Washington housing market
Third Quarter 2026

Of the six cities I report on, only three closed more single-family homes this summer than they did in the same quarter of 2025, and Washington was one of them. The gain was small, about two percent, but it came with a real change in pace. Homes that sold went under contract in fifty-four days against seventy-one last summer, two and a half weeks quicker, and the full trip from listing to closing day ran about twelve days shorter.

Price is the part that did not improve. The quarter's single-family median landed a little under three percent below last summer's, and the average sale price fell seven percent. Sellers still collected ninety-nine percent of list, a point better than a year ago. Put plainly, Washington gave up a little on price and gained a lot on pace, and it has now closed more homes than 2025 in every quarter of this year.

Against the third quarter of 2025, closings rose two percent while total sold volume fell five. The only way those two numbers fit together is a lower price per sale, and the average dropped seven percent. That is a reversal from spring. In the second quarter the average sale price ran five percent ahead of last year and the upper end carried the dollar totals. This summer the upper end stepped back and the middle of the market did more of the closing.

The supply side was quieter. The count of listings active during the quarter ran two percent above last summer and new listings came in seven percent higher, so owners brought more homes to market than a year ago. Active listings had been on the market about ninety-four days on average, down from a hundred and thirty-one, so far less of what buyers saw was leftover inventory from the winter before. The line that went the wrong way is new contracts, fourteen percent fewer than last summer. I come back to it at the end.

Buyers had a little more inventory this summer than last and a lot less stale inventory. With the average active listing on the market about three months instead of more than four, the homes you toured were more likely to be priced where the seller actually expected to sell. That cuts both ways. You waste less time on listings nobody will buy, and you get less time to decide on the good ones.

The bargaining room this quarter sat in two places. One was the upper end, where a falling average says fewer big-dollar homes closed. The other was new construction, where builders compete with resales for the same buyer. At Stucki Farms, for example, new phases are going up next to established villages, so a resale there is priced against the builder down the street. My new construction in Washington rundown covers the active communities if you want to compare.

Inside the quarter, the three months did not look alike. July closed about a fifth more homes than the July before, at the highest monthly median Washington has posted this year. August and September each closed fewer homes than their 2025 counterparts, and each came in with a median below last year. The quarter started strong and finished soft on volume.

Speed went the opposite direction. Days on market rose in August and then fell sharply in September, which ended as the quickest month of the summer. So the summer did not cool in the usual sense. Fewer buyers reached the closing table late in the quarter, but the ones who were shopping moved fast on homes they liked. With the heat breaking, second-home and seasonal buyers starting to tour, and fall listings coming on, the fourth quarter opens with more choice on the shelf than the summer had.

Step back to the whole year and the closings chart shows where Washington's lead over 2025 really came from. The first quarter closed about a fifth more homes than early 2025 did. Spring and summer each finished only a few sales ahead. The median chart tells the matching story from the other side: three quarters in a row a little under last year, with 2026 tracking the same shape as 2025, just set slightly lower. For a city with this much new construction feeding the shelf, that is a steady year rather than a slipping one.

The number of homes that went under contract is the one forward-looking figure in this report, and this quarter it came in fourteen percent behind last summer. In the first half of the year it ran ahead of 2025, by about a fifth in the first quarter and about a tenth in the second. Summer is where it flipped, mostly in July and August. September's new contracts were back even with last year, which takes some of the sting out.

So the setup for October through December is steady rather than strong. The median has sat a couple of percent under last year all year, and homes that are priced right still go under contract in under two months. What is less certain is whether Washington keeps out-closing 2025 in the fourth quarter with fewer summer contracts feeding its closings. That depends on how many fall buyers show up. The citywide picture only goes so far for one house, and my Washington home value page is the quickest way to see where yours lands.

A quarterly report smooths out the swings of single months, which is why it is worth reading. It also blends a Coral Canyon golf-course resale, a Washington Fields production home, and a new build in Long Valley into one figure that fits none of them. Treat the quarter as a direction and stop there.

Your actual list price comes from a much narrower set: the last few months of closings inside your subdivision, adjusted for size, lot, condition, and upgrades, then checked against what the nearest builder is asking for a similar floor plan. My what is my home worth in Washington page gives you a quick first range, and a full valuation tightens it with the comps I would defend to a buyer's agent.

Then look at what that price means for you. The seller net sheet turns a list price into what you walk away with after costs, and the capital gains estimator is worth a few minutes if the home was a rental or a second home. Talk to a tax professional before you act on that one.

The citywide numbers above cover a lot of ground. Coral Canyon trades on golf-course frontage and established resales. Green Springs leans toward single-level homes on settled, mature streets near the Red Cliffs trails. Stucki Farms and Long Valley sit next to active building, where every resale is measured against a new floor plan. The Washington Bench sells hillside lots and views, and parts of Sienna Hills allow short-term rentals, which puts them on a different pricing curve from the primary-residence subdivisions around them.

That spread is why a quarter can look soft citywide and still be a good quarter in one pocket, or the reverse. Before you set a price or write an offer, compare the homes in your own pocket over the last few months. The Washington neighborhoods guide lays out each area, the kind of homes it has, and how it tends to price.

Most people selling in Washington are buying their next place at the same time, and the order matters. Moving up to more space? My moving up in Washington guide walks through timing the sale and the purchase so you are not carrying two homes. Heading toward something smaller and simpler? The right-sizing in Washington page and the right-size and pocket cash calculator show how much equity a smaller home could leave in your pocket.

New construction belongs on the list in either direction. Builders in the southern half of the city keep releasing homes, and their incentives change often enough that it pays to compare them with resales before you commit. When you are ready to talk about listing, my sell your Washington home page explains how I bring a home to market here, from the first pricing conversation to the closing table.