Neighborhood guide · San Clemente, California
Palacio Del Mar
A small hillside community of cul-de-sacs in southeast San Clemente, where the view homes went up two levels at a time and single level living is the thing everyone wants and almost nobody finds.
The community
Quiet streets, high ground
Palacio Del Mar sits high in the hills of southeast San Clemente, close to the San Clemente Municipal Golf Course and a short drive from the pier and the Avenida Del Mar shops. The streets are cul-de-sacs, which is the whole point: traffic ends where the houses begin, and the lots at the closed ends of those streets are the ones that look out over the coast.
It is a Spanish inflected tract, built as a single community rather than assembled house by house, so the elevations read as a set. Lots are generous by south Orange County standards, and many of the backyards were built for entertaining, with pools, spas, built in barbecues and mature tropical planting.
It is also an established neighborhood rather than a new one, and that matters when you shop here. A home in Palacio Del Mar has either been remodeled or is waiting to be, and the difference between those two shows up in the price per square foot more than in the square footage itself.
The housing stock
What you are actually shopping
Palacio Del Mar was built across a single decade, so the floor plans repeat and the differences between two homes here are usually the remodel, the lot and the view, not the bones.
Most of the view homes in the community were built on two levels, which is the standard answer to a sloping lot: stack the living space and lift the primary suite to where the water is visible. It works, and it comes with a staircase between you and the thing you bought the house for. A true single level home with an unobstructed ocean view is the exception in Palacio Del Mar, and it is the listing type that moves fastest when one appears.
Community figures as of September 16, 2026, from California Regional MLS data for Palacio Del Mar. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Public record
What has actually sold here
Two homes closed in Palacio Del Mar in the fourteen months to September 2026. Both were two-story and both were larger than the smallest floor plans in the community.
507 Via Florida
517 Avenida Del Verdor
Two sales in fourteen months is a thin sample, and it is also the honest picture of a small community: nothing trades here often, so when something does, it sets the number everyone else works from.
Sold prices are from public record and are provided for comparison only. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Getting around
Above the traffic, close to the sand
Palacio Del Mar is inland of the shoreline, up in the hills, so the beach and downtown San Clemente are a short ride rather than a walk. That trade is the reason the views exist at all, and it is why a street legal golf cart is a genuinely useful thing to own in this part of town.
The San Clemente Municipal Golf Course is the nearest landmark. The pier, the Avenida Del Mar shops and the beach trail are all a few minutes down the hill, and the I-5 is close enough for a commute north without putting the freeway anywhere you can hear it.
On the market
Currently available in Palacio Del Mar
306 Via Colibri
Bella Vita
The only true single-story ocean view home currently available in Palacio Del Mar. At the end of a private cul-de-sac, extensively remodeled and never lived in since, offered fully furnished down to the street-legal 2024 golf cart in the garage. 2 bed, 2 bath, 2,052 square feet, offered at $2,888,000. MLS# OC26172289.
Availability as of September 16, 2026. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Frequently asked
Questions buyers ask about Palacio Del Mar
Where is Palacio Del Mar in San Clemente?
Palacio Del Mar sits high in the hills of southeast San Clemente, near the San Clemente Municipal Golf Course, on a set of quiet cul-de-sac streets above the coast.
What are the HOA dues at Palacio Del Mar?
The HOA fee at Palacio Del Mar is $390 a month as of September 2026.
When was Palacio Del Mar built?
The homes in Palacio Del Mar were built between 1979 and 1988, which is why most of what trades in the community has been remodeled at least once.
How big are the homes in Palacio Del Mar?
Homes in Palacio Del Mar run from roughly 2,052 to just over 3,000 square feet, with 2 to 5 bedrooms and 2 to 4 bathrooms.
Are there single-story homes in Palacio Del Mar?
Yes, but they are the minority and they rarely come to market. Most view homes in the community were built on two levels to lift the living space above the slope. As of September 2026 the only true single-story ocean view home available in Palacio Del Mar is 306 Via Colibri.
What have homes sold for recently in Palacio Del Mar?
Two homes sold in the community in the fourteen months to September 2026. 507 Via Florida, a two-story 3 bed, 3 bath of 2,423 square feet, sold July 21, 2025 for $2,867,500. 517 Avenida Del Verdor, a 3 bed, 4 bath of 2,968 square feet built in 1980, sold September 23, 2025 for $2,975,000 against a $2,997,000 list price.
How far is Palacio Del Mar from the beach and downtown San Clemente?
Palacio Del Mar sits inland of the shoreline in the southeast hills, so the beach and downtown San Clemente are a short drive or golf cart ride rather than a walk.
Thinking about Palacio Del Mar
Buying here, or selling here?
949.415.4784Two homes trade in this community in a year, so the useful information is rarely on a public portal. Call or text Paula, or send a note and she will tell you what is actually moving in Palacio Del Mar and what your own home would do in this market.
Paula Aragone, CEO and Realtor®, Aragone & Associates at First Team Real Estate. Paula Aragone DRE #01364746, Brokerage DRE #01008773. 4 Corporate Plaza Dr #100, Newport Beach, CA 92660. Equal Housing Opportunity. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.