Balboa Island, Newport Beach:
homes, streets and what sells.
Balboa Island is a public, ungated island in Newport Harbor, reached by the Marine Avenue bridge and the Balboa Island Ferry. Most homes stand on standard 30-by-85-foot lots, and bayfront homes on the island's edge sell well above interior homes a block inland. Recent figures are in the card below.
Greg reviews every request and replies with a written valuation.
Balboa Island homes for sale sit on a tight, regular street grid. Nearly every lot on the island was laid out at 30 by 85 feet, so the difference between one sale and the next comes down to where the lot sits, how wide it has become and what stands on it. The island is a dredged-up mudflat in Newport Harbor that W.S. Collins began building around 1906, and it has been part of the City of Newport Beach since 1916.
This guide sits under the Newport Beach guide. It covers the homes, the latest sale figures, how the island works day to day, and how Greg Toussieng prices and markets a home here.
Balboa Island · July-September 2026 · Source: Redfin Data Center
- Where Newport Harbor, City of Newport Beach, ZIP 92662 (source)
- Made from a mudflat dredged up by W.S. Collins from about 1906 (source)
- Three islands Balboa Island, Little Balboa Island to the east, and Collins Isle to the northwest, reached by a one-lane bridge (source)
- Standard lot 30 by 85 feet (source)
- Gate none; public streets (source)
- Bridge Marine Avenue bridge, rebuilt in concrete in 1981 with 9-foot walkways (source)
- Ferry to the Balboa Peninsula since 1919, about 800 feet, 6:30 a.m. to midnight daily (source)
- Ferry boats three cars and 75 people each (source)
- Seawall built 1929-1938; 9-inch cap approved in 2017, to 8.5 feet north and 9 feet south (source)
- Bayfront walk circles the island, with small beaches along it (source)
- Community group Balboa Island Improvement Association, founded 1918 (source)
- School district Newport-Mesa Unified (source)
What do homes on Balboa Island look like?
Homes on Balboa Island are mostly cottages and two-storey houses on narrow lots, many with a garage off the alley behind. The island was sold off in small lots from the start (Collins had sold 700 of them by 1914), and the 30-by-85-foot grid still shapes almost everything built there.
Older beach cottages stand next to houses built in the last few decades, which fill more of the lot and rise to two storeys. Some owners have joined a lot and a half or two lots into one parcel, which allows a wider house and a garden, and those combined lots trade at a premium. Duplexes and homes with a second unit also appear on the island, and they are priced on different terms from a single house.
Location sets the price more than anything else. Homes on the outer edge face the harbour across the public bayfront walk and sell for far more than interior homes a block away. A bayfront home whose frontage includes a pier or dock sits at the top. Within each group, lot width, the age of the house and how much of the lot it uses come next.
What do Balboa Island homes for sale go for?
Balboa Island homes generally sell in the millions, with bayfront homes at the top and interior cottages at the lower end; the card above shows Redfin's median, days on market and sale-to-list ratio for the latest three months. The island records only around a dozen sales in a three-month window, so one bayfront closing can swing the median.
On Balboa Island, a range tells you more than an average. With only about a dozen closings in a three-month window, the island-wide median depends heavily on how many bayfront homes happened to sell, so a change from one quarter to the next often reflects the mix rather than a shift in value.
The spread comes mostly from where the home sits. Interior homes on the inner streets sell at the lower end. Homes facing the harbour sell at the top, and a combined or wider lot adds on either side. After that, the age of the house and how much of the 30-by-85-foot lot it uses decide the rest.
If you own on the island, the useful comparison is the two or three recent sales most like yours, split into bayfront and interior. Greg pulls those into a written analysis and shows every adjustment.
Pace varies as much as price. Interior homes priced in line with the island's recent sales often go under contract faster than the bayfront homes, which have fewer buyers at their price. A sale across the bridge tells you little about a home here. Newport Beach as a whole mixes condos near the airport with Newport Coast estates, so the island's own sales are the only fair benchmark.
Which Balboa Island homes are for sale now?
The Balboa Island homes listed for sale right now appear below, from the MLS, with each listing brokerage credited.
What is living on Balboa Island like?
Living on Balboa Island means the harbour is a short walk from every front door. A public bayfront walk runs around the island's edge, past the docks, the bayfront homes and a series of small beaches, and it is the island's main promenade.
Marine Avenue is the main street, running from the bridge into the middle of the island, with small shops, bakeries and places to eat, and Agate Avenue carries a few more. The fire station and post office are on the island too. Little Balboa Island to the east is reached by a two-lane bridge across the Grand Canal, and tiny Collins Isle to the northwest by a one-lane bridge that the City of Newport Beach has proposed to replace, along with its seawalls.
The Balboa Island Ferry, run by the same family since 1919, crosses to the Balboa Peninsula in a few minutes, where the ocean beaches are a short walk from the landing. Its boats, the Admiral, the Commodore and the Captain, have been in service since the 1950s. Driving round by the bridges to the same spot can add up to six miles.
The walk around the island
A public bayfront walk circles Balboa Island, so every bayfront home faces the harbour across a path that anyone can stroll. Newport Beach guide
How would Greg sell a home on Balboa Island?
Greg would sell a Balboa Island home on its setting as much as its rooms, so the marketing starts outside: the light on the water, the walk to the bay, the ferry and Marine Avenue a few minutes away. Photography is planned for the hour when the harbour looks best, and for a bayfront home it leads with the outlook from the front rooms.
Pricing comes from the island's own sales, split into bayfront and interior, then adjusted for lot width, the age of the house and its condition. Greg writes up that analysis so you can see how he reached the price. Because buyers and their inspectors ask about the seawall, flood insurance and any past coastal development permits, he gathers those papers before the home goes live, so escrow does not stall on them.
Greg Toussieng is a California real estate broker, DRE #01495415, first licensed in California in 2005, and runs each listing himself from preparation through closing.
Greg prepares a written valuation from recent sales near you. Start with the address.
What should a buyer check before an offer on Balboa Island?
A Balboa Island buyer should check the flood zone, the permit history and whether the house can be rebuilt the way they want. Look up the lot on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center and get a flood insurance quote early, since a lender will require coverage in a high-risk zone.
Then read the permits. Most remodels and new homes on the island are in the coastal zone and need a coastal development permit from the city as well as a building permit, so a buyer planning to rebuild should talk to the city's planning division first. For a duplex or a home with a second unit, confirm what the city has approved and how the units are used. Parking is part of the value here, so check the garage and the alley access too.
Which communities near Balboa Island should you compare?
Buyers who look at Balboa Island usually compare it with Lido Isle across the harbour and with the hillside communities above Corona del Mar.
Lido Isle is another harbour island, reached by a single bridge off Via Lido, with a residents' association, a private clubhouse beach and about 880 homes. Harbor Ridge is a guard-gated hillside community with ocean views and larger lots. For the city as a whole, see the Newport Beach homes guide, and for every waterfront and gated community in the county, the luxury homes guide.
Own a home on Balboa Island?
See what the island's own sales say it is worth, split by bayfront and interior. Get a written home value
Selling on Balboa Island? Ask Greg for the island's recent sales.
Who can finance a home in Balboa Island?
Esther Buede at Choice Home Mortgage can arrange the loan, timed to Greg's work on the purchase.
Financing a home in Balboa Island? Esther Buede at Choice Home Mortgage
Esther works with Greg on the loan side of a purchase, from conforming loans to jumbo loans on the coast. Choice Home Mortgage, NMLS #2629064, has a page on buying and financing in Newport Beach.
Newport Beach home loans with Esther Buede
Gregory James Group and Choice Home Mortgage are trade names of the same California company, Montana Real Estate Inc (CA DRE #01822046, NMLS #2629064), which Greg Toussieng owns. If we represent you in a purchase or sale and you also arrange your loan through Choice Home Mortgage, the company is paid for both services. You are not required to use Choice Home Mortgage to work with Gregory James Group, and you are free to compare loans from any other lender. When we refer you, we give you a written disclosure of this relationship and the estimated charges, and when we act as both your agent and your loan broker we confirm both roles in writing within 24 hours.
Common questions
Can you drive onto Balboa Island?
Balboa Island can be reached by car two ways. The Marine Avenue bridge connects the island to the mainland side of Newport Beach, and the Balboa Island Ferry carries cars, bikes and people about 800 feet across the harbour to the Balboa Peninsula, from 6:30 a.m. to midnight every day of the year, according to the ferry operator.
Is Balboa Island a gated community?
Balboa Island is not gated. Its streets, the Marine Avenue bridge and the bayfront walk around the island are public, so anyone can drive, cycle or walk onto the island. Parking on the island's narrow streets is tight, which is one reason a home's own garage, usually reached from an alley, matters to buyers.
How big are the lots on Balboa Island?
Standard lots on Balboa Island measure 30 feet by 85 feet. Some owners have combined a lot and a half or two lots into one larger parcel, which allows a wider house and is a real factor in price. Bayfront lots around the island's edge follow the same grid but face the harbour across the public walk.
How old is Balboa Island?
Balboa Island was created from a mudflat in Newport Bay. W.S. Collins began dredging around 1906 and used the fill to build up the island, early lots sold for $600 inland and $750 on the water, and by 1916 the island was part of the City of Newport Beach. It marked its centennial in 2016.
Does Balboa Island flood?
Balboa Island sits low, and its homes depend on the seawall that rings it, built between 1929 and 1938. In 2017 the City of Newport Beach approved a 9-inch cap that raised the wall to 8.5 feet on the north side and 9 feet on the south. A buyer should check the lot's FEMA flood zone and get an insurance quote early in escrow.
Which school district serves Balboa Island?
Balboa Island is in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, which serves most of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. Attendance areas are set by the district and can change, so check the district's boundary information for the school assigned to any one Balboa Island address before you buy.
What is my Balboa Island home worth?
A Balboa Island home's value turns on whether it is bayfront or interior, the lot width, the age of the house and its condition. Greg Toussieng, a California real estate broker, prepares a written comparative market analysis from the island's own recent sales, split by bayfront and interior, with each adjustment shown.
- Newport Beach Historical Society: William Steppe Collins and Balboa Island (dredging from 1906, two-acre mudflat to 160 acres) · checked 2026-10-28
- Balboa Island, Newport Beach: lots 30 by 85 feet, early lot prices, three islands, bridges, seawall history, Marine Avenue, Improvement Association 1918 · checked 2026-10-28
- Balboa Island Ferry: service since 1919, about 800 feet, 6:30 a.m. to midnight daily · checked 2026-10-28
- Balboa Island Ferry fares and office, 410 South Bay Front, Balboa Island 92662 · checked 2026-10-28
- Balboa Island Ferry: three cars and 75 people per boat · checked 2026-10-28
- The Log: Balboa Island Ferry history (Beek family since 1919; Admiral, Commodore, Captain) · checked 2026-10-28
- The Log: a higher seawall coming to Balboa Island (2017, 9-inch cap) · checked 2026-10-28
- California Coastal Trail: Balboa Island bayfront walk · checked 2026-10-28
- CEQAnet: Collins Island Bridge and seawall replacement, City of Newport Beach (SCH 2024070802) · checked 2026-10-28
- Newport-Mesa Unified School District · checked 2026-10-28
- California Coastal Commission: Newport Beach Local Coastal Program certified (2017); city issues coastal development permits · checked 2026-10-28
- FEMA Flood Map Service Center · checked 2026-10-28
- Redfin Data Center, Balboa Island neighborhood figures (rolling three months) · checked 2026-10-28
- California DRE licence lookup · checked 2026-10-28
Start with the address. Greg does the rest.
A written valuation from recent sales near you, prepared by a licensed broker. Or call (949) 868-8820.