Buying a Condo in Long Beach: HOA, SB 326 & Financing

Q: Did AB 2579 extend the SB 326 deadline for condos?

No. AB 2579 extended the deadline under SB 721, which covers apartment buildings, to 1 January 2026. It did not extend the condominium deadline under SB 326, which remained 1 January 2025. This is a common misunderstanding among condo boards, so do not accept a verbal assurance that the association has more time. Ask to see the completed inspection report.

Key figures

Long Beach condos by the numbers

Jan 2025Balcony inspection deadlineBuildings that missed it are behind on the law

$10,000 to $25,000Typical balcony repairBilled to owners, often as a surprise assessment

Every 9 yearsRe-inspection cycleIt repeats, not a one time check

From 2026Report goes to buyersNew disclosure rule

Over 50%Renters in a buildingAbove this share an FHA loan is usually off the table

3.5%Lowest down paymentFHA approved buildings only

Start here

Why a condo is often the right answer in Long Beach

A Long Beach condo is the most realistic way to own near the water in this city, at a little over half the citywide median for all homes, and it buys a genuinely walkable life: Pine Avenue, the shoreline path, the marina and the aquarium within a few minutes on foot, with no roof, no yard and no exterior upkeep. Downtown, the East Village and Ocean Boulevard hold most of the stock. What separates a good buy from an expensive lesson is almost never the unit: it is the association behind it. Three things decide that in 2026. Whether the building has completed its SB 326 balcony inspection, which was due by 1 January 2025 and which lenders are now refusing to finance without. Whether the HOA's reserves can absorb what that inspection found, because special assessments running from tens of thousands to well over a hundred thousand dollars per unit are being levied across California. And whether the project is warrantable at all, since one owner holding too many units, thin reserves or active litigation can make a building unfinanceable regardless of how good the unit is, and a heavily rented building can remove the low down payment FHA route entirely. Ask for the HOA documents before you fall in love with the view.

The cheapest realistic way to live near the water in a walkable part of the city.

Start with the arithmetic, because it is the whole argument. The median asking price for a Long Beach condo sits at a little over half the citywide median for all homes, and the live snapshot above shows today's figure. That gap is the difference between owning near the water in this city and not owning here at all.

What the money buys is a genuinely walkable life, which is rarer in Southern California than the brochures suggest. Downtown, the East Village Arts District and the Ocean Boulevard corridor put you within a few minutes on foot of Pine Avenue restaurants, the shoreline path, the marina and the Aquarium of the Pacific, with the Queen Mary across the water. Long Beach is flat and holds a Silver level Bicycle Friendly Community award, so people here actually do this rather than intending to.

The building takes work off your hands too. No roof to replace, no yard, no exterior paint, and for anyone who travels or owns a second home it locks and leaves without a list of things to arrange. For a first purchase, a downsizing move, or a foothold near the coast, this is frequently the sensible choice rather than the consolation prize.

So the question is never whether a Long Beach condo is a good idea. It usually is. The question is whether a specific building is a good version of it, and that is decided entirely by the association behind it. What follows is how to tell.

Live market

Market snapshot

Active condos for sale

401Live MLS listings across Long Beach

Median asking price

$474,999Asking, not sold

Median days listed

50 daysFor listings still on the market

Updated September 1, 2026

On the market

Homes for sale in Long Beach

401 active listings in the mapped area

Just listed

$340,000

Co-op2 bd1 ba800 sqft

13311 Twin Hills Dr., M12-55E

Just listed

$399,900

Co-op2 bd1 ba900 sqft

1641 Monterey Rd M2-18A

Just listed

$349,000

Condo1 bd1 ba623 sqft

1831 E Appleton

Just listed

$315,000

Co-op2 bd1 ba750 sqft

1841 Sunningdale Rd 31G

Just listed

$699,888

Condo3 bd3 ba1,145 sqft

17720 Palo Verde

Just listed

$770,000

Condo3 bd2 ba1,599 sqft

12300 Montecito 24

Just listed

$425,000

Condo2 bd2 ba870 sqft

1123 Junipero Avenue 7

Just listed

$323,000

Co-op2 bd1 ba900 sqft

1420 Oakmont Rd M6 139K

Just listed

$879,000

Co-op2 bd2 ba1,300 sqft

1891 McKinney Way M15 26C

Just listed

$775,000

Condo3 bd2 ba1,260 sqft

700 E Ocean 808

Just listed

$915,000

Condo1 bd1 ba990 sqft

1310 E Ocean 1005

Just listed

$237,000

Co-op1 bd1 ba600 sqft

1621 Monterey Road M2-19D

Just listed

$560,000

Condo1 bd1 ba900 sqft

411 W Seaside 601

Just listed

$399,900

Condo1 bd1 ba702 sqft

488 E Ocean Boulevard 804

Just listed

$369,000

Co-op2 bd1 ba750 sqft

1720 Interlachen Rd., M12-41E

Just listed

$410,000

Condo1 bd1 ba710 sqft

1509 Stanley 110

View all 401 homes on the live map

The 2026 issue

SB 326: the balcony inspection that is stopping mortgages

The single most consequential thing to check on a California condo right now.

California's SB 326, in Civil Code section 5551, requires condominium associations to have their exterior elevated elements inspected by a licensed structural engineer, civil engineer or architect. That means balconies, decks, stairs and elevated walkways. The first deadline was 1 January 2025. It has passed, and associations that missed it are non-compliant.

A widespread misunderstanding is worth naming: AB 2579 extended the deadline for apartment buildings under the separate SB 721 regime to 1 January 2026. It did not extend the condominium deadline. Boards that believe they have more time are frequently mistaken.

For a buyer the consequences are immediate and financial. Inspections have been uncovering structural problems at scale, and associations have levied special assessments reported from tens of thousands of dollars up to well over a hundred thousand per unit, with per-balcony repair costs commonly estimated at ten to twenty-five thousand. The inspection findings must also be incorporated into the association's reserve study, so a reserve study that predates the inspection is legally incomplete.

And it now reaches financing directly. Under SB 410, effective 1 January 2026, the report must be included in the seller's disclosure package. Lenders have been declining condo mortgages where the association has no valid balcony safety documentation on file. That means this is not a post-closing surprise you can absorb later. It can end the transaction.

The condominium deadline was 1 January 2025 and was not extended by AB 2579
Assessments reported from tens of thousands to well over $100,000 per unit
From 2026 the report belongs in the seller disclosure package under SB 410
Lenders are declining loans where no valid certificate exists

The numbers behind the dues

Reading the HOA financials properly

Monthly dues tell you almost nothing on their own.

Buyers fixate on the monthly dues figure, which is the least informative number in the packet. A low due is not good news if it means the association has been underfunding its reserves for a decade, and a high due is not bad news if it means the building is actually maintained.

What matters is the reserve study: what the association expects to have to replace, when, and whether the money is there. Roof, elevators, plumbing, windows, and now the exterior elevated elements that SB 326 has forced into the open. A reserve study that predates the balcony inspection is incomplete by law, so check the dates against each other.

Then read the minutes, not just the balance sheet. Board minutes are where you find out about a leak nobody has fixed, a dispute with a contractor, or a special assessment being discussed but not yet levied. That last one matters enormously: an assessment approved a week after you close is your bill, not the seller's.

Dues alone tell you nothing; the reserve study is the real document
Check that the reserve study post-dates the SB 326 inspection
Read board minutes for assessments under discussion but not yet levied

Before you get attached

Will a lender actually finance this building?

Some buildings are unfinanceable for reasons that have nothing to do with your credit.

Condo lending works on the project as well as the borrower. A building can be declared non-warrantable, meaning conventional financing becomes difficult or impossible, for reasons entirely outside your control: a single owner holding too many units, thin reserves, or active litigation involving the association.

The share of rented units matters too, but less bluntly than it is usually described. Under Fannie Mae rules an established project must be at least half owner-occupied for an investment property loan, and that particular test does not apply when you are buying the unit to live in yourself. Where it bites hardest is FHA, which requires roughly half the building to be owner-occupied for the project to be approved at all. So a heavily rented building can quietly remove your low down payment option while leaving a conventional purchase intact.

FHA financing is its own separate question. If the project is FHA approved, a buyer can get in with as little as 3.5 percent down, which for a first purchase changes everything. If it is not, that option simply does not exist for that building no matter how well qualified you are.

The practical sequence is to check project eligibility early, before you write, and to have your lender review the association's financials and insurance rather than doing it yourself from the packet. Finding out in week three that the building is non-warrantable is a common and entirely avoidable way to lose a deal and an appraisal fee.

Owner concentration, thin reserves or litigation can make a building non-warrantable
Heavy rental share mainly blocks FHA approval and investment property loans, not a conventional purchase you will live in
FHA approval is separate and unlocks a 3.5% down payment where it exists
Have the lender review project eligibility before you write the offer

Local detail

What is specific to Long Beach buildings

Older towers, converted brick, and a coastline all show up in the HOA packet.

Much of the ocean-view stock along Ocean Boulevard is genuinely old, which is exactly the profile where SB 326 findings bite hardest: decades of salt air on elevated concrete and steel. The view is the reason the building exists and the balcony is the reason it now has a bill.

Downtown also holds converted commercial and brick buildings. Long Beach ran a mandatory unreinforced masonry retrofit programme that ran through 2007, so for those buildings the question is whether the retrofit is documented, not whether one was ever required.

Finally, coastal proximity affects insurance at the association level, not just yours. A building's master policy premium flows into your dues, and coastal California insurance has been repricing sharply. Ask what the association pays now versus three years ago, and whether the carrier has changed.

Older Ocean Boulevard towers are the highest-risk profile for balcony findings
For converted brick buildings, ask for the URM retrofit documentation
The association's master insurance premium flows into your monthly dues

How I work here

The order I read a condo packet in

The documents come before the showing, not after the offer.

On a condo I want four things before we get serious: the SB 326 inspection report and any resulting scope, the current reserve study with its date, the last twelve months of board minutes, and confirmation from the lender that the project is financeable.

That order is deliberate. Three of the four can end a purchase on their own, and all of them are knowable before anyone spends money on an inspection or an appraisal.

If you are buying from out of state or from abroad, I will read the packet and summarise what is actually in it, in English or Russian, before you book a flight.

SB 326 report, reserve study, twelve months of minutes, lender project approval
All four are knowable before you spend money on inspection or appraisal
Remote buyers get the packet read and summarised before travelling

FAQ

Questions & answers

Is buying a condo in Long Beach a good idea?

For most buyers looking near the water in Long Beach, yes. A condo is the lowest realistic entry price into the city and often the only entry into its genuinely walkable parts, with the median condo asking price sitting at a little over half the citywide median for all homes. You get Pine Avenue, the shoreline path, the marina and the Aquarium of the Pacific within a few minutes on foot, in a city flat enough that people actually walk and cycle rather than intending to, plus no roof, no yard and no exterior upkeep. The question is rarely whether a Long Beach condo is a good idea, it is whether a specific building is a good version of one, and that comes down to the health of the association behind it.

Why are Long Beach condos so much cheaper than houses?

Long Beach condo asking prices sit at a little over half the citywide median for all homes, and the reason is what you are buying rather than any weakness in the market. A condo is an interior space plus a share of a building, not land, and land is what carries most of the value in Southern California. You also take on an association: shared decisions, monthly dues and collective responsibility for the roof, elevators and exterior. That trade is why the entry price is lower, and it is also why the diligence shifts from inspecting a house to reading an association's finances.

Is a condo a good first home in Long Beach?

A condo is frequently the most realistic first purchase in Long Beach, because it is the lowest entry price into the city and often the only entry point into its most walkable neighbourhoods. The trade is that you take on an association rather than only a building, so the diligence shifts from the unit to the HOA: balcony inspection status, reserve health, board minutes and whether a lender will finance the project at all. Get those four answers first and a condo here can be a genuinely good buy.

Where are most condos in Long Beach?

Most Long Beach condo stock sits downtown, in the East Village Arts District, and along the Ocean Boulevard corridor through Alamitos Beach, with further concentrations near the bay in Belmont Shore and Naples. Downtown and the East Village offer the most walkable everyday living, Ocean Boulevard offers the ocean-view towers, and the bay-adjacent buildings trade height for proximity to calm water.

Read the Downtown Long Beach guide →Read the Alamitos Beach guide →

What is SB 326 and does it affect buying a condo?

SB 326 is a California law, in Civil Code section 5551, requiring condominium associations to have balconies, decks, stairs and elevated walkways inspected by a licensed structural engineer, civil engineer or architect. The first deadline was 1 January 2025 and has passed; associations that missed it are non-compliant. It affects buyers directly because inspection findings must be incorporated into the association's reserve study, because resulting special assessments have been reported from tens of thousands to well over one hundred thousand dollars per unit, and because lenders have been declining condo mortgages where the association has no valid balcony safety documentation. Under SB 410, effective 1 January 2026, the report must also be included in the seller's disclosure package.

Did AB 2579 extend the SB 326 deadline for condos?

What makes a Long Beach condo non-warrantable?

A condominium project can be considered non-warrantable, making conventional financing difficult or impossible, if a single owner holds too many units, if the association's reserves are too thin, or if there is disqualifying litigation involving the association. None of these relate to your own credit or income. The proportion of rented units is often quoted as a blanket disqualifier, and that is not quite right: Fannie Mae applies a half owner-occupied test to investment property loans rather than to a unit you will live in, while FHA approval does require roughly half the building to be owner-occupied. Check project eligibility with your lender before writing an offer rather than discovering it during underwriting.

Can you use an FHA loan for a Long Beach condo?

You can use an FHA loan for a Long Beach condo only if the specific building is FHA approved, which depends on factors including owner-occupancy levels and the health of the association's finances. Where a building qualifies, an FHA loan can allow a down payment as low as 3.5 percent, which materially changes what a first-time buyer can reach. Where it does not, that option is unavailable for that building regardless of how well qualified you are, so confirm project approval early.

What HOA documents should I ask for before buying?

Ask for four things before you get serious about a Long Beach condo: the SB 326 exterior elevated element inspection report and any repair scope arising from it, the current reserve study with its date, the last twelve months of board minutes, and written confirmation from your lender that the project is financeable. Check that the reserve study post-dates the balcony inspection, because a study completed before the inspection is legally incomplete. Board minutes are where you find special assessments under discussion but not yet levied, which would become your bill after closing.

Are HOA dues in Long Beach high?

Dues vary widely and the figure on its own tells you very little. A low monthly due can indicate an association that has been underfunding its reserves, which typically ends in a special assessment. A higher due can indicate a building that is actually being maintained. Judge the dues against the reserve study, the age of the building and what the association's master insurance policy now costs, rather than comparing monthly numbers between buildings.

Do you work with Russian-speaking condo buyers in Long Beach?