Balboa Island Homes for Sale: What Buyers Need to Know
Megan Varga | September 22, 2026
Megan Varga | September 22, 2026
This guide is for buyers who are thinking about a home on Balboa Island. It covers the three parts of the island, what homes cost, and the problems buyers should know about before they make an offer.
Balboa Island is a small, crowded neighborhood in Newport Harbor. Most homes are on lots that are 30 feet wide and 85 feet deep, and most lots are zoned for up to two homes. You can walk to the shops on Marine Avenue, the boardwalk, and the ferry. The downsides are summer crowds, hard parking, and flood risk from the harbor.
Balboa Island is made up of three small islands in Newport Harbor. They are the main island, Little Island to the east, and Collins Isle at the northwest end. Bridges connect them. A public concrete boardwalk goes around the edge of the island. Marine Avenue is the main shopping street. It has restaurants, bakeries, and small shops. The island also has its own fire station and post office.
Our guide to the best neighborhoods in Newport Beach puts Balboa Island in the waterfront group. Homes in that group are close to the water, but they have less space than homes in other parts of the city.
Most of the homes and all of the shops are on the main island. The inside of the island is a grid of narrow streets and alleys from the early 1900s. The homes on North Bay Front and South Bay Front face the harbor. The public boardwalk is between these homes and the water, so people walk and ride bikes past the front of the house all day. The homes on South Bay Front look across the water at the Balboa Peninsula and the Fun Zone.
Little Island is east of the main island, on the other side of the Grand Canal. A short two-lane bridge connects the two. Little Island is almost all homes, and it is usually quieter than the main island. Its homeowners have their own group, the Little Balboa Island Association.
Collins Isle is the smallest of the three islands. It has eight homes. It is gated, and you get to it by a private one-lane bridge. All eight are large homes on the water with docks. These homes do not sell often, and each owner owns the land under their home (Orange County Business Journal).
The median home price on Balboa Island was about $4.66 million (Houzeo/CRMLS, checked September 2026). Condos averaged about $1.5 million, and single-family homes averaged about $5.5 million. Only a few homes sell each month, so the median can change a lot from month to month. The table below gives a better idea of prices in each part of the island.
Tier key: A = under $2M · B = $2M–$4M · C = $3M–$6M · D = $5M–$12M · E = $10M+
Tiers are general price ranges as of September 2026. They are not appraisals, and some homes sell outside them.
A few things have the biggest effect on price here. Bayfront homes cost more than homes on the inside streets. Homes with a dock cost more than homes without one. A home on two combined lots costs more than a home on one lot. Online estimates often get these homes wrong. We explain why in how Newport Beach home valuations actually work.
Balboa Island was first sold in the early 1900s as lots that were 30 feet wide and 85 feet deep. Most lots are still that size. Some owners have combined two lots to build a larger home.
Most homes on the island are in a zone called R-BI. This zone is only used on Balboa Island. It allows up to two homes on one lot (Newport Beach Zoning Code, checked September 2026). Homes with flat roofs can be up to 24 feet tall. Homes with sloped roofs can be up to 29 feet tall. Since late 2020, the city's rules for third floors and required open space also apply to these lots.
If you plan to tear down the house and build a new one, ask an architect to check how large a home the lot allows before you make an offer.
Parking is hard on the island all year, and it is harder in the summer. Many homes have a garage or parking space on the alley behind the house. Some older units, especially the back unit of a duplex, have no parking at all. Before you make an offer, find out exactly what parking comes with the home, and check that your cars fit in the garage.
There is one bridge between the island and the mainland. It is where Jamboree Road turns into Marine Avenue. In the summer, traffic is often slow on Marine Avenue and on Park Avenue near the ferry.
The Balboa Island Ferry goes between the island and the Balboa Peninsula. It has run since 1919. There are three boats, and each boat carries three cars. The trip is about 800 feet. The ferry runs from 6:30 a.m. to midnight every day (Balboa Island Ferry, checked September 2026). Most of the year, the ferry is a quick way to get to the peninsula. On summer weekends, the line of cars waiting for it can be long.
A seawall around the island keeps harbor water out. The seawall is about 8 feet tall. That is one of the lowest seawalls of any coastal area in Southern California that is at risk of flooding (LAist, 2017). Harbor water has gone over the wall before, including in December 2010.
The city looked at replacing the whole seawall with a taller one. At the time, that was estimated to cost $68 million. Instead, the city added about 9 inches of concrete to the top of the existing wall as a short-term fix. Seawall work is still on the city's list of planned projects for 2026–27.
Whether you need flood insurance depends on the address. In 2018, the city asked FEMA to keep about 2,700 properties on the Peninsula, Balboa Island, and West Newport out of a larger flood zone, and FEMA agreed (Los Angeles Times via KTLA, 2018). Because of this, many of these owners do not have to buy flood insurance to get a mortgage. Some homes on the island are still in the flood zone. Look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, and get an insurance quote before your contingency period ends. A home outside the flood zone can still flood, and most homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage.
Much of the island has voted to move power lines underground. Owners pay for this through an extra charge, called an assessment, on their property tax bill. The charge can be paid over as long as 20 years, or paid off early. For the central part of the island, the city estimated the average charge at about $34,000 per property in 2021 (Epoch Times, 2021). Ask the seller if the charge has been paid off. If it has not, you will pay the rest after you buy the home.
Balboa Island is a good fit for buyers who want to walk to coffee and shops, keep a boat or paddleboard nearby, and live close to their neighbors. It is a harder fit for families with several cars, buyers who want a big yard, and buyers who want a quiet street in August.
Some buyers like being able to walk everywhere but want a bigger lot. For them, Corona del Mar Village is a short drive away. The lots there are larger, and the village is close to ocean beaches, but it does not have the same harbor access. Our Corona del Mar neighborhood guide explains how prices work there.
Before you make an offer on the island, do these four things:
Visit on a summer Saturday. Try to park where you would park if you lived there.
Look up the flood zone for the address, and get an insurance quote early.
Check the property tax bill for an undergrounding assessment, and find out if it has been paid off.
Talk to an architect if you plan to remodel or rebuild.
Megan buys, remodels, and resells homes as an investor herself. That experience is useful on Balboa Island, because the lot is often as important as the house when you buy here. You can see homes the team has represented in the Megan Varga Group portfolio.
Some homes on the island have a city permit for short-term rentals, which are rentals of less than 30 days. The city allows only 1,550 of these permits at one time. It is not giving out new permits until the number goes below that (City of Newport Beach, checked September 2026). If you want rental income, use the city's online lookup tool to check that the address can have a permit. Also check that the home has an active permit that can be transferred to you. The city's short-term lodging rules have more details.
The island does not have one HOA for everyone. The Balboa Island Improvement Association is a community group, and joining is voluntary. Little Island has its own homeowners' association. Collins Isle is gated, so ask the seller about any shared costs there.
Balboa Island is in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. Public schools near the island include Abraham Lincoln Elementary and Corona del Mar Middle and High School. School boundaries can change, so check the schools for a specific address with the district's school locator.
Many bayfront homes have a private pier on the other side of the boardwalk. Homes on the inside streets do not have docks, but there are public docks at the ends of many streets. Dock permits are separate from the home itself, so review the dock permit before you make an offer on a bayfront home.
Buyers who are happy on Balboa Island usually knew what to expect before they bought. The lots are small. Summers are busy. Parking is hard. The city is still working on the seawall. None of these are reasons to rule out the island, but you should check the lot, the flood map, and the tax bill before you make an offer.
If you are comparing Balboa Island with another part of Newport Beach, talk with the Megan Varga Group. If you already own a home on the island, start with a Newport Beach home valuation.
Megan Varga Group's excellent reputation, integrity and loyal client base ensures you are working with professionals you can trust. Contact us to put our extensive education, wealth of experience, and proven track record to work for you.
Megan Varga Group is affiliated with Compass, a licensed real estate broker in California, and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, condition, sale, or withdrawal without notice. All measurements and square footages are approximate. This is not intended to solicit property already listed. Nothing herein shall be construed as legal, accounting or other professional advice outside the realm of real estate brokerage.
Megan Varga Group’s excellent reputation, integrity and loyal client base ensures you are working with professionals you can trust. Let Megan Varga Group's extensive education, wealth of experience, and proven track go to work for you.
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