99.5% | $2,247,500 | 35 min to 1 hr 15 min | 1 to 2 hr | 55 min to 1 hr 40 min | 18 to 35 min | Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified | County pockets such as Westfield and Academy Hills that sit in no city, so planning and services come from Los Angeles County. CRMLS files these sales under “Palos Verdes Peninsula” instead of a city name. | Twenty-eight sales in the window, so one or two closings swing every figure in this row. |
| San Pedro | 3.0 | 24 | 99.2% | $995,000 | 40 min to 1 hr 10 min | 1 hr 5 min to 2 hr 10 min | 50 min to 1 hr 30 min | 2 min | Los Angeles Unified | A district of the City of Los Angeles, with the lowest median sale price in the table. Eastview addresses carry San Pedro mail but sit inside Rancho Palos Verdes, so the city and district change at the line. | The Port of Los Angeles, 7,500 acres along 43 miles of waterfront that handled 10.2 million containers in 2025, operates at the harbor edge of the neighborhood. |
Drive times: Google Maps, driving, “Depart at” Tuesday, November 10, 2026, 8:00 AM, typical traffic range for the recommended route, read November 2, 2026. Origins: each city hall (El Segundo 350 Main Street; Manhattan Beach 1400 Highland Avenue; Hermosa Beach 1315 Valley Drive; Redondo Beach 415 Diamond Street; Torrance 3031 Torrance Boulevard; Palos Verdes Estates 340 Palos Verdes Drive West; Rolling Hills Estates 4045 Palos Verdes Drive North; Rolling Hills 2 Portuguese Bend Road; Rancho Palos Verdes 30940 Hawthorne Boulevard), Riviera Village at 1799 South Catalina Avenue for Hollywood Riviera, Westfield Park for the unincorporated Peninsula, and the San Pedro Municipal Building at 638 South Beacon Street. Destinations: LAX at 1 World Way; 1900 Avenue of the Stars, Century City; Los Angeles City Hall, 200 North Spring Street; the Port of Los Angeles Administration Building, 425 South Palos Verdes Street, San Pedro. Your own address and office will land inside or near these ranges; Neil runs the exact pair for you before the first showing.
Stats presented here represent the city or area as a whole, not any one individual property. Hollywood Riviera is CRMLS area 128, inside the City of Torrance; its figures are separate from the Torrance and Redondo Beach rows. The unincorporated Peninsula line is the CRMLS city field’s catch-all, not a city.
Which South Bay markets have the shortest drive to LAX?
El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach, in that order: 9 to 18 minutes from El Segundo City Hall, 12 to 26 from Manhattan Beach, 14 to 35 from Hermosa Beach and 18 to 45 from Redondo Beach on a Tuesday at 8:00 AM, measured in Google Maps on November 2, 2026. Torrance (20 to 45) and Hollywood Riviera (24 to 55) come next.
Every Peninsula market and San Pedro runs 26 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes for the same trip, because no freeway crosses the Peninsula and the drive begins on Palos Verdes Drive or Hawthorne Boulevard. For a buyer whose office sits in the aerospace and tech corridor south of the airport, that is the difference between a 15 minute commute and a 45 minute one, and it is the first filter to apply to the table. The same corridor is where LAX’s westerly departures turn out over the ocean; LAWA’s own material names the communities east of the airport, Inglewood, Athens and Lennox, as the ones under arrivals, and runs a monitored program for Peninsula overflights by southbound turboprop departures.
Where in the South Bay do homes come up for sale most often?
Torrance, with 528 closed single family sales in the twelve months to September 30, 2026, then Rancho Palos Verdes with 291, Manhattan Beach with 270, Redondo Beach with 226 and San Pedro with 228. Rolling Hills had 19 and the unincorporated Peninsula 28, so those markets offer a relocating buyer only a handful of homes in any given month.
Supply tells the other half. El Segundo’s 0.9 months means everything for sale there on October 19, 2026 would be gone in under four weeks at the summer sales pace; Torrance at 1.2 and Hollywood Riviera at 1.3 are close behind. Rolling Hills at 4.5 months, San Pedro and the unincorporated Peninsula at 3.0 and Rancho Palos Verdes at 2.9 give a buyer more to look at and more time to decide. In Neil’s experience, a relocating buyer with a firm start date does better choosing a market with two months of supply or more, where a second showing is possible before the home is gone, than squeezing a 30 day timeline into a market that clears in three weeks.
Which South Bay markets sell closest to the asking price?
Redondo Beach and Torrance, where the median home closed at 100.0 percent of its original asking price in the twelve months to September 30, 2026, then the unincorporated Peninsula at 99.5 percent, San Pedro at 99.2 and Manhattan Beach at 98.4. Palos Verdes Estates closed at 96.4 percent, Rancho Palos Verdes at 96.8 and Rolling Hills at 90.0.
For a buyer, 96.4 percent works out to about $36,000 under asking for every $1 million, and 90.0 percent to about $100,000 under asking for every $1 million, where 100.0 percent means the median home sold for what it listed at and half sold for more. The Beach Cities and Torrance are where an offer below asking has the least room; the Peninsula’s longer days on market, 27 in Palos Verdes Estates and 76 in Rolling Hills, are where the time to negotiate exists. If you own a home in one of the 100 percent markets, the same figures say a well priced listing there is not sitting.
What rules come with buying on the Palos Verdes Peninsula?
In Palos Verdes Estates, every exterior change, new structure, landscape and hardscape plan goes through the Palos Verdes Homes Association’s Art Jury before any city permit, and the association’s deed restrictions date to 1923. In Rolling Hills, lots are a minimum of one acre, zoning is residential only, and the homeowners association manages the gates and maintains the roads. In Rolling Hills Estates, a Horse Overlay zone sets where horses may be kept and how. In Rancho Palos Verdes, Ordinance 692 permanently bars new residential construction and additions inside the landslide area.
The city of Palos Verdes Estates puts it plainly: the Art Jury’s process “is separate from any City approvals that may be required for a project,” and where the two differ, “the more restrictive prevails.” For a relocating buyer that means a kitchen remodel that touches a window, a new paint color or a front yard replant is an application, with its own timeline, before the city sees it. In Rancho Palos Verdes, the landslide boundary was redrawn in 2025 to add eight properties, seven in Seaview and one in the Portuguese Bend Beach Club, and the city’s archive records electricity discontinued indefinitely in the affected zones on September 1, 2024 and gas to 29 Seaview homes on September 6, 2024. Most of the city sits outside that area; the city map, read against the exact address, settles it before an offer is written.
How far are the Palos Verdes Peninsula and San Pedro from the freeways?
No freeway crosses the Palos Verdes hills. From Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills Estates, Rolling Hills and Rancho Palos Verdes, a trip north begins on Palos Verdes Drive and reaches the 405 by Hawthorne Boulevard or Crenshaw Boulevard, or the 110 by Western Avenue. San Pedro sits at the southern end of the 110, so its trips north start on the freeway, which is why its downtown Los Angeles range, 50 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, is shorter than Rancho Palos Verdes’ 1 hour to 1 hour 50 minutes.
The Peninsula’s canyon and ridge roads are the trade for its view lots and larger parcels: a Century City or downtown office is 55 minutes to 2 hours 10 minutes away at 8:00 AM from any Peninsula city hall, against 40 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes from El Segundo or Manhattan Beach. For a buyer with a port or Torrance job the order reverses: Rolling Hills City Hall is 14 to 28 minutes from the Port of Los Angeles, Rolling Hills Estates 16 to 35, Rancho Palos Verdes 22 to 28.
Which school district serves each South Bay market?
El Segundo Unified serves El Segundo; Manhattan Beach Unified serves Manhattan Beach; Hermosa Beach City School District serves Hermosa Beach through eighth grade; Redondo Beach Unified serves Redondo Beach; Torrance Unified serves Torrance and Hollywood Riviera; Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified serves Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills Estates, Rolling Hills, Rancho Palos Verdes and the unincorporated Peninsula; Los Angeles Unified serves San Pedro. We name districts and schools and do not rank them.
Two lines catch relocating buyers. Hermosa Beach has no high school: after eighth grade, students may attend Mira Costa in Manhattan Beach or Redondo Union in Redondo Beach, a choice under a 1992 arrangement, not an assignment. And a mailing address is not a district: Hollywood Riviera homes with Redondo Beach addresses are in Torrance Unified, and Eastview homes with San Pedro addresses are in Rancho Palos Verdes and Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified. Our South Bay Schools pages carry each district’s boundary map or address lookup, and Neil will make the call to the district with you and get the answer in writing before contingencies come off.
How Neil helps a relocating buyer
Before the first showing, Neil takes your office address, start date, budget and housing type and runs the drive for your exact pair at your hour, then narrows the table to two or three markets and sends the closed comparables for each from the same CRMLS data behind this page. Showings are grouped by market so a weekend trip covers the shortlist instead of the map. For a Peninsula purchase he reads the Art Jury, association and landslide map questions against the address before you write; for a Beach Cities purchase he reads the walk street, Strand and height rules the same way.
Two free tools help before you arrive. Your Buyer’s Wallet turns income, down payment and today’s rate into a price range for each market in the table, and Shortcut to Approval lists what a lender asks for at pre-approval so the file is ready the week you land. The tools give general real estate information, not lending, tax, legal or investment advice; your lender, CPA or attorney answers for your own numbers.
There is no obligation.
Buying, selling, or still deciding if the South Bay is where you’ll settle down next? Neil Chhabria, Broker, 310.798.3122, [email protected].
Market figures: closed single family home sales, October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026, our October 6, 2026 CRMLS pull; active listings counted by market on October 19, 2026. Drive times measured in Google Maps on November 2, 2026. Rules and sources read November 2, 2026. Figures refresh with our monthly market update. Stats presented here represent the city or area as a whole, not any one individual property. Market figures do not account for unpublished or off market transactions.
Sources
- California Regional MLS (CRMLS), our own pulls of October 6 and October 19, 2026; method on Market Insights.
- Google Maps, driving directions with a Tuesday, November 10, 2026, 8:00 AM departure, read November 2, 2026.
- City of Palos Verdes Estates, Palos Verdes Homes Association and Neighborhood Compatibility Application Guidelines; Palos Verdes Homes Association.
- City of Rolling Hills, About Rolling Hills.
- City of Rolling Hills Estates, Planning FAQs.
- City of Rancho Palos Verdes, Landslide Area Development Regulations, Landslide Moratorium Areas and 2024 Community Updates Archive.
- City of Manhattan Beach, Local Coastal Plan and Encroachment Manual.
- City of Hermosa Beach, Residential Zoning Summary.
- City of Redondo Beach, 2021 to 2029 Housing Element, adopted July 2022.
- City of El Segundo, General Plan Noise Element and LAX Aircraft Noise Information; Chevron, El Segundo Refinery overview.
- City of Torrance, Torrance Airport; PBF Energy, Refineries; our Hollywood Riviera guide.
- Port of Los Angeles, About the Port.
- Los Angeles World Airports, LAX Preferential Runway Use Policy report, June 15, 2023, and Efforts to Reduce or Limit Aircraft Noise at LAX.
- School districts: El Segundo Unified, Manhattan Beach Unified, Hermosa Beach City School District, Redondo Beach Unified, Torrance Unified, Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified, Los Angeles Unified; our South Bay Schools pages.
Neil Chhabria, Broker, DRE 01821437. Chhabria Real Estate Company, DRE 01923145, 717 Yarmouth Road, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Have a question about this? Neil answers personally.