Shady Canyon, Irvine

By Irene Zhang and Ricky Zhang · Keller Williams Realty Irvine · Updated October 2026 · Sales data through September 30, 2026

What Shady Canyon homes are selling for now

In the 12 months ending September 30, 2026, ten homes sold in Shady Canyon, Irvine, for a median $11.1 million and $1,645 per square foot. The ten ran from $7.0 million to $17.65 million, and the median home was 6,647 sq ft. A year earlier sixteen homes sold for a median $8.99 million and $1,447 per square foot. With this few sales, the medians move with which houses happened to trade, so read them as a range rather than a trend.

What did change is the bargaining. In the year to September 2025, 44% of Shady Canyon sellers cut their price before closing and the median sale was 94.2% of original list. In the year since, only one of ten cut, the median was 96.6%, and three of the ten homes closed with zero days on market, meaning they sold before any public marketing. None sold over asking; since 2024 only two of 37 have.

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Shady Canyon market at a glance

• 10 resales in the last 12 months (16 a year earlier), all single-family, median $11.1 million, median size 6,647 sq ft
• $1,645 median price per sq ft, against $1,447 the year before, on ten sales
• 49.5 days median time on market; three of the ten closed with zero days on market
• 96.6% median sale-to-original-list price, up from 94.2%; one seller in ten cut their price, down from 44%
• $7.0M to $17.65M price range; the highest Shady Canyon resale since 2022 is $25 million, on Golden Eagle in August 2023

Shady Canyon prices by home size, since 2024

Thirty-seven homes have sold since the start of 2024. The smallest homes, under 5,000 sq ft, sell fastest and for the most per square foot. The 7,000 to 9,000 sq ft homes have been the hardest sale: a median 104 days and 89% of original list. The largest estates, over 9,000 sq ft, have done better than the mid-size homes on both counts, though that rests on ten sales.

Shady Canyon home prices by year, 2022–2026

Median price per square foot has risen about 54% from 2022 to 2026 so far, with 2024 and 2025 the soft patch: price per square foot slipped about 4% in 2025, homes took more than two months to sell and closed at 89% to 93% of their original asking price. The eight sales so far in 2026 have closed faster and closer to asking than in 2024 or 2025.

What the numbers mean if you're selling

• Since the start of 2024, the twelve Shady Canyon homes that went into escrow within 30 days got a median 100% of their original list price. The fifteen that took more than 90 days got 88.7%, and ten of those fifteen had cut their price along the way. On a $10 million listing that gap is more than $1.1 million.
• The $6 million to $9 million bracket has been the slowest: thirteen sales since 2024, a median 115 days on market and 88.2% of original list. Homes between $9 million and $13 million took 45.5 days at 93.5%, and the six above $13 million took 30.5 days. A home in the lower bracket has the most competition and the least room for an ambitious opening price.
• Three of the last ten sales closed with zero days on market. So how your home is introduced to the agents who work the village, and to the buyers they represent, matters as much as the public listing.
• Days on market are long here even for a good listing: the buyer pool is small. A clean launch, with the house, the grounds and the photography finished before the first showing, matters more here than almost anywhere else we work.

What Shady Canyon buyers ask about

• Privacy and the gates. Two staffed gates operate around the clock. Buyers ask about the lot, the view and who can see in; walk the property lines and photograph the sightlines before you list.
• Schools. Shady Canyon is in the Irvine Unified School District. Most listings show Bonita Canyon Elementary and Rancho San Joaquin Middle School, and the high school is University High. Confirm the assignment for the address.
• HOA dues and the association. Homes belong to the Shady Canyon Community Association, which runs the two 24-hour guard gates, the private streets and common areas, neighborhood pools and trails; the clubhouse belongs to the private golf club. Have the association documents and current dues ready before the first showing.

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Ricky's take on Shady Canyon

Shady Canyon is the top of the Irvine market, and selling here is a different job from selling anywhere else in the city. Buyers at this level have their own taste and their own standards, so everything about the listing has to be at that standard: the photography, the way the interior is presented, even how the agents dress at a showing.

The other thing is patience. Plenty of people admire this village, but each house is waiting for the right buyer. It does not sell in thirty or forty days like an ordinary home; you have to give it the time. Showings work the same way. When we show a home here we often give the buyer an hour or two and stay out of the way, nearby but quiet, and let them take the house in on their own. These buyers have strong ideas of their own about what they want, so there is no point in a hard sell. What you can do is set the atmosphere, let them feel the home and come to like it. People at this level pay for what they love, and in Shady Canyon the decision often has little to do with price. — Ricky Zhang

About Shady Canyon

Shady Canyon is an Irvine Company community in the hills of south Irvine, in ZIP code 92603. The city zoned it for no more than 400 homes on 1,070 acres, with 800 acres of protected open space around the edge and another 175 acres inside, so most of the village is open space. The Irvine Company sold 297 custom home sites, and three builder neighborhoods add semi-custom homes: 24 villas by Taylor Woodrow, 47 by Greystone and 18 by Laing Luxury Homes. The first homes were occupied in early 2002, and resales since 2022 have ranged from 2002 to 2019 construction, with a median build year of 2006.

The Shady Canyon Golf Club is a private club with a Tom Fazio course. The Shady Canyon Community Association runs the two 24-hour guard gates, the private streets and common areas, neighborhood pools and the hiking and biking trails that lead into the surrounding open space; the clubhouse belongs to the golf club. Shady Canyon is in the Irvine Unified School District; most listings show Bonita Canyon Elementary and Rancho San Joaquin Middle School, and the high school is University High. Confirm the assignment for the address.

Shady Canyon FAQ

What is a Shady Canyon home worth right now?

In the 12 months ending September 30, 2026, Shady Canyon homes sold for a median $11.1 million, or $1,645 per square foot, in a range from $7.0 million to $17.65 million. With somewhere between eight and two dozen sales a year, size, lot, view and the quality of the build matter more than any median. Get your home value here.

Are Shady Canyon home prices going down?

The numbers do not show it, with the caveat that this is ten sales against sixteen. The median price per square foot was $1,645 in the 12 months ending September 30, 2026, against $1,447 the year before, and sellers got a median 96.6% of their original list price against 94.2%. The clearer signal is fewer price cuts: one in ten, down from seven in sixteen. The soft period was 2024 and 2025, when homes took more than two months to sell and closed at 89% to 93% of asking.

How long does it take to sell a home in Shady Canyon?

In the 12 months ending September 30, 2026, the median was 49.5 days, and three of the ten closed with zero days on market. Since 2024, homes that went into escrow within 30 days got a median 100% of original list, and homes that took more than 90 days got 88.7%. The $6 million to $9 million bracket has been slowest, at a median 115 days.

What is the most expensive Shady Canyon sale since 2022?

In sales since 2022, a 13,046 sq ft home on Golden Eagle sold for $25 million in August 2023. The next highest resales are $17.65 million on Copper Creek in August 2026, $17.55 million on Black Falcon in January 2026 and $17.15 million on Boulder View in March 2025.

What schools serve Shady Canyon?

Shady Canyon is in the Irvine Unified School District. Most listings show Bonita Canyon Elementary and Rancho San Joaquin Middle School, and the high school is University High School. Confirm the assignment for the specific address.

Is Shady Canyon guard-gated?

Yes. Shady Canyon has two guard gates, both staffed 24 hours a day.

Who should I list my Shady Canyon home with?

Irene and Ricky Zhang sold a 7,936 sq ft Shady Canyon home on Canyon Creek for $9.25 million in September 2024, and in the neighboring hill villages they have sold the highest resale ever recorded in Turtle Rock, $6.73 million on Corona, and an $8.25 million home in Turtle Ridge. RealTrends Verified ranked them the #1 small team in Irvine by sales volume and transaction sides in its 2026 City Rankings, based on 2025 production. Each listing gets a video tour and ads the team pays for until the home goes into escrow.

Why Shady Canyon sellers work with Irene and Ricky

2026 RealTrends Verified: #1 small team in Irvine by volume and by sides
Irene Zhang, DRE #01967217 · Ricky Zhang, DRE #01972236

Our sales in Shady Canyon and the hill villages

In September 2024 we sold a 7,936 sq ft 2009 custom home on Canyon Creek in Shady Canyon for $9.25 million. In the neighboring hill villages, our sales include the $6.73 million sale on Corona in August 2024, the highest resale price recorded in Turtle Rock, plus two more Turtle Rock homes and an $8.25 million home in Turtle Ridge. That is five homes and about $29 million in the hill villages since 2024.

We're Irene and Ricky Zhang, a husband-and-wife team with Keller Williams Realty Irvine, and since 2015 we've closed more than $600 million in sales. Ricky runs listing strategy and marketing; Irene handles home preparation, negotiation and client care. Meet Irene and Ricky →

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More for Irvine homeowners

• Nearby neighborhoods: Turtle Ridge, Turtle Rock, Hidden Canyon, Quail Hill
• Irvine home prices by neighborhood
• Weekly Irvine market updates
• Seller's guide and seller FAQs

Sources

• Sales figures: CRMLS closed resale records for the Shady Canyon MLS area, January 2022 to September 2026, compiled by Irene and Ricky Zhang.
• Home count, acreage, open space, golf club and first occupancy: Orange County Business Journal, November 25, 2001.
• Custom home sites (297), builder neighborhoods, the association and the clubhouse: Irvine Company, Shady Canyon.
• School assignments: current CRMLS listing records for Shady Canyon.