Snohomish Housing Market Update

Looking Deeper: More Homes, More Choices

Buyers had 286 homes to choose from at the end of July, which was 65 more than one year earlier. That is a meaningful increase in choice. New listings were actually lower than last July, so the larger active inventory was not simply caused by one unusually busy listing month. Homes were accumulating because buyers had enough options to pass on listings that did not feel like the right fit.

This is where a citywide inventory number needs context. More homes for sale can be helpful for buyers, but it also means sellers are being compared against a much larger group of competing properties. A home does not only need to look good on its own. It needs to make sense beside everything else a buyer can purchase at the same price.

Also worth mentioning, this is not a brand-new pattern. We started seeing buyers become more selective in June, when Snohomish ended the month with 224 active listings and 71 closed sales. July pushed that divide further: inventory climbed again while closed sales increased, but buyers still did not treat every listing the same. The homes that made their value clear moved. The homes that did not had a much harder time.

What This Really Means for Buyers

Closed sales were almost unchanged from last July, yet pending sales were down 20%. Buyers were still closing on homes, but fewer sellers secured a new contract during July. That difference matters because closings reflect decisions made weeks earlier, while pending sales give us a more immediate look at what buyers chose during the month.

The citywide median fell to 13 days before going under contract, six days faster than last July. I would not read that as proof that every listing suddenly became easier to sell. A group of homes that sold in two to five days can pull the median down, while many other listings continue to sit or leave the market without selling. The failed listings and the fast bidding wars happened at the same time.

What This Really Means for Sellers

The middle closed sale received 97.3% of its original asking price. In practical terms, a home originally listed at $750,000 would land around $729,750 at that percentage, or roughly $20,250 below the original list price. That does not mean every seller negotiated by exactly 2.7%. It gives us a useful picture of the middle result after including homes that reduced their price or accepted less than their original asking amount.

The citywide average sales price was $988,398, down about 2.6% from last July, while price per square foot increased to $426. Those figures can move in different directions because the mix of homes sold changed. A few expensive or unusually large sales can move the average, while price per square foot is influenced by size, condition, location, lot, and property type. Neither number should be used alone to estimate one specific home's value.

Looking Deeper: Why Some Homes Didn't Sell

Thirty-seven listings left the market without selling: 27 were canceled and 10 expired. That is nearly two failed listings for every five completed sales. Those sellers were experiencing a very different market from the waterfront and acreage sellers who received multiple offers within days.

This is why I do not think Snohomish had one single seller experience in July. Buyers were active, but they were willing to wait, compare, and move on. The market rewarded homes that were priced, presented, and positioned in a way that made the value clear. It was much less forgiving when the asking price and the buyer's perception of value did not line up.

There was one encouraging change from June. Forty-three Snohomish listings canceled or expired last month, compared with 37 in July. That is still a meaningful number, but slightly fewer sellers left the market without reaching the closing table.

Looking Deeper: Residential Resale

Residential resale remained the center of the Snohomish market with 63 closings, but the other housing types were telling very different stories. Townhome inventory jumped from 14 homes last July to 40 this July, while closings fell from 18 to eight. That gave townhome buyers far more room to compare and gave sellers much more competition.

New construction also changed dramatically. Only six new homes closed compared with 30 last July, even though 31 were available at the end of the month. Condos moved in the opposite direction, with eight closings compared with only one last July. Looking at all housing types together would hide those differences completely.

New construction is also worth comparing with June because the shift was dramatic. June had 23 active new homes, nine pending sales, and 20 closings. July ended with 31 active homes, 14 pending sales, and only six closings. That does not mean builders suddenly stopped selling in July. It shows how much closed-sale counts can reflect contracts written earlier, while the active and pending numbers tell us what buyers were choosing more recently.

What This Really Means for New Construction

Residential resale had a median sales price of $1,015,000, slightly below last July's $1,030,000. Its median price per square foot also eased from $445 to $436. That is a modest change, not evidence that every resale home lost the same amount of value.

The average new construction sales price fell to $745,246, but only six homes closed. With such a small and very different group of sales than last year's 30 closings, the average is especially sensitive to the sizes, locations, builders, and price points that happened to close. Condo prices moved higher while townhome prices moved lower, another reminder that “the Snohomish market” was really several smaller markets operating at once.

Looking Deeper: Condominiums

New construction shows exactly why days on market requires context. The median was only four days, down from 16 last July, but that result came from just six closings. A handful of quick sales can make the category look broadly fast even while many new homes remain available.

Condos took 26 days, townhomes took 15, and residential resale took 10. Those are the medians for the homes that successfully sold. They do not include every listing still waiting for a buyer, so they describe the winners rather than the entire active market.

Condos are a good example. Their median dropped from 52 days in June to 26 days in July. That looks like a major improvement, but with only four June closings and eight July closings, a few older or faster sales can move the median quickly. I would not call that a broad market shift without looking at the individual properties behind the number.

What This Really Means for Townhomes

Every housing type had a median below its original asking price. Residential resale and new construction both landed at 97.6%, condos at 97.2%, and townhomes at 97.0%. The differences are not enormous, but townhomes offered buyers the most negotiating room, which fits with the sharp increase in available inventory.

This does not mean buyers could negotiate on every home. The standout resale properties in the next snapshot attracted aggressive competition. It means that, across each housing category as a whole, the middle closed seller did not receive the full original list price.

Looking Deeper: Entry-Level & Mid-Range Buyers

The largest concentration of resale inventory sat between $850,000 and $1.249 million, where buyers had 71 homes to choose from. The $1.05 million to $1.249 million range had the most active listings at 38, but only nine July closings. That is the kind of gap that gives buyers time to compare and puts more pressure on sellers to explain why their home deserves the price.

The $1.25 million to $1.449 million range was unusual. Twelve homes closed even though only two went pending during July, showing that many of those closings came from contracts written earlier. This is another reason pending and closed sales should not be treated as the same snapshot in time.

That timing difference also showed up last month. June had stronger pending activity in several ranges than the closed-sale count suggested, especially from $850,000 upward. July's closings partly reflect those earlier contracts, which is why I do not treat a strong closing month as proof that buyers were equally aggressive throughout July itself.

What This Really Means Across Price Ranges

The under-$650,000 range shows how old inventory can change the headline. Seven homes closed, but the median was 55 days before going under contract. A lower price did not automatically create a faster sale. Some of the homes that finally closed had been waiting much longer.

Meanwhile, homes between $1.25 million and $1.449 million went under contract in a median of seven days and needed 15 showings. The luxury range above $1.45 million moved in eight days. Those medians do not mean every higher-priced home was flying off the market. They show that the higher-priced homes buyers ultimately chose were often compelling enough to move quickly.

The $650,000 to $849,999 range is another place where the month-to-month context matters. In June, the median was 21 days before going under contract and sellers still received 100% of their original asking price. July shortened to nine days and again held at 100%. Buyers were taking their time in June, but when they found the right home they still paid strong prices. July continued that same basic behavior, just with faster closed-sale timing.

Looking Deeper: Luxury & Lifestyle Properties

Wow, this is where the Snohomish market got really interesting. The median result was 100% of original asking price in the $650,000 to $1.049 million ranges, while every other price range finished below asking. Even those medians do not show how intense the competition became for a handful of special properties.

A Storm Lake property on a huge lot sold in two days and 4.1% above asking. A Fobes Hill home above $1.45 million also found a buyer in two days and sold about 2% over list. In Maltby, a home listed at $1.249 million sold for $1.4 million, nearly 12% above asking. That sale jumped into an entirely different price range.

A Seattle Hill rambler sold in two days and nearly 5% above asking. A 1912 farmhouse in Three Lakes sold around 7% over list. A Lake Roesiger waterfront home listed near $699,000 sold about 8% above asking in five days, and a Pilchuck River property sold roughly 7.5% above asking in five days.

These wins were spread across the city and across price points. The common thread was not one neighborhood. It was scarcity and broad appeal. Waterfront, riverfront, acreage, character, and a rambler layout can attract several types of buyers at once. When multiple buyer groups see the same property as hard to replace, competition can escalate very quickly.

That is also why these sales should not be treated as the normal result for every seller. Citywide, the median was 97.3% of original asking price, and 37 listings did not sell. Buyers were willing to stretch, but only when the home gave them a strong reason.

June raised the question of whether luxury buyers were cooling or simply becoming more selective. July answered it. They were still very much in the market, but they reserved their strongest offers for homes that felt rare. The waterfront, riverfront, acreage, and standout higher-end sales are the proof.