Murrieta, CA — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

Riverside County · Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario · population 112,539

Murrieta, CA
Image: Wikipedia · Murrieta, California
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59
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Murrieta stands

At or near all-time high.

Median home $690,322
1-year -1.5%
5-yr CAGR +5.0%
vs 5-yr peak -1.9%
Population +0.4%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2025-01$690k$348k$476k$604k$732k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
40/100
Car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
30/100
Minimal transit
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
67/100
Strong remote-work fit
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$2,512/mo$1,883$2,273$2,662202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent128125100120202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 22.9
Lean rent

At a 22.9 price-to-rent ratio, the math is starting to lean toward renting in Murrieta. Owner-occupier ROI requires longer holds and the assumption that prices keep appreciating roughly at the rate of rent.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
43 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
65 · w22%
Distance from peak
79 · w18%
Population growth
52 · w16%
Rent YoY
49 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
70 · w10%
Long thesis

Murrieta has held up across the cycle: home values at $690,322 with +5.0% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Murrieta's bear case is the boring one: the cycle is real and any market that's run hard can stall. Watch for slowing population growth, rising days-on-market, or builder discounts as the early warning signals.

About Murrieta

Murrieta is a city in Riverside County, California, with an estimated population of 112,539. It anchors the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro area. The median home value in Murrieta is $690,322 as of 2026-04, down 1.5% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +5.0% annual growth, with prices at or near the 5-year peak. Rents in Murrieta average $2,512 per month, roughly flat year-over-year (+0.6%). The composite momentum score is 59 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

Bull case

Healthy 5-year run: +5.0% annualized over 5 years, outpacing US inflation.
Held the highs: currently -1.9% from the 5-year peak — this market refused to give back gains.

Bear case

Local nuance: city-level data smooths over neighborhood differences. School zones, HOA rules, and street-level character matter — visit before deciding.

About Murrieta (Wikipedia)

Murrieta is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The population of Murrieta was 110,949 as of the 2020 census. Murrieta experienced a 133.7% population increase between 2000 and 2010, making it one of the fastest-growing cities in the state during that period. Largely residential, Murrieta is typically characterized as a bedroom community. Murrieta is bordered by the city of Temecula to the south, the cities of Menifee and Wildomar to the north, and the unincorporated community of French Valley to the east. Murrieta is at the center of the Los Angeles-San Diego mega-region. Murrieta is named for Juan Murrieta, a Californio ranchero who founded the town.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

City facts

MayorCindy Warren
EstablishedJuly 1, 1991Cite web
NicknameGem of the Valley
Motto"The Future of Southern California"
Named forJuan Murrieta

Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Riverside County right now.

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Riverside County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Cities like Murrieta

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
60° / 41°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
82° / 60°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
258
~71% of year
Annual precip
22″ rain
8″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Very low
Tornado
Very low
Wildfire
Very high
Earthquake
Very high
Flood
Moderate

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current Murrieta listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
65%
Moderate climate
Median household income
$91,500
California state median
Top industries (state-level)
TechEntertainmentAgriculture

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

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